Demvtr

McLean is a fairly nice locale with a dearth of particularly good restaurants. Aside from one entree salad at J. Gilbert's that I happen to like, there is nothing in McLean that makes me want to head there for dinner. Or, at least, there wasn't anything in McLean worth the trip until Friday night. Assaggi Osteria in McLean (in the same shopping center as the Balducci's), related to the Assaggi Mozzarella Bar in Bethesda, is conducting its soft opening this weekend. One of the people involved in opening the McLean location is a client of mine, and I scored an invitation to the first night of the soft opening (12/11). The meal was complimentary, though my wife and I paid for drinks and tip. I must note that I am generally disinclined to go to Italian restaurants. I'm not a huge fan of pasta, and I don't like cheese. But my wife, who lived in Italy for a year, craves both pasta and cheese, so this was a good opportunity to appease her Italian craving. And appease the craving it did; my wife used phrases like "this is heaven," and "oh my god," and words like "fantastic" and "amazing." Before discussing the food, I will state for the record that the service is still working out some kinks. Our waiter, who was extremely pleasant, probably pointed out and explained 75% of the menu options, some unnecessarily. (I think most diners now know what gnocchi is.) This was likely connected to the fact that we were participating in the soft opening; I doubt the waiter will always be inclined to take up so much time going over the menu. On a somewhat more substantive note, the timing of the food service was off; our bread came out 20 or more minutes after we were seated, and every course took an eternity to arrive. Ultimately, our dinner became a two-and-a-half hour affair. But I cannot believe that this will be how the restaurant normally operates, and I think a restaurant's opening-night service and timing should be afforded a great deal of leeway. On to the food. Normally, I wouldn't remark on the bread because I tend to avoid the bread basket when I know I'm in for a three-course meal. But I was famished when the bread basket arrived, and gave it a whirl. I am in no way exaggerating when I say the bread was amazing. Hot, crusty, tender, flavorful; the bread was perfect, and we couldn't stop remarking on it. I started with a half-order of the sweet potato ravioli sprinkled with crushed amaretti cookies. Not an original menu item by any means, but the execution was notable. The ravioli were small, hot, and, if I had to guess, pan-fried. The sweet potato filling was satisfying, and the brown butter sauce was delicious, neither too thick nor too thin, making every bite a pleasure. My wife started with the carciofini salad, a mix of greens, artichokes, sunchokes, and cherry tomatoes, tossed in a simple vinaigrette (possibly with a faint lemon undertone). For an upcharge, the restaurant offers either buffalo mozzarella or burrata on the salad. My wife asked for mozzarella, and thought she received it, though we noted on the check at the end of the night that the waiter entered burrata on the ticket, so she is now unsure which she had. Regardless, she, for lack of a better expression, flipped out over how good the cheese was. The only pauses she took in eating the half-ball of cheese was to remark about it being utterly fantastic and heavenly. She hadn't had cheese on par with Assaggi's since she lived in Italy, and she is already planning on bringing her family to Assaggi to try the cheese. The entrees were very good, though not quite on par with the appetizers. My wife had the cavatelli with broccoli, which she enjoyed and about which she made uniformly positive remarks. We both felt that the menu could benefit from one or two more vegetarian entrees, including a simple pasta with red sauce. I had sea bass, but I'm not sure which preparation I ended up with. There were two striped sea bass entrees on the menu, and I believe the special was also a sea bass. I ordered the sea bass dish that should have come over a ragu of vegetables; I specifically avoided the sea bass dish that came with chopped potatoes and olives because I dislike olives. I ended up, however, with the latter dish, which I opted not to send back because (i) it was 10:00 p.m. by that point, (ii) I was not hungry enough to worry about the sides, and (iii) I'm not ungrateful for a free meal. I tried to spear a few of the chopped potato chunks, but they were so undercooked that getting a fork into each chunk was difficult. That is, however, a problem that I'm sure the kitchen can and will quickly remedy. The sea bass itself was very good; nothing innovative or amazing, but well-cooked, tasty, and worth ordering again. Dessert was top notch. My wife's deep dish of tiramisu consisted of a top layer of thick, sweet, frosting-like cream with layers of cake and rich espresso flavor beneath. She enjoyed it, though she didn't have room to finish it. I had a small, round, pumpkin-filled sweet cake served with cinnamon ice cream. It was an elegant little treat to end the meal. The restaurant's interior is classy, though not regal. The combination of bright yellow walls, dark wood trim, floors covered in a cork-like carpet, and white tablecloths leaves a slightly generic impression. Don't get me wrong; it looks and feels like a nice restaurant, one appropriate for business dinners or first dates. It just needs a little more personality, which may come with the addition of artwork on the walls. Assaggi in McLean impressed us, and I am sure it will become more impressive as it gets some time under its belt.

The butternut squash soup at 2 Amy's on Sunday night had the slightly odd consistency of baby food, but it was sweet, slightly spicy, and completely satisfying. The Minestra pomadaro (tomato soup) at Pinzimini on October 30 was like a bowl full of butter chicken sauce from Delhi Dhaba, and I mean that in the best way possible.

The kabocha squash soup at the Source is worth every cent of the $12.00 I spent on it last night. Easily the best soup I've had this year.

A bowl of butternut squash soup at Jackson 20 on October 29 was rich and flavorful, good enough to order again (though not so amazing as to warrant a soup pilgrimage). Carrot soup at Restaurant Vero on November 14 was exactly as it should have been; not too thin, not too thick, savory with a hint of sweetness, and just the right amount. If you like carrot, you'll like the soup. Pumpkin soup at Black's Bar and Kitchen on November 15 was not as great as it read on the menu, as it lacked flavor, but the duck confit fritter swimming in the bowl saved the dish from being totally pedestrian.

My fiancée and I ate dinner at the Arlington Astor Mediterranean last night (2/13/08). We arrived around 8:40 p.m., and we were the only customers there for a time. The restaurant presents as sort of a deli/fast-food restaurant, with much of its fare on display in glass units sandwiching the cash register. Orders are placed at the counter, and patrons can then get napkins, silverware, and condiments from a central location before grabbing a table. Our entrees were brought to the table for us, though I do not know if this is regularly the practice or if the employees did this just because the place was almost empty. My fiancée ordered a triangular "spinach pie" (spanakopita) and the falafel platter (four small-ish falafel patties, Egyptian salad, mini-serving of hummus in a plastic container, and grape leaf), and I got the "Astor vegetarian," which is a vegetarian sampler comprised of two falafel, tabouleh salad, beet salad, Egyptian salad, chickpea salad, eggplant moussaka (or, as they describe it, "mussaka"), baba ganoush, fava bean dip, hummus, and lentil salad. The vegetarian sampler, by the way, is not nearly as big as it sounds (which is fine by me), and would not constitute a meal for two people. The spinach pie seemingly lacked the feta cheese noted on the menu, but was enjoyed. The falafel was perfectly good, though not great (I once again note that Sammy T's in Fredericksburg has the best falafel anywhere in Virginia or D.C.). The tzatziki (Greek yogurt sauce) served with the falafel was very, very good. They should sell it in the form of an appetizer. The fava bean dip was flavorless; it should be replaced with something like the spicy red pepper-walnut dip you can find at certain Middle Eastern restaurants such as Layalina. The Egyptian salad was similar to fattoosh salad, but lacking sumac and pita chips, both of which would have helped it. The hummus was okay, but nothing distinctive. The lentil salad was good if you like lentils, and the same is true of the beet, tabouleh, and chickpea salads. There was nothing offensive about those dishes, but nothing amazing, either. The baba ganoush was fantastic. Really, really good. I order baba all over the place, and Astor's version is one of the best. The only thing detracting from it was the generic pita that just doesn't do justice to any of the dips. The eggplant mussaka was outstanding, worthy enough on its own to make me a repeat customer. It had a wonderful flavor and perfect texture. And the grape leaf (or "vine" leaf, as they label it) was stellar. It was fresh and dripped with a slightly tangy oil. I ordered baklava to take home for dessert, and it was superb. The meal, including the baklava, came to about $26.00, including tax and tip. Now that I have a feel for the menu's high and low points, I am sure that I'll head back.

I've shunned the Amphora for years because of eating there (the Vienna location) about a thousand times as a kid. My father still loves it. But I have, in the last two months, been there three times, and each time had the Caribbean salad. It's a huge salad consisting of a pile of mixed greens tossed with slices of avocado, mango, pineapple, red peppers, and oranges, along with a handful of walnuts. The dressing is a very pleasant citrus vinaigrette. The salad, along with a warm roll, makes for a satisfying light meal.

My fiancée and I had dinner at Ravi Kabob last night. I had the punjabi curry, which featured pakora swimming in a creamy, spicy, but oddly flavorless sauce. Not bad, but not good enough to get again. The side of chickpeas was outstanding, and the naan was very, very good, though not amazing. The samosa we started with were surprisingly spicy, which I appreciated, though they had obviously been reheated and had a somewhat unpleasant chewy texture. The experience was sullied by something I saw in the kitchen area. As noted above, I ordered the punjabi curry, a vegetarian entree. When my plate was brought to my table, the entree I had been presented with was some sort of curry with meat in it. I anticipated that this would happen, as I saw the guy in the kitchen ladle out of a different buffet tray than where I knew the punjabi curry to be. I didn't say anything because I couldn't be sure that the plate in question was definitely my order. So when the plate was, in fact, set down in front of me, I sent it back. The server picked up the plate, took it back to the front of the store, handed it over the counter to the guy in the kitchen, and the guy in the kitchen proceeded to dump the uneaten meat curry back into the serving buffet! I suspect, though I don't know, that this is impermissible under the relevant health code, and such casual disregard (or simple ignorance) of the health code is enough to prevent me from returning.

My girlfriend and I ate dinner at the Crystal City Jaleo last night (10/25). I hadn't been to Jaleo in, literally, years (and therefore had not been to the Crystal City location), but it is back on my restaurant radar with a vengeance. We started by sharing the "classic" gazpacho and the "traditional white" gazpacho. The classic gazpacho was, as advertised, a straightforward take on the simple cold soup, and it conveyed a fresh, rich flavor, given body by olive oil. While the classic gazpacho was all we hoped for, the white gazpacho was nothing less than sensational. The bowl landed on my side of the table, but my girlfriend, after her first taste, was not shy about spooning out her share of the soup. The clear bowl set on the table showcases a layer of slivered almonds, white grapes, and crab meat, over which the thick, white soup is poured by a server. The soup, tasting of almonds and subtle sweetness, manages to be both creamy and light, and the crab, slivered almonds, and grapes give each savored spoonful a wonderful texture. I believe I used the word "fantastic" twice while eating the dish. A small plate of grilled asparagus in almond-tomato sauce was perfectly good, though the plate (and our stomachs) probably had room for more asparagus than is served. The patatas bravas, a reflexive order, were firing on all cylinders; hot, smothered in tomato sauce and garlic aioli, brown on the edges, and tender inside. Chicken croquettes were another fried indulgence, the chicken softened and made lush with béchamel sauce and encased in a crisp crust. The chicken croquettes were well-served by a side of requested honey aioli, a sauce that is on its way to becoming one of my favorite condiments. The bread was a yawn, but the coffee was a full-flavored pleasure, and the service, food delivery, and payment process were prompt, which was appreciated, as we were trying to get to a movie. Next time, however, we have every incentive to linger over a few more dishes.

Me Jana's name conveys the Lebanese restaurant's desire to make its customers feel like family. Diners are greeted with a kind word and a basket of warm pita at the table akin to the soft, pillowy bread served at Zaytinya. A small plate in the center of the table contains olives, zatar (a spice), olive oil, and labneh (a thick yogurt), and the pita is well-served by a quick swipe through the olive oil and a dip in the labneh. Me Jana's interior suits its neighborhood. Red walls, glossy wood floors, and dark wood tables set a hip, stylish tone. Black cloth napkins, candles on the table, and stemless glasses for red wine help round out the ambiance, but the restaurant is not so urban, upscale, and/or grandiose in appearance that it seems out of place in Arlington. One can walk in wearing jeans and a sweater or a going-out-on-the-town outfit and feel comfortable. The dinner menu consists of over 40 small plates and fewer than ten entrees. The small plates range in price from $5.00 (thyme fries) to $14.00 (lamb shank); entrees range in price from $17.00 (kafta kebob) to $29.00 (lamb chops). Me Jana's prices are a potentially fatal problem and may scare many diners away, particularly the diners in surrounding apartment and condominium buildings who might otherwise become regulars. The fattouch salad, at $7.50 for a small bowl, is almost two dollars more than at Zaytinya and over two dollars more than at the excellent Pita House in Old Town Alexandria. The savory, minty salad, a Lebanese restaurant staple, is also more expensive than at Me Jana's closest geographic competitor, Aladdin's Eatery. Seven dollars for four small falafel patties exceeds the prices at Aladdin's, Pita House, and Zaytinya, and many other items are similarly overpriced. Price complaints aside, the food does not disappoint. The aforementioned fattouch salad is a strong rendition, featuring well-diced tomatoes, onions, peppers, and cucumbers doused in olive oil, enlivened by sumac, and complemented by pita chips. The kitchen may wish to ease up a little on the mint and be a bit more generous with the sumac and pita chips, but those are minor issues; the salad is a superb start to a meal. The goat cheese and oranges salad also won approval from its recipient. The falafel is one of the better versions in the area, superior to the offerings of Aladdin's Eatery or Pasha Café, and on par with the chickpea patties at Zaytinya. No unappealing dryness or crumbly texture here, and every drop of the shallow pool of tahini sauce on the plate deserves to be swept up. Me Jana's version of fatteh, consisting of two long, thick strips of fried eggplant covered in thick yogurt sauce, chickpeas, and pita chips, reads well on the menu, but loses something in translation from paper to plate. The dish is satisfying, but some aspect of flavor is missing; maybe the omitted element is tanginess in the somewhat bland yogurt, a dusting of zatar, or hot, melted butter (which saturates the fabulous version at the Pita House). Despite the need to revisit the recipe, the dish is worth keeping on the menu. Cheese-centric plates are crowd-pleasers. The cheese rolls, which are, in essence, manchego- and feta-filled spring rolls, were roundly hailed. Zucchini fritters were enjoyed, but at least one diner opined that the dish fell a hair short of Zaytinya's version. The potato kibbe, potato dumplings filled with melted feta cheese, elicited nothing but positive remarks, and the four potato dumplings come with a small bonus mound of tasty baba gannouj in the center of the plate. The baba gannouj is also available as a separate small plate, and while it is a high-grade version of the eggplant dip, $6.50 is a D.C., not Arlington, asking price. Me Jana's staff seems well-trained, and is inarguably enthusiastic. A host or hostess greets patrons with a big smile, and servers are equally cheery. Water glasses are filled quickly after a diner indicates that ice water is fine, bread comes out (and is replaced) quickly, fresh cups of coffee appear without request, and one can expect to be asked at least twice during a meal whether he or she is enjoying the food. Despite a few dishes that are stilll works in progress, the answer will almost certainly be "yes."

My mother is Peruvian, and we both like Granja De Oro in Falls Church and Pollos Inti in Sterling. Costa Verde in Arlington is well-regarded, but I have never been impressed with a meal there. My mother and I had lunch today at Pollos Inti. I had the best fried plantains I've had all year, and I've had them in at least a dozen different places. The fried yuca were hot and crispy, and the papa a la huancaina was creamy and satisfying. With an Inca Kola, a salad, and a tamal salvadoreno, our whole meal came to less than $20.00.

Urbana in Dupont Circle has a sophisticated, hip atmosphere, an adjoining wine bar, and good-to-really good food. The restaurant has a great semi-private room with a rectangular table appropriate for a group of 10. Ask for "Joseph" as your server; he was super-pleasant the two times I've dined at one of his tables. I have also taken large groups (8-12) to the following restaurants, all of which seem to meet your criteria: Tabaq Bistro (ask to be in the upstairs area with the glass ceiling); Viridian; and Zola. I have also seen large groups in the upstairs section of Cafe Atlantico. Finally, though I doubt it would please everyone in your group, if for some reason everyone is open-minded about a vegetarian restaurant, Vegetate (which would likely have a DJ spinning on one floor of the restaurant on a Saturday night) has a private room upstairs, and the proprietors, Dominic and Jennifer Redd, would treat you well.

My girlfriend and I had a Restaurant Week dinner at the Oval Room last night (8/9/07). The appetizers were outstanding. My girlfriend's corn custard, which was slightly more liquid than solid, with peach and jalapenos (the latter of which did not have an overwhelming kick) was delicious and satisfying. My scallops appetizer consisted of two small scallops, perfectly cooked, surrounded by concentric circles of a vanilla sauce that was not quite foam but not quite cream and a mint oil of some sort, plus crunchy ginger, a nice texture touch. The scallops were very, very tasty, with the vanilla foam adding a well-received sweet note. My salmon entree was an indulgence. The sizable salmon fillet, lightly bathed in a miso-citrus sauce, fell apart at the touch of my fork. It was possibly the most buttery cut of salmon I've ever eaten, with great mouth-feel and flavor. My girlfriend does not normally eat fish, but after trying my salmon, she said she could have eaten the whole fillet. My girlfriend's pea dumplings with bread crumbs looked good, and she was quite happy with them, but I cannot offer commentary because the cheese sprinkled on the dumplings killed their appeal for me. Desserts were uneven. My brown butter cake with apricots and almond ice cream (not the pistachio ice cream that was on the menu) was very good once I let the almond ice cream melt into the cake, but would have been a little too dry without that step. My girlfriend's peach-blueberry crisp was a fine rendition of the ubiquitous dessert, but there was one significant problem with it. The crisp is served with a medium-sized scoop of white peppercorn ice cream. Contemplate that for a moment, then read on. I'm generally open to the whimsy of a given chef, and I'm willing to try new flavors. I even understand the concept of pairing a spicy and/or non-sweet ice cream with a sweet pastry/crisp. But the Oval Room's white peppercorn ice cream was not okay. Nothing about it worked. Aside from the fact that it was served with actual peppercorns embedded in it, leading to much frenzied palate-cleansing, the actual ice cream itself was completely unappealing. It was not sweet, not spicy, not even tasteless. It tasted ... musty. My girlfriend described it as tasting like how her father's boat used to smell. I found it chalky and almost medicinal. The almond ice cream served with my dessert, in contrast, was wonderful, and tasted strongly, and pleasantly, of almonds. Despite the flawed ice cream, the meal was worth every cent. We enjoyed the service, the atmosphere, and the food, barring that one little scoop of horror.

My girlfriend and I have ended up at Asahi Kaiten Sushi for dinner twice in the last year, and liked it a lot both times. The fried california roll is outrageously good (if a bit of a traditionalist's nightmare), and the straightforward sushi (e.g., salmon avocado) was perfectly good, if not amazing. The avocado and asparagus salad is one of the best salads I have had at an Asian restaurant; the avocado is ripe, the asparagus is fresh, and the dressing is something sweet and citrus-y. The tuna and avocado salad is quite filling, particularly in light of its price ($10.00), and the wasabi aioli sauce drizzled on it will clear one's sinuses. The bean curd sushi was not a winner; not bad, just not memorable. The only downside is that the restaurant is in a mall, and as much as it tries to look dignified, it can't help its surroundings. Also, the restaurant has been virtually empty when we've been there; they must make most of their money off of the lunch crowd.

I happened to end up in my building's elevator with a Sala Thai delivery guy this evening, and I asked him about the closing of the Courthouse location. There was a bit of a language barrier, but he seemed to say that the Courthouse location was just too close to the older location (at N. 10th and Washington Blvd.), and the new location in Courthouse was not getting enough business. (And I bet the rent was on the high side.) The delivery guy said that the older location is expected to stay open for the foreseeable future. I suspect that part of what happened is that if one lives in Courthouse, Sawatdee is the place to go for Thai. My apartment overlooks the now-closed Sala Thai location, but I always walked right by en route to Sawatdee.

The relatively recently-opened Sala Thai at the corner of Clarendon Boulevard and N. Adams St. in Courthouse is closed. There's a large sign in the window advertising a new restaurant: "Me Jana." The sign states that the restaurant will feature "Fine Mediterranean Dining." Some quick Googling didn't turn up anything relevant for "Me Jana," though there seem to be one or more Mediterranean restaurants in other cities called "Mejana."

My girlfriend and I ate at Mei's Asian Bistro a month ago because I was interested in the extensive selection of vegetarian options. There are a number of "meat approximation" dishes (e.g., "shrimp" made of white yam). We started with the vegetarian lettuce wraps, which were actually really good, though the dish could have stood to be a bit spicier. The portion was generous enough to constitute a small meal. I ordered the "duck" (layers of tofu) in a hot pot with eggplant and basil as my entree. The sauce was dark, fairly thick, and not particularly flavorful (though not offensive). The eggplant had a great mouth-feel, soft and sauce-soaked. The tofu layers had an interesting, chewy texture, though not so fascinating that I would order the dish again. My girlfriend got the kung pao tofu, and I thought it was very good, even if the tofu was aggressively fried and somewhat drowned in the sauce. The plate was packed with peanuts, which is, to me, a big plus. The dining room is surprisingly spacious, but it felt uncomfortably empty when we were there; there may have been four couples in the whole joint. And there was a jazz duo playing music, but it was a bit too loud, and just made everyone feel awkward, because we felt obliged to applaud. I'm in no hurry to go back, but I also hope it doesn't tank, as the vegetarian menu is extensive, and I'd like to give a few of the other "meat approximation" dishes a try.

My girlfriend and I take pickiness to Seinfeldian levels, and though we eat out for dinner more often than we eat in, finding nice restaurants at which we can celebrate occasions is a bit harder for us than most. I made a reservation at Restaurant Eve’s Tasting Room to celebrate my girlfriend’s birthday knowing that its menu was fairly flexible but aware that I may very well have to pass on one or two courses. The hostess who took my reservation specifically inquired about the occasion, if any, and, upon me checking to make sure that vegetarian options were available for each course, the hostess asked about food restrictions. So I told her. No ungulates (e.g., pork, lamb, cow), duck (including foie gras), or seafood for my girlfriend. (I didn’t get into the intricacies of what cuts and textures of chicken are acceptable to my girlfriend, or her seafood exceptions, which include crab cakes, “crispy edges” of grilled fish, and calamari in limited quantities.) No ungulates, cheese, alcohol, foie gras, or pasta for me. (I didn’t get into the pasta exception of ravioli filled with things other than meat or cheese, or my dislike of egg dishes, or the cheesecake exception.) I followed up with an e-mail to Meshelle Armstrong the day of the meal to briefly note the peculiarities, and she assured me that my girlfriend and I would be pleased with the options. She was absolutely correct. Our June 15 meal was easily our best of the year so far. Restaurant Eve’s Tasting Room is both formal and homey, appropriate for a business dinner or a date. We were seated in a corner, at a small round table with a view of the room. The gentleman who guided us through our meal, Evan, quickly introduced himself and stated that he understood that we would need assistance navigating the menu. He proceeded to walk us through every one of the five courses (the nine-course option sounded daunting), answering our questions and noting his thoughts on each dish as we went along. By the time Evan finished his tour of the menu, we knew we were in for a great meal. The amuse bouche sent out by the chef consisted of a taste of pickled cauliflower, a small pile of diced beets, and a deviled egg no bigger than my thumb. My girlfriend and I did a little bartering (more beets for me, two eggs for her) and were pleased with our first bites. Next came another pre-course chef’s welcome, a small veloute of morel mushrooms. Thank goodness the portion was small, as the smooth, creamy soup was as rich as it was delicious. At least, that’s how I felt. My girlfriend wondered aloud why she couldn’t just have a bowl of the veloute as her meal. Our drinks kept us entertained as the courses came and went. My girlfriend enjoyed a blackberry currant fizz, which she deemed one of the most beautifully-presented drinks she had ever seen, and I sipped my wake-me-up-on-a-Friday-evening cappuccino which, happily, came with a small almond biscotti. First courses arrived and were explained. My girlfriend had the “Goose Egg and Eve’s Garden Thyme Custard with Summer Truffles.” Perched on four stacked plates, each smaller than the one below it, was an egg-shaped dish filled with an egg custard and shaved truffles. My girlfriend tried it, and was so taken with it that I decided that maybe this would be the dish that converted me into an egg-eater. I had the slightest taste and found that, no matter how well-prepared, I just do not like eggs. But my girlfriend thought the custard was heavenly. She even said so: “Oh. My. God.” I started with the “Marinated Hamachi with Lemon and ‘Per Mio Figlio’ [olive oil] and Kuroshio Salt.” A cut of hamachi the size of a small fillet, but appropriately thin, was well-served by the flavor of lemon and the almost-unnoticeable salt. Evan explained to us the difficulty of obtaining the proper grade of fish, and I appreciated the effort as the fish dissolved like butter in my mouth. The second (“Ocean”) course was set before us. My girlfriend, as noted above, believes that fish should, by and large, stay in the ocean, so she opted for the “Gnudi Fritti with Pomodoro and Parmesan Cream.” The seafood-less dish consisted of a bowl of three medium-sized balls of fried cheese (“flash-fried” for approximately five seconds, as explained to us) in a tomato sauce that had been simmering for something like 48 hours, drizzled with melted cheese. Words like “outrageous” drifted from my girlfriend’s side of the table as the dish disappeared. My second course was the “Sautéed Rouget with Maryland Crab Agnolotti and Parsley Butter.” Two small cuts of rouget (a fish previously unknown to me), each maybe three inches in length, were arranged on top of each other on the plate. Thin skin added a slight crispness to the texture. The flavor, enhanced by the small pond of parsley butter, was slightly sweet, and I made a mental note to seek this fish out in the future. The agnolotti served alongside my rouget was passed on to my girlfriend, as its crab filling was mixed with ricotta cheese, a deal-breaker for me. She pronounced herself luckier for my loss by telling me how good it was. The restaurant permits diners to swap dishes from different courses as needed, and I took it up on the offer for the third (“Earth and Sky”) course. None of the “Earth and Sky” items appealed to me, so I headed back to the “Ocean” and ordered the “Quenelle of Fluke Mousse with Lobster and White Asparagus.” The sky called to my girlfriend, and she ordered the “Gamebird Farm Quail with Foie Gras and Navarin of Spring Vegetables” (minus the foie gras, which she requested be withheld). The quail turned out to be good, but not my girlfriend’s preferred course. She was branching out in ordering it, and the bird would probably have been more appreciated by someone predisposed towards enjoying quail. My third course, however, was possibly the best of the evening. The fluke mousse, consisting of, as I understood the explanation, puréed fluke and egg, was puffy, light, wonderfully textured, and easily one of the most interesting and tasty things I have eaten all year. Only wizardry in the kitchen can result in such magic on the plate. The white cream surrounding the mousse in its mini-skillet, strewn with chunks of lobster meat and clips of white asparagus, doubled the indulgence. The creamy sauce was so good, in fact, that I was unembarrassed in dragging part of a roll through it. The rolls, both dark and light, were perfectly fine, but would not have been memorable but for the addictive house-made salted butter served with them. At this point in the meal, my girlfriend had started to wonder if she could make it through any more courses. No course was large, but the bites were beginning to add up. Next came a palate cleanser of sour cherry panna cotta, a mini-dish not much bigger than a fifty-cent piece. Our palates cleansed and our sugar receptors primed, I looked forward to round four. The fourth course, “Age,” was comprised of five cheese options. I had briefly considered ordering a dessert for my fourth course, but opted instead to go with the “Cooneen with Warm Pineapple Bread Pudding.” I do not eat cheese, but I love bread pudding, and bread pudding loves me. Feeling adventurous, I tried the Cooneen. Never having heard of it, I hoped it might be some sort of innocuous, light, near-flavorless cheese that I could appreciate for its texture. None of those adjectives accurately describe Cooneen, which is, in fact, in the heavyweight division of cheeses in terms of flavor strength. My girlfriend conceded that it was “strong,” though she liked it. She had, on advice, ordered the “Fivemile Town Creamery Ballybrie with Apricot Tart,” and sang its praises. The Cooneen safely transferred to my girlfriend, I turned to the small, perfect dome of pineapple bread pudding. I will not go to the extreme of saying that this was the Platonic form of bread pudding, but it was one of the best I have ever had: warm, sweet on multiple levels, all of them interesting, and just firm enough to hold its shape on my fork. The crumble of (I believe) hazelnut in the corner of the plate made perfect sense, but the little dusting of cayenne pepper in the other corner seemed counterintuitive until I tried a couple of forkfuls of the bread pudding dabbed in the pepper and found myself enjoying the spicy contrast to the sweetness. Finally, desserts appeared. My girlfriend’s “Chocolate Cherry Napoleon” came out with a small candle in honor of her birthday. The narrow napoleon consisted of layers of pastry dough, chocolate mousse, and a white cream, topped with pinot noir-soaked cherries and served aside an icy almond-vanilla foam. It was all as good as it sounded, but not as good as my dessert. Evan had, after I asked for advice, nudged me toward the “Blackberry Cheesecake,” and he steered me well. The cheesecake came out in the shape of a small scoop set atop a crumble of crust and balanced on the plate by a small scoop of blackberry sorbet set atop what I can best describe as a berry jam. The cheesecake had a texture only one or two degrees firmer than whipped cream, and its flavor was vivid and tangy. The meal was, finally, at an end. Or it should have been. But this was, after all, my girlfriend’s birthday dinner, and anyone who has read anything about Restaurant Eve knows that somewhere in its kitchen lives the famous “Birthday Cake.” I had to order one for us to try, even if we could only make room for a bite or two each. The perfectly round, pink-iced, pink-piped, and rainbow-sprinkled cake came to the table with another candle, which was a nice gesture. The cake, larger than a cupcake but nowhere near the size of a normal cake, was fabulous. It is everything good that anyone has ever written about it and more. It is a distillation of the very best birthday cakes recalled from childhood. The frosting is rich and thick, but not at all crusty or overly sweet. The two layers of yellow cake are unbelievably moist and actually taste so satisfyingly of cake that they could stand alone. Our forks seemed to have minds of their own, and we ended up eating over half of the cake. We thought that no more food could pass our lips. We could not, however, insult the kitchen by turning away the treats served alongside the check, and I am glad we defenestrated willpower, because the sugar-dusted cube of cherry jelly was a bright note in anticipation of summer, and the pine nut brittle was simply brilliant. Restaurant Eve hit the right note as to each aspect of the dining experience, including service, timing, quality of ingredients, innovation, taste, and diner accommodation. That my girlfriend and I could be so pleased with the experience despite our food preference constraints is further testament to confident, expansive cooking. It therefore came as no surprise to me that, two days after we tried Restaurant Eve’s Tasting Room, Cathal Armstrong was named Chef of the Year by the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW). Bravo; he earned it.

I apologize, but there's no way I'll be able to make it this afternoon (for non-weather related reasons). Everyone enjoy, and I'll just have to look forward to the fall picnic.

My girlfriend and I had dinner at Huong Que last night (5/28/07). The green papaya salad with tofu was appropriately spicy, and was quite a large serving, but it can turn into a bit of a one-note after thirty or so rounds with the chopsticks, and $8.50 is a little steep for the dish. The tofu spring roll, with a slightly thicker-than-expected batter, was fine, though not memorable. The tofu and mixed vegetables sauteed in brown sauce was good, but far from great. My girlfriend felt that the tofu was bland, and I tend to agree with her. The interesting aspect was that we ordered the tofu and veggies on crispy noodles, so the tofu and veggies were set into a tall mound of thin Ramen-esque noodles, which made for difficult maneuvering until the noodles were saturated with brown sauce and softened up. I ate at Huong Que a couple of years ago, and I remember that I thought the caramelized tofu in a pot entree was not worth ordering again. Last night's visit did not bolster my opinion of Huong Que or give me any reason to dine there again. (And that is especially true now that I live within a block of the far-superior Minh's.)

Demvtr is in, plus two. I will bring a vegetarian entree.

And, uh, just because Baskin-Robbins may never, ever come up again on this board, I want to say that I worked at Baskin-Robbins in Reston in high school, and it was far and away the best job I ever had. Writing on cakes is more fun than writing briefs.

Funny! No, had I cracked a Princeton SAT Prep course book and looked at math questions, maybe I wouldn't have had such a disparity between my SAT verbal score and my SAT math score.

Dinner on Friday and Saturday nights led to interesting examples of how wait staff deal with customers' mathematical ineptitude and inattentiveness. I found that graciousness works better than a calculator. The Friday-night situation (Bangkok Joe's): Eight of us ate dinner at Bangkok Joe's on Friday night (4/6/07). Our bill came to approximately $220.00, including tax, but not including tip. We had no complaints about the perfectly competent service. I told the members of the party that the total amount, including tip, should come out to between $260.00 and $265.00. Three of us split the check. I calculated all the items that my girlfriend and I ordered, added tax and tip, and told the waiter to put a certain amount on my credit card. Another diner, also picking up two meals, added up the relevant items, added tax, but not tip, and told the waiter to put a certain amount on the credit card. And the third person (picking up four meals) told the waiter to put the remainder on his card. After all of our cards came back, I did not add any further tip amount, because I had already calculated tip into what I asked the waiter to put on my card. The other two diners calculated tips and entered their totals. The waiter, at some point, collected all of the signed credit card slips. A few minutes later, he came back to point out the lack of a tip on my credit card slip. I explained that I had already calculated tip into the amount I had asked him to put on my card. The waiter insisted that something was off, but there was a slight language barrier, and I ultimately decided to examine all of the credit card slips myself. While I was doing so, the waiter left, and then came back. With a calculator. So the waiter and I stood next to my party's table and actually ran through the numbers. I concluded that the three credit cards' "totals," when added together, came out to $246.00. Which meant that the waiter had returned to our table, and then introduced a calculator into our discussion, to point out that he had received a surprisingly low 11% tip. Now, in the waiter's defense, he tried very hard to be pleasant, and I am sure that it was his belief that we had made a calculation error, and had not truly meant to tip only 11%, which was absolutely correct. We had, in fact, made an error in our calculation; either I should have excluded the tip from the amount I asked to be put on the credit card, and then added the tip at the end, or someone should have checked to see that the combined total came out to between $260.00 and $265.00. Once all of this became clear, I assured the waiter that he was correct, that we had made an error, and that we had intended to tip at least 20%. I gave him a $20.00, thus bringing his tip to just a bit above 20%. By this time, however, one or two members of my party had become quite annoyed that the waiter had, in their view, the audacity to come over and complain about a tip. One person noted that an 11% tip is something a waiter gripes about in the kitchen, not something about which the waiter actually calls the diners on in the middle of the restaurant. The waiter was highly apologetic, and said that he did not want us not to return. I told him that he had nothing to worry about, that everything was fine, and then got my party out of there. The Saturday-night situation (Bazin's on Church): Thirteen of us had dinner at Bazin's on Church on Saturday night (4/7/07). For accessibility reasons, the restaurant divided our tables with a small walkway between the tables, which worked out well. My table had six diners, and the remaining seven were right next to us. I don't know what the bill came to at the table of seven, but the bill at our table totaled about $233.00. Two of us split the bill down the middle. Now, earlier in the evening, while perusing the menu, we had noted that the restaurant adds 20% to checks of large parties. My table chatted about this, ultimately concluding that none of us had any problem with a restaurant having such a policy, but also noting that waiters often end up with a bigger tip by just letting the diners calculate the tip unassisted. We also noted that some restaurants that have such a policy sometimes opt not to enforce it. We thought that this was exactly what had occurred when the check came, because we saw the subtotal (about $215.00) and the tax (about $17.50), and the "balance" of $232.76. We did not look at the check any closer, and just handed two credit cards to our waiter. When the individual credit card slips came back, each was for about $139.00. My brother and I (the two people paying for our table) did not think anything of it, entered tip amounts of about 20%, and sent the "final," signed credit card slips back, for a total of about $340.00. As you can probably tell by now, we did not mean to leave such a large tip (about $107.00 on a $233.00 check, or approximately 46%). This was entirely due to our oversight, because (1) we had overlooked on the itemized receipt a handwritten notation that a $45.00 tip was being added by the restaurant, and (2) when we got the credit card slips back, we did not notice that the amount on each (about $139.00) must have included a restaurant-added tip. Caught up in celebrating my mother's birthday and conversing, we would not have noticed our error but for our waiter coming to our table and explaining to us what we had done. He knew, and told us, that we could not have meant to leave such generous a tip. We thanked him for pointing out our error, and adjusted our tips. (We still ended up leaving a 30% tip.) I also went out of my way to mention our waiter's honesty and courteousness to Julie Bazin, who runs the restaurant with her husband. Two weekend evenings, two large dinner parties, two tip-related problems (due largely to diner error or inattentiveness), and two servers' approaches to dealing with the tip-related problems. Both restaurants will continue getting my business, and I'm not posting this to prompt criticism or praise for either restaurant. (Nor, I hope, will people take me to task on my admittedly wanting math skills.) What I am interested in is finding out how others would have handled the situations above. I am particularly interested in hearing from people in the food-service industry. Further, I am curious about others' dining experiences involving tip-related problems.

I'm a fan of the crepes (savory and sweet) at Cafe Bonaparte in Georgetown for a nice weekend breakfast. It opens at 10 a.m. on Saturday and 9:00 a.m. on Sunday.

I had some of the best sweet potato soup of my young life at Restaurant Vero two weeks ago. I also had a gnocchi dish featuring butternut squash, mushrooms, and asparagus in a cream sauce, that was very satisfying (though it turned out to have been a bit rich for me). I did, however, have to send the gnocchi dish back before I could tuck into it, because it was served to me the first time around with cheese on it. (The cheese was not noted on the menu.) The wait staff was quite pleasant. Vegetarians (or those, like me, inclined to order vegetarian dishes) take note: although the online menu denotes no vegetarian entrees, both "special" entrees when I was there were vegetarian (the gnocchi and a "vegetable stack" dish that my companion ordered). Accordingly, you can call to find out if a vegetarian entree will be available on a given evening.