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https://www.atxondo.com Tried a new to us place today. Our usual 4, so enough of us to try a decent portion of the menu, although there are still things we want to try that we did not get to tonight. And not to spoil the review's conclusion, but, well, we WILL be back. 14th Street NW, just south of Decatur, so close to home. Right across from the old bus barn. Opened in the pandemic times as a takeout only place, and I heard about it... and didn't get to it. And then once dining out became a thing again, I remembered it, but didn't get to it. Talking with a friend who lives over that side of the neighborhood this week, she was telling me how good it is. So I remembered it, and put it on the list for SOON. And so, after ensuring that they were OUTSIDE the boil water zone we have going around here right now, off we go tonight for dinner. Started with a round of drinks. A sherry cocktail, a vermouth cocktail, and 2 variations on hot toddies. All tasty. Then we move into food, accompanied by a pitcher of delicious red sangria. Cheese plate. Tasty. Tortilla. Also tasty. Crispy fingerling potatoes, AKA patas bravas. More tasty. Snack chorizo with house made potato chips. VERY tasty. (And this is the point where if you do not know that the owner is a former Estadio chef, you begin to suspect. Perfect clone of the chorizo and potato chip thing there. PERFECT.) Garlic shrimp. The seafood eaters LOVED it. They kept talking about how the lemon was so good. Said it was better than Jaleo, where they have always said they totally loved the garlic shrimp. We have many more things to try on future visits. For example, we did not get to the cauliflower. The seafood folks want to try the scallops, and the boys want to try the grilled octopus. Then, dessert. There are three items on the dessert menu: Churros with chocolate and "condensed milk" (More like a dulce de leche), Flan with coconut milk, Basque cheesecake. So we ordered one of each, along with more drinks - 2 glasses of cava, a sherry, and a hot toddy. Everyone had their favorites. The churros were puffy and very light. And while the other 3 really like the skinny Spanish churros (I like ALL churros!), these were a little fat, but so light! We all loved them. Cheesecake - we all liked it. I think it was a little drier than it should have been, but soooo tasty. Flan - 2 of us don't like coconut, but it was coconut milk, not coconut pieces. And so, we all liked that. Everyone had preferences, but we all agreed that all desserts were well worth eating. We may well just order dessert this way every time we go. Prices reasonable. Food delicious. Service lovely. Space - clearly a neighborhood place, but clean, and nice looking. Neither too bright nor too dark. Really, the only flaw is that there is no bar seating, and we are all barflies! We like to eat at bars. OK, there were 3 stools at the end of the bar, but clearly a service bar with a few seats rather than a bar. Also, we all miss being able to sit at the kitchen counter at Estadio and watch this food get made. And finally, we hope that when we get to summer, the corn from Estadio is on the menu. So, go. Eat. Drink. It's a good place.
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Tapas are also very good at Taberna del Alabardero. I was there a few nights ago again. The tapas still stand strong, although they aren't much better than Jaleo's and cost slightly more per plate (unless you get there for half price tapas between 3 and 5 p.m. weekdays, I think). The wine by the glass and the sangria were outstanding values (and not many over $10 a glass). -
When I moved to the DC area in 1997, one of the first "serious" restaurants I went to was Jaleo. I was just back from nearly a year in Europe with over a month of that time in Spain, so I was hankering for a tapas bar. I was prepared to be disappointed with Jaleo, but instead found myself returning every few weeks over the next couple of years. I intended to go to Cafe Atlantico last night, but the bar at Jaleo looked tempting. And for the first time in a long time, it looked like there were a few free seats. I started with a couple of scallops in Romesco sauce. I enjoyed the sauce, and the scallops were a bit past their prime but still decent. Queso de Tupi "Abuelo Tunica" was a surprise. This was a soft cheese that had been mixed with some sort of Spanish liquor served with bread and fig puree. It had a boozy sharp flavor that hit the spot. I also tried the Ensalada de Remolacha which consisted of beets, orange segments, walnuts, mixed greens and Cabrales-- one of my favorite cheeses. This was tasty, though the beets just didn't taste super fresh. I wouldn't go so far as saying they were canned, but they had definitely been around a while. I finished up my meal with a variety of sliced Spanish sausages: Chorizo, Soria, Butifarra, and Salchichon de Vic. All the meats were great, but I didn't care too much for the whole wheat toast points that came with it. Everything was washed down with a Garnacha, Carinena, Syrah, and Merlot blend called Perlat. I'm glad I stopped in. It had been too long. If I'm in the area, and it's still early enough in the evening to get a seat at the bar, I'll be back. Soon. -
Details from Sietsema & Metrocurean -
I was a bit surprised to see that there were no posts on this restaurant, as Fabio has historically been a figure that has sparked conversation on DR. My wife and I went last night to a mostly full restaurant that is styled very similarly to Fiola Mare, although this space is much larger than Fabio's place on the Georgetown waterfront. Our first observation is that there are a lot of people working on the floor at Del Mar. Including the 2 women working at the host stand, we interacted with 6 different people in our first 2 minutes after being seated. Some people find this style of service attentive; my wife and I feel smothered. My feeling is that if I haven't even opened my menu, any question other than the type of water that I would like is premature. Especially questions about wine from the sommelier before I have been given a wine list, but I digress. After the service staff dispersed, I delved into the menu, which was organized by rather short sections of 3-5 dishes by different types of raw and cold dishes, hot dishes/appetizers, mains, and plates to be shared. We kicked things off with 6 oysters from New Jersey that were described as "briny and succulent", which is right up my alley. Unfortunately, while the oysters were succulent, I would definitely not describe them as briny, as they were a bit flat and not woken up by the Escabeche Vinaigrette. Another sauce was also delivered with the oysters, described as an "aioli", which was interesting as I have never heard of anyone having a mayo-like dip with oysters. This sounded awful to me, but my curiosity was piqued, so I tried it to make sure I wasn't missing anything with one of my oysters, and it was just as poorly paired and bad as it sounds. I'm assuming the inclusion was a mistake, as I can't imagine anyone liking what I tried last night. Shame on me for not using my better judgment, I guess. From there we went to hot appetizers, where we chose the Sopa de Castana y Cangrejo and the Scallops, Sea Urchin, and Black Truffles. The soup was far and away the best dish of the night, exactly what we were looking for on a cold night. It felt vintage-Trabocchi, very rich and flavorful, extracting flavors from ingredients and appropriate spicing to deliver a rich, well-balanced dish. We wanted seconds. The scallops were also nice, well paired with the vibrant sea urchin, but this would have been a better warm weather dish as it was very cold and very light. For our main, we got the Arroz Negro de Calamares en su Tinta. I should note here that we have had paella and arroz negro many times on trips to Spain and at restaurants in the US. We have had a couple versions that we really liked, but we often feel underwhelmed by these types of dishes. Maybe we don't love paella (or Spanish food in general)? I'm not sure, but I figure that I would point this out before saying that we were massively disappointed in this dish. It came out and was plated well by our waiter into large portions along with a side of lemon and, yet again, aioli. I asked the waiter about the aioli, to see if there was a particular way to eat the arroz with it as I have never seen it presented this way. He said that it was how "everybody" ate the dish, which confused me because I have had paella in Mallorca and Barcelona and have never seen it come with any sort of mayo substance. Is this normal? Again, I took the bait and put a dab of it on the side of my plate, dipping a bit of calamari and black rice in to take a taste. No. I can't believe that "everybody" eats this dish this way, as it became gooey and added nothing to the flavor palate. I ignored it for the rest of the meal, but again I must not be getting it, because I found the arroz to be bland and rather uninteresting, even with a copious amount of lemon squirted on top. Also, the calamari was somehow grilled and very chewy on the outside, but slimy and wet on the inside, combining both ways that I don't like my calamari cooked into one bite somehow. We were starving, but both of us still left a lot on our plates, as this just did not work for us on so many levels. We were a bit disheartened after the arroz negro, so we decided to pass on dessert and get the bill. For 2 glasses of Cava Brut, a middle of the road bottle of Ribeiro ($65), and the food listed above, the bill came to $232 after tax. I had to look twice, as this was more money than we had spent on any meal since our last visit to Komi, and far from extravagant or particularly satisfying food. At this price point, I can't possibly see us coming back here, but again maybe we just don't like this style of cuisine or we could have ordered better (cold crudo on a 40 degree night, yes that's my bad). I'll be interested to see how this place does over the years, as it really is huge, very expensive, and in the hot new high-rent district of DC. -
I have been watching this place get whipped into shape and cannot wait for it to open. I love Spanish food and wine. I see promise for Ballston's food scene since the chef was the first chef at Taberna del Alabardero, which is a fantastic Spanish stable in the DC area. "SER Restaurant To Serve Up Spanish-Inspired Comfort Food In Arlington" by Mary Ann Barton on patch.com Team: Chef/Proprietor Josu Zubikarai Sous Chef David Sierra Business Operations/Proprietor Javier Candon Guest Relations/Proprietor Christiana Campos-Candon General Manager Merv Laihow -
Some friends and I had a wonderful lunch at Joselita today, in the old Sona Creamery and Wine Bar spot around the corner from Eastern Market. The space is beautiful aesthetically, with a wall full of black and white family photographs in the main room, another covered with posters, a very long sleek bar, and cafe tables and chairs. It has a European feel, as though one had stepped off Capitol Hill and right across the ocean. As has been noted in reviews, the menu offers three sizes of portions: tapas size, half size, and full size. We ordered five tapas portions, two from the "cold" side of the menu and three from the "hot" selections. Our server helpfully pointed out that the hot portions tend to be a little larger than the cold ones of the same size category, which we found generally to be true. I tried all but the Jamon Iberico de Bellota “Capanegra” - $12/23/45; Jabugo hand cut black foot Iberian ham, country bread. My friends loved this. The "country bread" were very small croutons shaped like itty-bitty baguettes. My favorite dish was probably Almejas a la sarten - $10/19/39; Manila clams, garlic, oloroso sherry. This was a more generous portion than I expected for a tapas serving, filling a decent-sized bowl, and I was glad for every last one of them. The clam broth was exquisite soaked up with the chunks of wonderful soft and crusty rustic bread that was brought for the table. (I also ate quite a bit of the bread with the plate of excellent salt-, pepper-, and rosemary-accented olive oil that accompanied the bread basket.) We ordered two types of pork with very different flavor profiles. One was Solomillo de cerdo al whisky con papas fritas - $10/19/39 Iberian pork tenderloin, garlic, cumin, fries. This boasted a winning combination of flavors enhanced by a slightly boozy sauce. Once all was gone, I further cleaned the plate of the sauced bits of onion and garlic remaining. One friend said that the fries topping the plate tasted like french fries filled with mashed potatoes, which is a creative description that hits the mark. Speaking of mashed potatoes, the other pork tapas dish was Presa Iberica a la plancha - $16/31/na; Grilled Iberian pork shoulder, mashed potato. The mashed potatoes were a perfect grilled or griddled mashed potato cake. There was a flavor to this pork we couldn't pinpoint, almost like maybe a mildly sour flavor. The tenderloin had a more assertive peppery flavor to it, which I think I liked little more, but both cuts of pork were good. It seemed odd that shoulder was significantly more expensive than tenderloin for about the same amount of meat, but it reads from the menu that the shoulder might actually be Iberico and the tenderloin something else. Not sure and I didn't ask. The other cold tapas that one friend ordered and I had a bit of was Crudo de atún y aguacate con cebolletas y almendras - $9/17/33; Tuna carpaccio, avocado mousse, spring onions, almonds. This was perhaps the smallest portion of all. It was very clean-tasting and fresh, though the avocado mousse didn't seem to have much flavor. Perhaps it was meant to be a blank canvas against (well, below) the tuna. Service was just great. Our server was very attentive and went above and beyond while we fussed over splitting the check. We agreed that we would order any of the things we tried again. If I were ordering only one kind of pork, I think I would go with the tenderloin, but I would certainly eat the pork shoulder again. Joselito is a great addition to the Capitol Hill/Eastern Market dining scene. There's nothing else like it around there, and I hope they thrive. -
My cousin was in town for a conference and she comes from a place of very limited restaurant choices so I wanted to take her somewhere different and unique, and I have to say, I crushed it on the restaurant choice! 😉 I mean, how could I go wrong with a Spanish-Japanese mash up?!!? We opted for the omakase meal and we completely blown away from start to finish. Every dish was as beautiful to look at as it was wonderful to taste, and every part of each dish was just fantastic ( there were no throw away components). Shockingly, the place was fairly empty on Thursday night, but I'm hoping that's because it's so new. The only complaint I had was with the lighting. It was too dark to see the beauty of each course without using the light on my phone. When we were leaving the chef was at the host's stand and we raved about the meal for a bit and then, since I had a captive audience, told him my complaint about the low level lighting. He said they just turned the lights down tonight for the first time because the restaurant designer/stylist told him that with the lights turned up it made the place look like a fast food joint! Unfortunately, neither my words, nor the photos do justice to the experience, but here goes. First up was Hamachi/Citrus Dashi/kumquats - we were encouraged to eat the components and drink the broth at the end. Amazing! They could have served the broth alone and it would have been a successful dish! The fish was so tender that I "chewed" it with my tongue! It was also served at the perfect temperature for maximum flavor. Chawanmushi/tempura oyster/seaweed was next, and it was another wonderful combination of tastes and textures. The tempura oysters were topped off with roe and they were great on their own, but the real star was the chawanmushi. I think I could eat a gallon of that stuff! Botan Ebi/ponsu jelly/uni/crème fraiche was the third course and it was another combination a dozen different flavors and textures. We were told to stick the spoon all the way to the bottom and get a bit of each layer. This dish was very hard to photograph, but I included two photos below so you see the layers. Steamed Cod/Gazpachuelo/Potato Trinxat was up next. The description is how it's written on the menu they gave us to take home, but it was described as Black Cod vs. Cod. Either way, it was amazing. Again the cod was tongue-chewable...so tender!! The fish was amazing but the other components were equally impressive the potato thing was shockingly good, as was the foamy broth on the bottom (visible on the left side of the photo). I don't know if that was the gazpachuelo or just part of it, and I don't care! It was fantastic. I'd also like a gallon of it to take home!! Nameko Mushroom Rice/Scallop/Guanciale was next. It also included the soft, internal part of burrata cheese (not visible in the photo below). We were told to mix the rice and burrata together and eat it like that. The scallop was absolutely perfectly cooked and absolutely delicious yet it was the least impressive part of the dish!! The mushroom/rice/burrata combo was mind blowing. SOOOO GOOOOD! The final dish was Quail/Salsify Puree/Foie Gras Escabeche. The quail was very tender and moist and the foie was ridiculously tender (much more so than what I had at Clarity earlier in the week). The salsify was also a surprising hit. I'm not that familiar with salsify, but I'm considering growing it now!! Dessert was a "Gin and Tonic" - I have no idea how to describe this and the photo below is awful. It was a wonderful and unique and had little bits of cucumber in it! Whatever it was, it was a great success! We also got a Winter Citrus Tart/yuzu curd/mandarin sorbet/coconut which was very good, but probably the most standard/least interesting dish of the night. The final little bite (not described on the menu) were two little candies. One was gumdrop type of dish that was good, and the other was combination of miso, caramel and salt. This was an amazing bite! It was one of those dishes that makes you wonder why no one ever combined those flavors before! Fantastic!! I wanted a dozen more! I did the wine pairing which was nice and included a couple sakes, including a rose' sake that got its color from red yeast. Who knew that was a thing! I can't recommend this place highly enough! This was the most interesting and memorable meal that I've had in a long time and two days later, it's still all that I'm thinking about!
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Seeing Katelin's post reminded me that a third encarnation of Boqueria was supposed to open this year at 1837 M Street (the old Penang space) - does anyone have any updates? Their DC website is here. -
La Cuchara website Located in the converted factory Meadow Mill across from Union Craft Brewing, La Cuchara opened in April from chef-owner Ben Lefenfeld, the former executive chef at Petit Louis. The review from the Baltimore Sun covers a lot and provides some pictures of the area, bar, grill (which I was impressed by - I'm not an expert on the subject but I'm told it's very unique to the region), and of course food. Gorelick seemed fairly impressed by most everything, so I'd recommend reading his professional review before diving into my amateur one. "La Cuchara and its Basque Cuisine Make a Bold Entrance" by Richard Gorelick on baltimoresun.com The menu changes daily, so don't expect to see the same things as below, but I'll outline everything anyways. I started off with a unique cocktail recommended by a friend, Bull's Blood (Red Beets, Green Hat Gin, Tarragon, Pepper, $11), which tasted like fresh beets. Obviously would not recommend if you don't like red beets because that's the bulk of the flavor, but it was extremely delicious to me. The other cocktail I had was the False Idol (Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Lemon, Agave Nectar, $10) described by Gorelick above and his review was spot-on so I won't say more other than I highly recommend it as well. I decided to explore the pintxos and tapas last night (but I'm told the duck confit entree is amazing), so we started off exploring the pintxos available. Very small portions, mostly served on skewers, were readily available upon ordering as they were prepared at the bar where we were sitting. The Tortilla Espanola and manchego/red onion/pedro ximenez were great starters while the jamon croquette was a highlight - this was just served individually FYI so harder to split than the skewars which were served as two pieces each. You'll be able to eyeball them at the bar or ask to see the serving sizes. We didn't sample a lot of the bread that was served after we ordered our tapas, but the four varieties were baked there and the couple small pieces I had were on point. We snacked on some shishito peppers, grilled and lightly salted/flavored, before squash blossoms were served - stuffed with goat cheese and fried, these were excellent - we were lucky to get the last order. We rounded everything off with a veal tenderloin that was very tender and flavorful and a variety of early summer vegetables served with a dollop of soft sheep's cheese. All in all, a great meal and experience. La Cuchara 3600 Clipper Mill Rd, Baltimore Open 7 days/week, 5p-10p (11p Fri & Sat)- 7 replies
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I did a search and couldn't find anything on Tio Pepe's. This is a Spanish Restaurant in Baltimore that was amazing the two times I have been there. The first time there, my wife had a special with scallops and a lemon wine butter sauce. The scallops were the best I have ever had ... melted in my mouth and the flavor was amazing. I had a dish called the 3 Amigos which was lamb beef and pork (either pork or chicken ... I forget) and it was really good. The second time there I was with a group of people and we ordered fish that was filleted table side. The presentation was wonderful and the flavor amazing. The sangria was also a definite hit ... in their pitchers with the fresh fruit. Has anyone else happened upon this restaurant? If so ... which dishes were great and which ones should be avoided? -
Hey how'd you do that Don? LOL Washington City Paper reports on an upcoming cider producer and pintxos bar that will also have various ciders on draft and by the bottle. -
That's the salt cod. I worry about what that does to his business, because it probably turns a lot of people off. The fish is actually very fresh-- never had a problem. They supply a lot of restaurants in the area. -
Mola opened tonight, in the former Radius space on Mount Pleasant St (the same building as Purple Patch). I was lucky enough to be invited by owners Karlos Leopold and Erin Lingle to the soft opening last week. Good, adult-tasting cocktails and a nice, short list of Spanish wines. We didn't try the seafood dishes, but the veggie plates had a lot of depth of flavor, the sort of Mediterranean treatment that's more common in California restaurants. Below: fried goat cheese with honey and beet chips, and sherry-glazed artichokes with herb, egg, and pine nut sauce. Their website at http://www.moladc.com is still under construction. The initial menu is here (350523116-Mola-Menu.pdf)
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I saw an ad for La Tasca today. It said "so authentic that you won't find anything better in Spain." I'm at a complete loss of words here. That and my undershorts are all wet. -
Here's the version I had at Del Mar. Last night, I had a very interesting, loosely based (one might say "inspired-by") version at The Dabney: Tomato Tartine ($16)
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We had an amazing version of pan con tomate this weekend at Del Mar which reminded me that i really need to learn how to make this at home. their version had a lot of tomato pulp, not just a smear, and a deep garlic flavor though i saw no garlic bits, and used pan cristal. Does anyone have any tips on how to make this? i've read about the method where you cut a tomato in half and rub it on the grilled bread-does that actually work? or is the method where you grate it better, or some other method? what's the best bread to use-ciabatta? and does it matter if you grill, broil, or toast it? thank you!
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Andy Hayler's Reviews
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I posted a review in Intrepid Traveler, but the Dining Guide includes Fauquier County, so here is another observation. In a few words, this is the best Cuban restaurant within 50 miles of Washington DC. Setting aside the noisy bar area and the slow service, this quaint little gem is decorated in a nice Cuban/Spanish style, and somewhat hidden in a large strip mall on the eastern edge of Warrenton. The food is very good, the prices are reasonable and the mojitos are great. I enjoyed a great tapas sampler tonight and I'm going back tomorrow for a Cubano sandwich. Tonight I had the pulpo (octopus) a la Gallega, spicy mussel tapa, scallops in paprika and lechon (pork) asado, all of which were spot on. I accompanied these dishes with a couple of mojitos, straight up originals instead of the many variations on the menu. I'll say that the octopus -- in a garlic-oil sauce with perfectly cooked potatoes -- was superb. The scallops in paprika were perfect, fresh and moist on the inside and nicely crisp on the outside. The lechon was the best pork dish I can remember enjoying in a long while, nicely specked with fresh chopped onions and fresh parsley. And the spicy mussels were buried under a spicy tomato sauce that begged to be sopped up with all the bread in sight. And speaking of bread, before all the tapas arrived there was bread on the table with an interesting dipping sauce of oil, lemon, garlic and grated cheese, so there wasn't a lot of leftover bread! And these four dishes, with two mojitos for me and two glasses of wine for Lady Kibbee, along with tax and generous tip, added up to a mere $80. I'll admit my judgment may be a bit blurred by a pair of mojitos, but I have been searching the DC metropolitan area for good Cuban fare for years. If I bite into a decent Cubano sandwich there tomorrow, I will sing the praises of this place high and low, near and far. Please add this jewel to the Fauquier County list in the Dining Guide, and count on multiple additional visits from Kibbee Nayee in the future. UPDATE -- Returned today for the Cubano sandwich, and it was very good. I can't truly say it was better than any Cubano in the DC area -- there was one at Acadiana as a special that was about as good, but it trounces anything I've tried at Cuba Libre or Fast Gourmet, for example. The bread was perfectly pressed, and the ham and Swiss cheese inside were very nicely warm, balanced against the briny crunch of the pickle. The pork looked like the pieces of pork that otherwise ends up as lechon asado, but this was a darned good sandwich. I swapped the side of fries for the plantains, and I'm glad I did. Crisply sweet on the outside and almost creamy on the inside, they were very good. I declare this restaurant the best Cuban restaurant in our extended area, and despite the trek, it's a heck of a lot closer than Miami. -
Eric Sandler reports that Ignacio Torras and Luis Roger are planning a more casual pintxos-focused restaurant in River Oaks to be named MAD (sticking with the Spanish airport theme). I celebrated my most recent birthday at BCN, and very much look forward to visiting whatever Torres has planned for MAD. BCN is certainly fine dining, but maintains a friendliness and relaxed-enough vibe that it never feels stuffy (despite the fact that you'd probably feel out of place if you weren't wearing a jacket). Paco, the GM treated us as though we were old friends from the moment we walked up to the front door. They do the classics well, including an extensive gin & tonic list. I have a soft-spot for Spanish culture and cuisine, so I am likely to be predisposed to like a place like BCN, but I do think it does a fantastic job of balancing the classics with modern interpretations of Spanish flavors. Our arroz negro hewed closely to the Platonic ideal, while the confit pork cheeks with lentils and chanterelles introduced a new way for me to obsess over Iberian pork. (Click through to see other photos on IG.) -
This restaurant serves Tapas and Spanish style food on 14th Street. The service at this place is impeccable. While waiting in the bar, there were so many servers and bussers going past and instead of making you feel like they were in their way, they made you feel like they were in your way. The bartenders actively make eye contact with the patrons, instead of you fighting to get their attention. And, in case you didn't know, this place is packed to the brim nightly. I came tonight, on a cold DC Thursday expecting the absolute worst. I've walked in and walked out because I was told there was a 2 hour wait. They don't do many reservations, and I actually don't know their rules for doing them. We were told 1 hour and it ended up being close to 1 hour and 30 minutes. When I went up as the annoying guest asking "are we there yet?" they took the time to tell me why it was taking longer and then let us know an updated time, which was fairly accurate. We were seated by a vivacious and energetic hostess that had been dealing with impatient and likely rude guests all evening, and she never broke her smile the whole night. I came with 7+ a high chair for a 21 month old. We were placed at a cozy table and I'll tell the truth, we told them 6, and added one at last minute. We were those people. They added a chair and we got very close. Waters delivered immediately, two waiters introduced themselves, and took drink orders. They also told us that specific dishes took a long time (paella and grilled meat platters), which got us to put those in first. We ordered 2 patatas bravas, 2 asparagus with aioli, seafood paella, a churrasco, multiple hamachi crudos, gambas ajillo, 2 tortillas, blood sausage, 2 chorizo with fig, scallops, lamb chops, 2 lamb burgers, 2 beef empanadas.. I think that's all of it. The pacing was impeccable. Rarely were we overburdened. Service was slowed down when it needed to be, but with attention to whether we needed more drinks. The food quality was high - highlights included lamb chops, churrasco, chorizo, hamachi crudo... Paella was not like Barcelona the city, but tasty in it's own right. Not one dish was bad. I never order patatas bravas because stateside it's essentially French fries and hot sauce, but here the fiery tomato sauce and aioli made it impressive. I can't really get thinking about the food, even though it was fabulous, I'm just so impressed at the way the restaurant presented itself. A prince amongst men... I hated the idea of this place - a Connecticut chain, the hottest gals and guys in DC, a hostess that could be a model, a fancy bar and terribly long wait times. But, sometimes the execution and the effort overstate any potential negatives. If the food gets any better and the service stays the same, this place will last a long time. And, final caveat - I freaking hate tapas state side.- 13 replies
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Pamplona soft opened yesterday (food is 20% off yesterday and today), and their official opening is tomorrow, Thurs, Jan. 12 (Washington City Paper).
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After our daughter was born last month, some good friends very generously sent us a gift box from Zingerman's that contained, among other things, a package of tortas de aceite. Per Wikipedia: "The torta de aceite, is a light, crisp and flaky sweet biscuit in the shape of a torta. The main ingredients are wheat flour, olive oil, almonds, sugar, sesame seeds, anise seeds and anise flavor." The package recommended having them with coffee or tea, and they were addictively good. Light, not too sweet, and with the right amount of olive oil flavor and spice to give it character. We're jonesing for some more. They're a bit pricey at Zingerman's though ($25 for a package of 12). Anyone know if the specialiy or higher-end supermarkets in the area carry them?
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For tapas? Jaleo. Hands down. Don't waste your time elsewhere. There are many restaurants that serve "small plates" as they say these days, but tapas is Spanish and for the best tapas in DC you go to Jaleo.
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Unless there's a topic that specifically demands its own thread (and there may well be), this thread can be a catch-all for any questions about learning the Spanish language - either Spanish Spanish, Latin-American Spanish, or even Portuguese (although that language, of course, is different enough to be considered distinct). We also have a diverse-enough member base where similar threads could be started for any given language; I happen to be dabbling in Spanish at the moment. My question is about the pronunciation of Escobar, as in, "Season 2 of Narcos is now out on Netflix." The default accent in Spanish is generally the penultimate syllable - there are numerous exceptions, and this is obviously one of them. Why is there no "acento agudo" over the "E" in Escobar? Stated differently, given that there is no acento agudo, why isn't the second syllable accented? With verb infinitives ending in "ar," the final syllable is (usually?) accented, but I believe that with Escobar, the initial syllable gets the accent. If I'm wrong about this, then the entire question may be moot.
