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We went to Alias Vint Hill last night for a special occasion. We sat at the Chef's Counter and were curious so one of us got the vegetarian menu while the other ordered the regular menu. We also decided to try the cheese course. Neither of us are real wine drinkers, so skipped the wine pairing. For drinks, he got the Tequila Honey and I tried the mocktail, Cherry Lane and both were very good. We did arrive early, as requested and enjoyed a glass of champagne and 2 starters before the first course listed on the menu. The first was a small disk (I think plantain) with I believe 6 layers on it: a sweet and spicy sauce (aji amarillo and something else), something else and for the regular menu, a slice of skipjack tuna on top while the other had I believe cured vegetables and then curls of green onion and a drizzle of sauce on it. We shared everything throughout the meal and both of these were very good. The tuna was more substantial but I liked the combination of flavors on the vegetarian version. The next was another nibble in small scoop shapes, waygu beef in the one, and I'm blanking on the vegetarian version's topping. For each course, they brought out the silverware for that dish and then cleared it along with the plate before the next dish came out and this was a nice touch. The first course was the same for both menus: Potato & Leek Soup with Garlic Bread Crumble, Buttermilk Sorbet, the difference being that the regular menu included a topping of Osetra Caviar instead of Scallions. We did ask for the caviar on both bowls because it looked great and glad I did. The contrast between the hot soup and the sorbet was perfect, along with the garlic crunch. Next out was their version of Parker House rolls with soft salted butter. My husband took his first bite and made happy noises. There were 2 for each person and absolutely wonderful. After this was the second item on the menu: Roasted Turbot, stuffed with Scallops and Tarragon, with Dandelion Puree, and Sunflower Sikil Pak or Wild Ramp & Potato Tortellini with Sauteed Mushrooms, Leek Beurre Blanc for the vegetarian menu. The fish was very good but I think I have to give the nod to the tortellini for this course. After that was the Whiffletree Farms Chicken with Turnip Cream, Basil Scallion Trapanese and Grilled Wild Morels or Sweet Potato Pave with Turnip Cream, Basil Scallion Trapanese and Aged Gouda Mornay. The chicken was everything chicken should be and rarely is: flavorful, moist and tender. It was so enjoyable and the sauces just added to that. The Pave was made with Peruvian purple sweet potatoes and was visually very attractive. The Gouda Mornay and the Turnip Cream were excellent accompaniments. The fourth course from the menu was Grilled Iberico Pork "Pluma" with Fabada Astariana, Spicy Wild Ramp, Red Pepper Adobo Puree, and Grilled Fiddlehead Ferns or Grilled Blonde Morels stuffed with Roasted Date Mole, on Sweet & Sour Chili Agrodolce, and Pickled Shallot. My husband is not normally a fan of pork, but he said if I can make it taste like that, he'd enjoy eating it. This was a first time for both of us having ramps and fiddlehead ferns. Loved the bite from the ramps and the fiddleheads are very visually appealing. The morels were good but I think the mole may have been too intense of a flavor contrast for that dish. For this course, the knives provided had the name ALIAS on the blade and it was subtle but a great touch. Before the final menu course, there was one last extra course. It was a sunchoke puree with cacao nibs, nuts and a scoop of a sorbet on top. It was cool, sweet and savory and unexpectedly delicious. Bringing the menus full circle, the final item for both was Tres Leche Cake with Black Pepper Chantilly, Strawberry Sorbet, Strawberry and Rhubarb. The black pepper provided the perfect contrast to the cake and fruit flavors. For the Cheese plate, there were 4 cheeses, a Housemade Onion Jam and Housemade Crackers. The cheeses included a mild Bleu cheese, a brie, a Swiss cheese and one more hard cheese that I'm blanking on. I shared the Bleu with my husband but he preferred the cake for his final course. I enjoyed both options. After this final course, everyone was presented with a to-go box of 4 cinnamon rolls to take home and enjoy, perhaps for breakfast. This was the perfect conclusion to the meal. If you are looking at restaurants with a prix fixe menu, I would definitely recommend Alias and we enjoyed sitting at the counter and seeing the assembly throughout the meal.

Seder menu this year is similar to past years with some twists: Chicken Marbella - always a winner Brisket - I modified a recipe from Jake Cohen's I Could Nosh for Jew-mami Brisket (as in umami) - I left out the mushrooms since I'm the only one in my house who likes them, skipped the red wine vinegar, doubled the soy sauce instead and made it yesterday a day a head. I liked the crushed tomatoes instead of diced, it really has a nice thick gravy vs. being too watery/evaporated. Charoset this year - I continue to try new stuff. Ashkenazi - tried and true. I had a funny interaction with the very kind woman who runs the Kuhns Orchard Cleveland Park farmer's market stand when I explained what ashkenazi charoset was (apples, walnuts, cinnamon and a bit of sweet wine) and asked for her apple varietal recommendations. I think I really through her for a loop but she suggested a mix. We'll see if people notice the gold rush and crimson crisp as different. We were lucky to travel to Italy and Japan since last passover so I made charoset inspired by those trips. Italian one is a recipe from Portico, Roman-Jewish cookbook I got recently. It has Apple, banana, orange, dates, figs, almond, hazelnuts, and walnuts, sweet wine and cinnamon and is more of a spread than chunky. For Japan, I created my own recipe inspired by popular Japanese ingredients - Asian apple/pears (Nashi in Japanese), sesame seeds, dried cherries (cherry blossom reference even though they aren't actual cherry producing trees), crystalized ginger with Japanese plum wine. It is more floral that others, but I think I like it. Hopefully others will too. Maror/bitter herbs/horseradish - I continued to use the great carrot citrus horseradish recipe from the Gefilte Manifesto which is now a family tradition after making it for many years. It comes out bright orange. Gefilte fish - i again made my own using the Gefilte Manifesto quenelle recipe but with 2 TB of added matzo meal. I had hoped to use halibut again for the fish which has turned out great the past several years. However, 5 different grocery stores and no halibut. Whole foods had only a small amount at a high price. So this year it is 2/3 scarlet snapper and 1/3 flounder from Giant. It turned out a bit pinkish instead of the usual all white. Hopefully everyone enjoys. Asparagus with hazelnut dukkah from Israeli Soul cookbook. Green salad Hardboiled eggs - chopped with salt water for a kind of chunky soup - my wife's family tradition. Chicken soup with matzo balls Matzo farfel - my wife's family recipe to make chunks of egg cooked farfel (matzo chunks) that act like a crouton. Good with soup or even as a snack by the handful when you would normally eat crackers or pretzels but can't during the holiday. Charred zucchini with cherry tomatos and mint from the Israeli Soul cookbook. Dessert is a variety of store bought stuff - fruit gel slices, chocolate lollipops, peppermint patties, but hopefully we'll find time to make homemade coconut macaroos and maybe these soft almond cookies we made last year which were great. Homemade pickles

I can't speak about Daikaya as its been a long time since I was there, but Bantam King continues to be excellent (yeah for the chicken loving, non-pork eaters who get ramen too!) and yes Bantam has its own kitchen in the back of the restaurant. (maybe there is a secret underground tunnel the block or so between it and Daikaya but doubtful).

Went back to Pisco last weekend with my wife. It was nice to see it so busy on a Saturday night. Bar was packed and most tables filled. Happy we made a reservation a few days before. They have a happy hour special that lasts 4pm-7pm everyday so that was likely a draw too. We were really drawn to the Pisco flight of 3 different ones so even though that was one of the few non-HH cocktails, we went for it and really had fun trying the different types - traditional with lime, passion fruit (sweet and smooth - I'm a sucker for passion fruit too), and chicha morada (it is a dark reddish-purple, traditional made from corn, it was somewhat sweet but unique, my least favorite). We had the Nikkei (japanese) ceviche to start with is an ample portion for 2, and probably would have been fine as a small starter for 4. The portions of everything appeared to be large. So good for sharing. The ceviche was nice big chunks of fresh tuna, with shredded onions, chopped cucumber and avocado with a big piece of wonton like cracker and a soy based savory sauce. Similar to a tuna poke without rice. We enjoyed. For mains, my wife had the excellent Lomo Saltado that enjoyed on my last visit. Next time we'll probably share and the size was good she didn't mind me stealing fries - the sauce is so tasty. I got the lamb shank which was pretty good but I'd probably go for something else next time. Nicely cooked, with a rich brown stew like sauce that they cover the whole plate in. Not the best presentation because I almost didn't see the peas and carrots covered in sauce or the rice (& maybe potato) under the shank. It does have a nice contrast though as piled on top of the shank are shredded onions in aji marinade. Overall we really enjoyed the food, nice to be in a lively place for a date night, and the service was very good too. The menu is really big too with a bit for everyone but especially good if you like seafood. We were stuffed and skipped dessert.

For some reason I thought this is some small operation but it's not. Same owner as the Izakaya next door, basically catering to the well-to-doers in Arlington. Potstickers are teeny tiny......generally overpriced but some of the dumplings were decent (lamb with carrot was heavy on cumin, soup dumplings were juicy). The best part is they have good dumpling wrappers but the fillings weren't plentiful. I wouldn't go back. There are better dumplings elsewhere. We spent $200 for 2 adults and 2 kids (with a bottle of pinot grigio for just under $40) - shocking amount of money for half decent Chinese food.