Mike Isabella, the former head chef at Jose Andres’ Zaytinya, has found himself at the celebrity chef’s table after a very strong performances on Top Chef and Top Chef All-Stars. He’s taken the momentum and opened up his first restaurant, Graffiato, on the east side of the Verizon Center and Chinatown.

The restaurant offers small plates, pastas, and pizzas with locally sourced ingredients, a promise that I find appealing given my localvore leanings. Farms are listed proudly on a chalkboard at the upstairs dining room over the kitchen.

There’s a lot to like about the menu for Jen and me, so much that decided to go right in with the tasting menu for two to get a sampling of Isabella’s favorites. The cheese plate, to start, is an excellent selection of locally sourced dairy. We sampled a cow, goat, and sheep cheese that’s accompanied by a generous serving of sweet, tangy mustard. Three for three great cheeses and not a single one being a letdown on the plate.

Jen’s longstanding campaign against peppers precluded her from trying the Blistered Sweet Peppers with me. Seasoned with smoked paprika, capers, and topped with microgreens, the sweetness plays well against the acidic background and the smoky undertones. I really wished I had a hotdog to go with all of this.

Jen did split the Honey Glazed Cippolini with me. A sweet, roasted, medium sized cippolini onion, cooked with whole honey glazed garlic cloves, served with rosemary and onion seeds, I found myself scarfing down the cloves while Jen took down the onion.

We started in on the pasta dishes, first with the Sweet Corn Agnolotti. The pasta is very similar in preparation to ravioli, but traditionally smaller in size. Each pasta bite rewards your mouth with the sweet taste of corn, mixed with pine nuts, chantrelles, and of course, incredibly fresh pasta. A dish like this meant to be shared, but I found that I wanted the entire plate to myself. Jen’s pretty good at paying attention to what I like and how fast I start eating it, so she took didn’t hesitate to go in right after me.

The Roasted Potato Gnocchi is an absolute must, with braised pork shank and burrata cheese. The kitchen was accommodating enough to separate out the meat for Jen but still serve the pork on the side for me. WIN WIN. You mean I have to eat twice as much pork as I normally would because my girl’s not gonna have any of it?

OKAY.

Burrata’s a delicate, almost creamy cheese, much like a softer mozzarella. A great cheese to go with the chewy texture of the roasted gnocchi, and the tender pulled pork shank is unbelievably delicious.

The pizza menu is full of exotic selection, and none seemed more exotic to the both of us than the Countryman Pizza. Made with black truffles, fontina cheese, and served with a duck egg, the wait staff breaks the yolk tableside and spreads it evenly across the pizza canvas for an exceptional pie. Given the fact that I tend to only eat pizza at some of the better pizza places in DC due to my paleo eatin’ ways, I’m pretty happy to say that this pizza is right up there with that crowd. If there’s one problem I can single out with this, it’s the pizza stand. The pizza stands are horribly unsteady, as we saw at least two other tables have their pizzas topple over as the last few slices were taken and the balanced weight of the plate came crashing down to the table.

The sole meat dish delivered to us was the Chicken Thighs in Pepperoni Sauce with cherry tomatoes and basil. Holy hell, what’s up tender chicken? Several chunks of moist, tender, juicy, dark chicken in a hearty (and meaty!) tomato sauce, and another home run for Mike Isabella. Chicken tends to be the ‘safe meat’ (kind of like safe word, but then, totally not) on most menus, but here, it stands proudly as appealing of an order as any of the other meats on the menu.

The closing dish, which we dug into before I remembered to take a photo, is the house 24 Carat cake – a carrot flavored panna cotta that comes chilled and served in a tumbler. Who knew carrot tasted so good with a cold cream?

There was some sort of mixup between our waiter and the kitchen, as we sat with the check and I did the math in my head, the individual plates we got as part of the tasting menu simply did not add up to the cost of the two people eating the tasting menu. Both Mike Isabella (who came personally table to table to to talk to us about our meal, and his pretty badass collection of tattoos) and the GM worked it out with us, and we were both pleased at how accommodating and easy it was to work out with the two of them. The service otherwise was great- empty plates were quickly taken away, there was never a significant lull without another plate being delivered.

There are several dishes we sampled that I’d love to have again, but the menu offers enough variety that I’d have a hard time not trying out some of the other dishes, like the Pork Ribs, Octopus, or the Jersey Shore pizza, served with fried calamari, tomato, and a cherry pepper aioli. The pizzas are by the best value on the menu, and you won’t find yourself disappointed.

See Graffiato on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Paleoheads
• Vegetarians
• First Dates
• Summer Dress
• Localvores

Not Recommended For:

• Weight Watcher Wandas
• Vegans
• Organic Orangutans
• Cheese Eatin’ Surrender Monkeys

To anybody who doesn’t visit Chinatown in NYC regularly, it’s tough to pick out which restaurant is going to be a good place to plop yourself into a chair and getcha nom on for a midday yum cha (dim sum/Chinese brunch). Thankfully, Jen and I were in the area at the same time as my Mom, who had scooped a table out for us to have lunch (Thanks Mom!) at Jing Fong.

You’ll find a traditional Chinese dim sum served here on the second floor of the restaurant, albeit on a completely different caliber than what we’re used to DC. The restaurant itself, for instance, shows that the owners have invested more than a nominal sum into the interior, with golden dragons, enormous crystal chandeliers, and electric blue cove lighting. The girls and women who push the carts of food are adorned in cheery orange shirts and red aprons, complete with matching bandanas to top it all off.

The bamboo steamer baskets are also much nicer here, without a single sighting of the dented metal ones found in other restaurants. Instead, high quality steamers with olive green end caps are used. It’s a small touch to add to the presentation of the food, but does not and should not go unnoticed.

Even these delicately fried dumplings with a noodle coating are new to me. What the hell are these things? The crispy texture explodes with every bite, crackling like a falling redwood tree in the forest, and packed with a shrimp filling.

Traditional favorites such as the cha siu bao (steamed BBQ pork bun, left) and the har gao (steamed shrimp dumpling, right), are out in full force and as every bit as good as they should be. I couldn’t taste them being BETTER through any differentiation of ingredients, but they definitely tasted fresher. The buns here are fluffy and light, while the dumplings are well stuffed with a shrimp filling.

Dessert buns are out roaming about on carts, such as the custard filled buns on the left, or the traditional ma lai go (steamed sweet sponge cake) on the right. I don’t know that I’ve ever had the ones on the left, but I do that the sponge cake is a much rarer sight in the District, if it even exists around here at all. The added fact that this cake is not simply baked but rolled as well shows off the kitchen’s skills at putting out amazing desserts.

The head chef also takes some unique interpretations of desserts, such as this dessert, a fried glutinous rice ball filled with a sweet sesame paste and usually completely coated with sesame seeds- but Jing Fong opts for a pinch of black sesame seeds instead. These were hot, chewy, and amazing, a far cry from the room temperature ones that I’m used to being served around the District.

If you’re still not satisfied with the myriad of plates and steamers that come rolling by your table, there’s the added bonus of going up to the buffet line and ordering a plate of something else that might catch your tie (and tug on your stomach) such as pan fried dumplings, pan fried noodles, meat plates, and fried vegetable plates.

There is, however, a single, wretched downside to eating here. If you’ve ever eaten at a traditional dim sum restaurant, you know that the wait times can be lengthy to downright obnoxious. With Jing Fong, it’s practically a mob scene at the entrance, with hundreds of people milling about on a weekend afternoon, all waiting for a table to get their noms in. My Mom definitely came through for Jen and me on getting a table here. If anything, I’d say the popularity is a testament to the quality of the food and the entire experience of eating here. Plan on getting here on the early side of the afternoon if you want to ditch the wait.

How could you not be completely won over by the website’s assurance, “Thirty years experienced and famous, gold lacquer brand, assurance.”

I gotta get me some gold lacquer brands. Hungry Chinese people love gold lacquer brands.

See Jing Fong on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Chinese Cheatmeals
• Vegetarians
• Food Coma Inducing Feeding Frenzies
• Thanksgiving Dinner
• Christmas Dinner

Not Recommended For:

• Paleoheads
• Zone Dieters
• Wedding Proposals
• Hangover Helpers
• Interior Design Professionals

The rich bass heavy sounds of dub pour out into the streets from this dimly lit restaurant, with vibrations so deep, you can feel ‘dem in Jamaica. Spur Tree Lounge emphasizes its Jamaican roots both in music and cuisine, of which the latter is paired with typical Asian fare for a mix that actually turns it out rather nicely.

Jen’s Fried Vegetable Dumplings with Scallion Aioli were good, but nothing extraordinary. That being said, it’s certainly difficult to outdo the dumplings you could have at a number of restaurants in Chinatown not more than a few blocks away.

I ordered the Grilled Jamaican Jerk Wings with the Spicy Balsamic Sauce. I’m not sure if it’s been a long while since I’ve had chicken wings, but these were about as good of an order of them as I can remember. Just thinking about the perfectly seared, tender wings with just a hint of spiciness has me watering at the mouth all over again. It’s nice that the wings are no skimp on the proportion of meat here, either.

Jen’s main course, Organic Veggie Burger, fell a little flat both in presentation and taste. The patty seems lilliputian in comparison to it’s bun, something that’s a disappointment in knowing that the organic cheese comes as an extra. The spicy coco bread bun does live up to its name, giving a slight tingle to your tongue with every bite. The two spoons and small side salad are a nice touch to raise the bar of this order to something that’s just barely respectable. The portion size was just about right for Jen, but if it were me eating this, I’d be pretty upset with the burger to bun ratio here.

The June Plum Glazed Baby Back Pork Ribs, thankfully, take the table to a turn for the better. Succulent, thick cut baby back ribs coated in a deliciously sweet and sticky sauce and then thoughtfully topped with chopped fresh green onions that will have tearing through each piece after you’re eaten them all in search for another bite. I considered ordering another plate for myself and getting a cab to cart my fat, belly-filled ass home, but thought better of it. What good is NYC if you can’t pound out a couple of miles on foot? Served with a side salad, this is a good for either just one person or shared between two.

Desserts here are, graciously, no slouch either. The Warm Banana Bread Pudding is topped with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream, covered with a rum mango caramel sauce and sprinkled with fresh blueberries. The ice cream melts fast, so your spoonwork will just have to be a bit faster in devouring this plate before it turns into a bowl of soup over the warm bread pudding.

The food here isn’t exactly consistent. There are some very well thought out dishes that excel for a casual meal out, and then there are some that are in some serious rework to balance out the available offerings. The restaurant does take extra steps to distinguish itself through higher quality ingredients and thoughtful preparation, which did not go unnoticed by either Jen or me.

The service here is by and far some of the best service we experienced all weekend, at any restaurant. My water glass was never once completely drained, and Sean John, the restaurateur, is a gregarious tall fellow who’ll come by and chat with you to talk about your day’s travels and city exploits. The staff is very friendly and we were served by a number of people, despite the table space being at a premium at this smaller establishment. The lights are turned down low, and the dub plays high throughout your meal, so if you’re a fan of kicking back with a bottle of Red Stripe and getting down with the riddims, you’ll feel right at home here at Spur Tree Lounge on any given night of the year.

See Spur Tree Lounge on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Drinks ‘n’ Dub
• Dreadlock Rastafasians
• Lowkey Lunches & Brunches
• Spliff Politics

Not Recommended For:

• Your Baby’s Sixth Berfday
• Broadway Dinners
• Karma Karma Chameleons
• Voracious Vegans

Fiola is the new Italian restaurant in DC by Fabio Trabocchi, famous for his creations at Maestro in the Tyson’s Corner Ritz Carlton before the doors closed last year. Despite a slight mixup with the hostess losing our reservation, Jen and I were seated reasonably quickly for a weekend night. The buildout of the restaurant is of very high quality, with custom chandeliers, stone facade walls, and paneled wood walls as far as the eye can see. Despite the restaurant being given the high end treatment, some of the smaller details just didn’t work. Our first clue in was with the menus, with a sueded leather binding and thick, textured pages in between, neither Jen nor I ignore the fact that these were quite possibly the most flaccid menus we’d ever seen. The menu droops in your hand like…well, a sad flower (coughcoughpeniscoughcough) and the ink fails to adhere to the paper, leaving them virtually useless.

Thankfully, we received a different set of menus at our table than we did at the bar, ones a fair bit more legible. I’ll be the first to say that neither Jen or I would consider ourselves large, or even average sized Americans, but getting into the booth seating in between tables is virtually impossible unless you’re a size 0 as a woman, or, well, a size 0 as a man. I graciously took the chair seating at our table instead.

The bread service is a nice treat, a spiral shaped rolled bun that’s very reminiscent of a super fresh croissant, possibly the best bread service I’ve had in a long time. I’m sure the restaurant is quite aware of this, as you only get one to carry you through your meal, with just a tiniest bit of olive oil to accompany it. The olive oil to bread ratio is slightly disparaging, possibly due to the fact that I soaked up the entire puddle with one deft swab of my bread.

After several minutes of pouring over our menus, we decided to split the fried mozzarella balls, which turned out to be more a duo of mozzarella balls. These aren’t your Costco brand mozzarella digs. You know the kind I’m talking about, heavy on the bread, with a 75% chance of biting into… a hollow mozzarella case. Don’t you hate that ish? It’s like the stupid company that produces them should be selling “PARTY SIZED MOZZARELLA AIR BALLS” instead. Ridiculous.

Where was I? Mozzarella balls. Right.

These are fully and completely stuffed with a warm, chewy mozzarella, served in an sweet, aromatic tomato sauce and topped with just the perfect amount of parmesan. Absolutely amazing, although take care not to inhale these or you’ll miss out entirely.

Jen ordered the baby artichoke salad, which turned out nothing like either one of us had expected, not to say that’s a bad thing. The baby artichokes tasted like a cross between a typical artichoke and a radish, julienned and served with cheese (pecorino? manchego?) and a zesty green sauce of some sort.  A really fantastic salad, unlike any we’ve had before.

I ordered the Crostini of Cod, Tomato, and Oregano, served Fisherman style, based on the waiter’s recommendation. A trio of crostinis, each served with two hearty chunks of cod. A good balance on flavor, ingredients, and presentation, but I couldn’t help but feel a little bit underwhelmed after having devoured this dish. Maybe it was the fact that the waiter said it was possibly the best thing on the menu.* Maybe it was the fact that I was expecting a giant side of cod on a massive raft made of bread.** Maybe it just wasn’t that amazing of a dish.

Jen ordered the Pappardelle with oyster and royal trumpet mushrooms, a complete vegetarian’s delight. This dish carries itself like a meat pasta without the meat. Wide ribbons of pappardelle are mixed with chunks of sauteed mushrooms, then served in a savory brown sauce fit to satiate even the meat-eatiest of meateaters.

I had the Cacio & Pepe, a spaghetti chiatarra served with sheep’s milk based cacio cheese, crushed black peppercorns, and what amounted to a white sauce without the cream. Heavy without being overly decadent, and a well executed spaghetti dish, despite my initial reservations.

We skipped out on ordering desserts, but the kitchen graciously delivered a trio of sweets to each of us, with from left to right a chocolate chip macaroon, a mini gingerbread and caramel sammich, and jelly and shortbread biscuit sammich. All delicious, but both Jen and I agreed on the chocolate chip macaroon being the best of the three.

I’m at odds with the service here. While we never waited too long to order, to have our food delivered, or to have our water glasses refilled, our waiter never offered on a second glass of wine for Jen or bring plates for our either of our two rounds of appetizers without me expressly asking. The service has potential, but still needs a considerable bit of polishing and work. Despite a few gaffs, the overall experience was very good. Patrons tend to be on the well dressed side, so wearing at least a button down shirt if not a sports coat is advised for attending gentlemen. The damage is actually fairly reasonable for an upscale DC dining experience without the stuffiness, and despite entering a sea of Italian restaurants already flooding the streets of the District, I have a feeling that Fiola will do just fine.

See Fiola on a map here. (entrance on Indiana Avenue).

Recommended For:

• Pastafarians
• Vegetarians
• Paleoheads (there’s a ton of meat dishes here, too)
• Special Occasions

Not Recommended For:

• Thriftmasters
• Codependent Carls
• Stripclub-bound Downtown Hounds
• Zone Dieters

* He didn’t actually say that.

** I did actually hope for that.

DC is blessed with a gastroculture that can accommodate nearly all varietal tastes. Finding a niche cuisine that hasn’t already been overdone or given the title of “The best **** in DC.” is a challenge in itself, so it’s nice to find a place that attempts to do things a little differently.

Kushi Izakaya & Sushi Bar requires a little bit of background history and explanation to fully appreciate it’s contribution to the food scene. I’d assume that most people know what a sushi bar is, but the mentioning of izakaya conjures up visualizations of quirky anime comic strips and a giant fire-breathing lizard that stomps out the buildings of Tokyo.

Or maybe right now you’re thinking of a dance off with said Godzilla against and equally gigantic personality.

An izakaya refers to a Japanese establishment that focuses primarily on drinks, especially after work, but still serves food. Think of it as a place that falls somewhere in between a full on restaurant and a full on bar, or even as a Japanese tapas house. While the concept is a fairly popular one in Japan, it’s not necessarily one that might stand up on its own here in the states, so the inclusion of a sushi bar is a pretty smart plan.

The izakaya portion of Kushi seems to center around bite-sized skewers of meat, which vary between chicken, pork, duck, and beef.  Each skewer comes out on with a pinch of sea salt and seasoning, so you can adjust the flavor our your meat accordingly.

Unfortunately for me, I came in on the last day of a local promotion, and a number of dishes I chose with the served seemed to be popular, and therefore, completely sold out.

Me: I’d like to order the wagyu beef skewer.

Waitress: We’re out of that.

Me: Okay, I’ll take the pork belly, the pork rib, and a chicken with scallions skewer.

What came out were two pork bellies and a chicken skewer, which was pretty close to what I ordered. Y’know, except my pork rib. C’mon, where my pork rib? I mean how much for just one rib? Eight dollars? GOOD LAWD.

The same story went for my salad.

Me: I’d also like to order the seaweed salad.

Waitress: Oh, we’re out of that too.

Me: Okay, well I guess that leaves me to the house salad  instead.

At least the house salad wasn’t a giant bowl of iceberg lettuce with some shredded carrots. The bowl of mixed greens comprised of spinach, arugula, and cherry tomatoes with a ginger dressing was a nice substitution, although clearly an issue for people like Jen if the only other available vegetarian options are the pickled vegetables on the menu.

Me: I’ll have the wagyu hot plate as my main course, please.

Waitress: We’re…out of that, too.

Sweet merciful crap, does this restaurant keep anything in the fridge?

Thankfully, the fish here are flown in daily, and the expertly cut slices exude freshness, most notably in the saba (mackerel), my favorite of them all. Saba tastes amazing when it’s fresh, but it gets a distinctively fishier taste the longer it’s been sitting on the shelf. The addition of sea scallops and sea urchin were a nice, unique surprise, as these rarely make their way onto a sashimi plate.

And just to make sure I got everything out of this lunch, I put in for an order of the eel, too.

Kushi still has a couple of wrinkles to smooth out with handling large promotions, but it’s not something I really fault them for, as almost no small business knows just how much they’ll get slammed on the last day before a coupon expires without having experienced it firsthand. The service is average- friendly, but not 100% on point in communicating with the customer or the kitchen. The restaurant has opted for a fairly minimal decorative theme, with enormous paper lanterns that dangle from rafters, a few odds and ends placed up on the walls, but nothing substantial. In retrospect, it would seem that the build out is much better suited for turning the place into a giant bar at night, which is very likely the case, given the name.

If you haven’t had izakaya before, this is certainly a nice introduction to a part of Japanese gastronomic culture, but it’s far from inexpensive here. The izakaya averages out to be about $3/bite, which is high for even urban pricing standards. A lunch will easily run you upwards to $50 with tip, and that’s without the inclusion of drinks. The quality of food is absolutely superb, but I’d be hard pressed to find a reason to go back again, given the prices.

See Kushi on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Paleoheads
• Sakebomb Sallys
• Business Jerk Powerlunches

Not Recommended For:

• Vegetarians
• Frugal First Dates
• Agoraphobic Amys

There’s an old Irish recipe for stew, that goes like this:

Get some meat, some potatoes and a lot of Guinness Stout. Drink all of the stout. Forget about the stew.

That’s not quite the scene at Againn, the favorite drinking tub for leprechauns and gingers within the District. With a wide array of beers, scotches, and even the option to rent your own scotch locker, who wouldn’t want to drown their sorrows or celebrate their…celebrations…here?

Maybe me, with the whole alcohol dehydrogenase thing.

So to set the focus, yes, Againn has a fine selection of alcohol here, and according to a connoisseur of fine, obscure alcohols, “the 2nd best tasting Guiness I’ve had in this country”.  But my love of food is what brought me here, and that’s the story I have to tell.

First of all, this is no place for a vegetarian. Unless you have an unhealthy fascination for potatoes, you’re going to be set with a very, very slim set of pickin’s.

On the bright side, meat in all and every form is in abundance here.  The daring are especially rewarded, with savory flavors, decadent textures, and pub food at it’s finest offering.

The golden tripe here is, as one can expect, tripey, and a delight to your stomach.

The corned beef tongue is ridiculously awesome. Tender and brine cured, served with a peppery arugula, and served with fingerling potatoes and olive oil, I highly recommend this dish. This appetizer is high on substance and presentation, and the corned beef tongue complements the tender fingerling potatoes perfectly.

The sides don’t come up short with flavor either, but beware, even the most paleo-friendly looking ones can bite you inadvertently. My friend ordered the Welsh Rarebit, which as he mentioned as being as true to his childhood as he could remember, and I ordered the Sauteed Kale, prepared with ham, carrot, and to my surprise, breadcrumbs. Ordering a side here is crucial here, as the main course might serve up a bit smaller than you’d like, or as I did.

My friend’s main course orderd the Heritage Pork Belly and Cracklin’. Pork belly, white grits, mustard greens, roasted turnips and strips of pork cracklin’ as fried as Snoop Dogg headlining at a show, this is a pork lover’s wet dream, and not for the faint of heart. What could possibly make this dish better?  You know the answer to that.

Image Credit: Caanan

My main course, the Creekstone Farms Hanger Steak with Maitre’d Butter, Watercress Salad and Chips, was as every bit as good as I had hoped. Steak and butter and a bit of roughage, with a pass on the fries, cooked to a medium rare perfection.

If you’re out to impress a group of serious drinkers for a night out, you can’t do much better than Againn.* The prices are a bit steep for pub food, but the quality of the food is high, maybe just not as high as to justify the price.

Minus a small debacle with the bill, the service is fairly good on a busy night. With a reservation, there is no wait for your seats, and the atmosphere is vibrant, despite the decision of the owners to keep the lighting bill to a minimum. Noise is energetic, but not so loud that you have to scream across the table. And with as much scotch, wine, and beer there is to choose from, maybe that’s not such a bad thing after all.

Let me know if you get around to trying out their stew. I hear it’s delicious.

See Againn on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Paleoheads
• Zone Dieters
• Captains of Industry
• Watching the match. “Awright, ‘arry? See that ludicrous display last night? ‘Fing about Arsenal is, they always try an’ walk it in.”

Not Recommended For:

• Vegetarians
• Vegans
• Frugalistas
• Nyctophobics

* One thing to note is to double check the damage, both when you first get it, and after your server’s run your card. I’m sure it’s entirely possible to accidentally add in a random lemonade that pads your total by a few dollars in between after handing in a Groupon, but I sure as hell haven’t ever had that happen before.

Rasika finds itself at the forefront of notable Indian restaurants in DC, and with one step inside, it’s easy to see why. Contemporary furnishings abound, a departure from the metal framed chairs with soiled walls that some other Indian restaurants have (which is not say that places like that can’t serve you an amazing Indian meal).

The scene at Rasika is one of a city hotspot, much more so after having been recognized recently in the Washington Post’s Fall 2010 Dining Guide as a place to get your Bolly on*. The din inside takes a raised voice to carry on a conversation across the table. A large bar holds up the left portion of the restaurant, with seating for the restaurant to the right, and a small private dining room sealed off by a patterned sliding door.

Once we were finally seated, Jen and I poured over the menu, along with our server’s recommendations. We started with the Cauliflower Bezule and the Palak Chaat; the former, a plate of deep fried cauliflower, cooked with mustard seeds, curry leaves and green chilies; the latter, fried baby spinach leaves served with sweet yogurt, tamarind, and date chutney. Both of these dishes had more spices than a British all-girl pop band, with less unpleasant aftertaste, too. The flavors of the Cauliflower Bezule create a spicy, savory harmony, and is highly recommended. The Palak Chaat also holds its own, serving up a unique blend of textures with the crispy spinach, intermingled with the creamy sweetness of the yogurt, tamarind, and chutney.

Most of the entrees can be ordered in either a small or large portion, depending on your appetite. For our main course, I ordered the duo Tandoori Lamb Chops for myself, and the small order of the Dal Makhani for Jen.

Here’s where things get ugly.

I’m not going to say that the pork chops tasted bad, because nothing could be farther from the truth. The meat was tender, succulent, aromatic, flavorful, and the size of a golf ball. It’s as if the restaurant decided that only the smallest animals could be used for not only their prized deliciousness, but because who doesn’t like cute, minature objects?

People with Godzilla-like appetites like me, that’s who.  People who eat an entire pig and a chicken family for breakfast, and then wipe their mouth on the closest standing…y’know, cotton…producing…animal…around.  What IS the animal cotton comes from called, anyways? I’m totally blanking. Cotton…mastiff. Whatever.

The whole mini-portion philosophy that many haute couture dining establishments follow annoys me to no end. A top rated restaurant should not only be able to produce high quality dishes to delight patrons, but as a restaurant, I feel I should be able to leave with satisfaction as well.

To further highlight my point, my lamb chops (which would have been better described as lollipops on the menu) came with a dipping sauce, along with the Garlic Naan and Truffle Naan that we ordered.  Jen and I continued to talk, and I waited for her dish to arrive before eating.  That is, until Jen started spooning my dipping sauce onto a shred of naan.  Her lentil, tomato, fennel, and fenugreek dipping sauce entrée.

Whoops.

To be clear, entrees do not come with a complimentary side of rice or naan, which both must be ordered separately.  I made sure to check, having ordered an extra basket of naan during prior occasions, only to be served more naan with my entrée.  No such luck here, which isn’t necessarily a good or bad thing, just a fact to be cognizant of.

We were also informed by our server that the restaurant employs a man whose sole purpose and focus at Rasika is to make naan, custom to order.  The emphasis our server put on this fact seemed slightly ludicrous, and to me, a bit odd; myself being a jack of trades, considering someone whose life choices brought him to become a  master of naan.

The food at Rasika is decidedly superb.  Top ingredients are chosen for a staff who expertly combine textures and tastes into a brilliant execution.  Prices are reasonable per plate, but portions per plate are not.  Staff, everyone from the host to the servers, are accommodating despite an overwhelming crowd.  Making reservations should be considered, and even then, you could still be in for at least a 10-15 minute wait.  I would venture to guess that opting for a table full of small dishes and forgoing the entrées entirely would have done a better job assuaging my hunger.**  That would require making another visit to Rasika, something I’d be more than willing to do.

See Rasika on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Soccer Mom Social Hours
• Paleoheads
• Vegetarians
• Celebrity Singh-ers

Not Recommended For:

• Frugalistas
• First Dates
• Zone Dieters
• Hungry Jack’s

*Not Tom Sietsema’s actual words, apologies to Tom and the WaPo, but hey, it makes for good lol.

**Optionally, you can walk through Chinatown and stop into Eat First like I did, and order the pan fried dumplings, and the Chinese Roasted BBQ Pork.

Co Co Sala is a hotspot among the sweet-toothed night owls, and I’m not talking about the sparkly cast of the Twilight series.  The restaurant focuses on small dishes that really explore all corners of your sense of taste.  The restaurant offers a 3 course and 5 course tasting dessert menu, but you should expect to order a few dishes in addition to this sugar laden orgy to really get a full meal.

We started out with the Four Cheese Fritters.  Served with a creamy dipping sauce that was very reminiscent of a Thousand Island dressing,  this appetizer (teaser, as the menu calls it) gets your appetite going.  These deep fried morsels contain melted but not quite molten cheese interiors inside a crispy, fried shell.  Highly recommended.

The tasting menu Jen and I shared also comes with a cheese plate-  four cheeses, a chunk of date pâté (no fowl play), grapes, and crackers.  I steered clear of the blue cheese, as we don’t really get along, but the brie came strong with the flavor.  We opted to have it served as an appetizer, to which our server happily complied.

Jen’s first dish, the portobello risotto, was a little heavy on the butter, but then again, any good risotto is going to be heavy on the butter, so consider it just about right.  Topped with asparagus, mushrooms, mixed greens, and fresh shaved parmesan.  This dish won’t win any awards, but it’s a great vegetarian dish, and suited Jen well enough.

Her second dish was the Manchego and Baby Arugula Salad.  Tossed with slices of apple, chunks of oranges, caramelized walnuts, dates, and then a strip of coffee vinaigrette, Jen absolutely loved this plate.  Which of course, means, I’m going to try and make this for her at some point in the future.  Shouldn’t be too hard, except for the coffee vinaigrette, but I’ll figure something out.

My first dish was the trio of Lamb Sliders.  How could you not love these?  It’s like midget wrestling, with less spandex and more brioche.  Three mini organic lamb patties cooked in a coconut and curry sauce, topped with a lime yogurt creme and served with rosemary and parmesan fries.  The restaurant also offers a beef or a chicken trio of sliders, but it’s impossible for me to turn down an order of lamb.

Next, I had the Bacon Mac’n'Cheese.  A dish of baked mac’n'cheese’n'bacon, topped with a crispy cheesy crust, and topped with a stick of chocolate covered bacon.  The combination of sweet and savory really works in favor of the dish here.  There’s a Shrimp Mac’n'Cheese option available on the menu, but c’mon.  It’s bacon.  I’d name my first born child Bacon.

That’s a terrible idea.  Why do you people let me come up with this sort of stuff?

Our five course (four, after the cheese) dessert ‘Nutty But Nice’ tasting menu started off with the churro batons, served with a caramel dipping sauce.  If I had one complaint about these things, is that they’re entirely too small, but I guess I’ll consider that a good problem to have.  The only other place I can think off of the top of my head that sells churros is CostCo, and the ones at Co Co Sala definitely blow those away.

The Rum Caramel Bananas and Chocolate bring a natural combination together, but neither Jen nor I found this one to be very impressive.  The shaved chocolate on top of the rum soaked bananas definitely earned points for presentation, but lacked the punch we were expecting.

The peanut butter cheesecake is a huge win for this tasting menu.  Rich and creamy like an albino Texas oil tycoon, this one is a must for just about anyone without a peanut allergy.  Even then…not a bad way to go.

To finish things off before the final bits of signature Co Co Sala truffles, a small dish of citrus sorbet is brought out to cleanse your palette, perfectly setup for two.

The dishes here at Co Co Sala are at worst, average, and at best, truly a gastronomical adventure that runs from the savory to the utterly sweet.  Our server was great with the recommendations and timing, with only a small slip of forgetting to refill our drinks.  The ambiance here is definitely on the sexy side, so make it a special night out and wear those monkey print undies you save for occasions like this.

See Co Co Sala on a map here.

Recommended For:

• Girls Night Out
• Chocolate Chasers
• Vegetarians
• First Dates
• Anniversaries

Not Recommended For:

• Guys Night Out
• Frugalistas
• Going Into Labor
• Paleo heads
• Zone Dieters

On our last visit to the restaurant, Jen and I had a less than positive experience at PS7′s. I won’t rehash all the sordid details, but you can read about our Restaurant Week (RW) visit here.

Fast forward a couple months to the present date, and we still were holding on to a coupon that we weren’t able to use on our previous visit.  Steeling ourselves for a return, we made our reservations and headed back over for dinner.

The first difference was immediately noticeable:  the restaurant was tamer, quieter, and filled with a vastly different crowd.  I’m not sure if I could pin down a specific group of people, but there was a good deal more diversity in age, group sizes, and species types of people in general.  A much easier going crowd, celebrating anniversaries, visits from parents, and random diners like us, less of a concentration of budget diners looking to get sloshed at the bar afterwards.

Free from the confines of a restricted “dining on rails” RW menu, Jen and I decided to split a Nutty Goat Flatbread, coated in walnut butter, goat cheese, arugula, and shallots.

I also threw in an order of the Angel Wings – a quartet of sausage stuffed boneless chicken wings, served with a generous serving of a peach gastrique.

What we were treated to was…vastly better than our last set of appetizers there.  The flatbread, about the size of an 8-inch pizza, was buttery without being too greasy, loaded with a rich goat cheese flavor, and given just the right amount of wilted arugula and shallots to pair it off.  Like a goat cheese salad on bread.  My angel wings were the equivalent of a gourmet order of Chickum McNuggets served with sweet’n'sour sauce.  I tore through the nuggets in a matter of seconds, without even bothering to offer Jen a single one.

In retrospect, I’m 99.9% sure she really didn’t mind.

Our entrees, arrived in short fashion.  Jen ordered the Cannelloni, a cast-iron skillet filled with celery root, sweet potato, and mushroom ‘sausage’, straight from Hell’s Kitchen.  Well, with as hot as this dish was, it might as well have been delivered from the underworld.  Jen burnt her tongue on her first taste, and took a few spoonfuls onto her bread plate just to have it cool down from the cast iron skillet.  I guess you can’t really complain about food being too quick from the kitchen, right?

I let Jen pick out my plate, and she went with the Stuffed Pork Loin – a giant slab of pork, pounded and rolled with leeks, spinach, bacon, and coated with parmesan, then served with a sherry au jus.

My girl knows me so damn well.  Or maybe she was just living vicariously through me.  One of these days, she just won’t be able to resist the call of the bacon.  Either way, I really enjoyed this dish.  The pork was succulent, and the leek/spinach/bacon stuffing just seemed like a natural pairing for the pork loin.  The only way it could have been better would have been having this dish served in a bacon gravy, with a side of bacon lollipops.

Sweet merciful Jebus I love bacon.

I’m sure that Restaurant Week brings in the volume and the dollars, but the set menu does this establishment no justice whatsoever.  I almost wish that we hadn’t gone here for Restaurant Week in the first place.  While PS7′s still might not be at the top of my favorite places in the city, it’s certainly much better than I had originally thought.

The best part?  The kitchen sends a dessert out to every table, compliments of the chef.  Two freshly made soft truffles.

Still looks like a skidmark to me. A damn tasty one, at that.

PS7′s Restaurant (the name comes from a combination of the owner/head chef Peter Smith and the address at 777 I St NW) has made a name for itself as being one of the haute coutre restaurants and bar scenes in DC in the recent years. The very name of the restaurant has evoked a very fanciful experience to me, having heard about it for many years (the doors opened in 2006 after Peter Smith left Vidalia).

The truth is, Restaurant Week really gives an opportunity for local residents to check out places to dine that wouldn’t normally occur to them on any given day.  So after making our reservations on Open Table for 9:00pm, Jen and I headed over to the restaurant for a nice dinner after a long day for both of us.

We arrived just a few scant minutes after 9, and were politely informed that our table would be ready in about 20 minutes.

Really?  20 minutes after a reservation time?  Already, PS7 was not making a favorable impression with either Jen or me.  We generally arrive already on the border of famished, and this was the first time we’ve been asked to wait for such a long period of time.  Isn’t that what reservations are for?

So, having no other option than to agree to wait, we found a small table at the bar section and entertained ourselves through amateur anthropological studies of DC socialite scene, a veritable bacchanalia in full swing.  A giraffe was discussing the finer points of wearing seersucker in the summer with a rhino. A fawn gently played a pan flute for a maiden with long, golden tresses and emerald eyes. A republican eagerly hammered out the details of a universal healthcare plan with a democrat. Then again, I might have been hallucinating from the hunger pangs I was experiencing.

25 minutes later, we were picked up by the hostess (literally, the 100 lb. girl grabbed the two of us, powercleaned us simultaneously, and carried us)  and we were off to our table.  The reservations were late enough that we were catching the last few lingering patrons on the restaurant side, but it was still considerably packed given the time.  We quickly put in our orders, and were off to our evening’s gastronomical adventure.

First up, the bread basket:

Er, bread duo.

While the breads were pretty chimerical in themselves, one being a bacon laden biscuit, we were disappointed in the fact that there was more butte delivered to us than actual bread.  The photo here might not exactly do it justice, but each roll wasn’t more than two inches across.  I probably should be grateful for food gratis, but this simply wasn’t a good sign.

For appetizer’s, Jen ordered Sarah’s Salad and I ordered the Tuna Sliders; the former, a mixture of mixed field greens, candied hazelnuts, dried cranberries, and mascarpone lemon dressing; the latter, a trio of spicy tuna tartare in sesame seed buns with white miso aioli, and cucumber-cilantro slaw.

Sarah's Salad

Tuna Sliders

I’ll admit that the tuna sliders were about the size I was expecting, somewhere between a bite and two bites for each, but Jen’s salad wouldn’t be considered sufficient for an anorexic jackrabbit with a bad meth habit.  A Victoria’s Secret model would have sent it back demanding more being put onto the plate.  As we sat there, contemplating eating the rest of the butter (until the waiter came to clear the plates and the butter, damnit) the restaurant began to clear out considerably, with the patrons likely heading to other destinations for the evening.

So we sat there, and contemplated some more.

And some more.

And we waited some more.

Normally, I could understand an overwhelmed kitchen, but really, the din of the establishment had died down to intimate conversations at several tables, including ours.  I didn’t put a stopwatch on, but I did consider running over to McDonald’s down the street and getting a Big Mac in the interim.

With a small fry on the side.

Because I’m trying to watch what I eat. Y’know.

After what seemed like a semi-enternity, our entrees arrived.  I had been deterred from my original order of the Pan-Roasted Rockfish after being notified that they were out, so I was pleased with the a comparable substitute, the Pan Seared Trout, served with root vegetable “ribbons” and thoughtfully decorated with a bacon Coca-Cola gastrique.  Upon inquiring what exact a “gastrique” was, the waiter described the technique of harnessing ancient medieval alchemical techniques to fuse the powers of white wine with the sugar acidity of Coca-Cola.

So…you’re telling me you tossed some white wine in with a can of Coke in a pan and boiled it down over an open fire? Neat.

I’ll say that the portion of fish was much larger than I was expecting, but maybe that’s because I had already been set with the precedent of micro portions from everything that had been delivered to us thus far.  The fish was perfectly prepared- tender, flavorful, and just the right amount of sauce.  The ribbons were well executed as a presentation, although, this dish for all intents and purposes, was completely devoid of a side to complement the fish.

Jen’s Risotto with Mushroom (which does not appear on the normal menu) seemed to fall a bit short of expectations.  The dish would have honestly been a better side dish, perhaps to my Pan Seared Trout.  But as an entree?  It was glorious.

Mushroom Risotto

Another disappointment for Jen, and she finished this uninspired dish in but a few minutes.  If I haven’t explained this before, Jen’s a very light eater.  It really is no exaggeration that it takes no amount of food to make satiate her appetite, and all the food up until now had done nothing for her.

But wait!  There’s still dessert!

However, the desserts aren’t listed on their website online, so I am given no other option but to make something up in its place.

Skidmark Candy Bar

If I remember correctly, Jen ordered what amounted to a gourmet Snicker’s bar.  The soft chocolate exterior housed a cream chocolate mousse inside, topped with a light cream and sprinkled with crunchy candied bits.  Again, a great execution, with fantastic presentation, but staying the course, this dish simply did not satisfy in the manner that even a grocery store candy bar would.  The light textures and ingredients gave no gratification whatsoever.

Creampuff with Cherry Roadkill

I had a deeeelightful creampuff with a vibrant and cherry reduction that was pleasing to the palette, but somehow remaining unremarkable otherwise.  To be quite frank, had I not taken a photo, and given the lack of dessert descriptions on their website, I would not be able to recall exactly what I had for dessert.

Suffice to say, Jen also finished the dessert with ease, and for her to go through four courses without feeling overly full, well, that’s a rare occurrence, and not necessarily a celebrated one.

Me?

I followed up this meal at Jen’s with a protein bar, a bowl of cereal in almond milk, a bit of beef jerky, a few handfuls of macadamia nuts, and half a pint of ice cream.  Ps7, for all it’s hype, fails to rise to the occasion.  The dishes, while well prepared, take a good amount of time to perfectly prepared, and the portion sizes, for the majority, lean towards the diminutive. For $90 (without drinks), you’d expect more out of dinner for two.

I do hear that PS7′s bar scene is much better though.  Not being a drinker myself, I can’t vouch for it, but at least you could go somewhere else for a good meal afterwards.

See PS7′s on a map here.

Recommended for:

• Hyper-light eaters
• Time Killers
• Scenesters

Not Recommended for:

• Everybody else