Once upon a time, way back in October 2010, we had the pleasure of going to the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in our nation’s capitol. After the rally, we ate at Founding Farmers. I took pictures, we loved the food, and I never got around to posting about it. We even went back to the restaurant a month later with my parents, but I forgot to take pictures that time. Our first trip included our good friend Brian but I’ll try to remember what we all ate the second time as well.
Skillet Corn Bread - Honey Butter, Sea Salt
This was delicious. Dense skillet-style cornbread with sweet butter. We cut it into fourths and dug in.
Bacon Lollis - Cinnamon-Brown Sugar Glazed Thick-Cut Bacon
When bacon is on the menu, you’ve got to order it. These were delicious. Nice, thick bacon with a sweet glaze that I’d love to try to make at home. Sadly we had to fight over the last piece. No blood was shed.
Burger
I don’t remember which burger Brian ordered, perhaps the Frisco Burger with White Cheddar, Bacon, Avocado, Louie Dressing? Whichever burger it was, he loved it.
Roasted Butternut Squash-Mascarpone Ravioli - Sage Brown Butter
Art felt that he chose poorly because his raviolis were not all that they should have been. He felt that the filling was lacking and, overall, the dish was just a disappointment. As you’ll see, he more than made up for it when dessert came along.
We think this is flat iron steak – this is the problem with waiting 8 months to write a restaurant review! Lance enjoyed the steak and it was prepared perfectly. I was lucky enough to get to try a bite and it was, indeed, perfection.
Fish and Chips
This was my entrée and it was great. Nice, crispy fish with a light batter. Great French fries and fried potato slices. The tartar sauce was delicious as well.
Triple Layer Chocolate Mousse Cake - Devil’s Food Cake, Semi-Sweet Chocolate Ganache, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
Lance loved his chocolate mousse cake. He tends to get chocolate cakes whenever we eat out, so his opinion is worth listening to!
Chocolate Mousse Bowl For Two - Milk Chocolate-Hazelnut Crunch, Whipped Cream, Caramel Sauce
Art’s dessert was so ridiculous that it really needs more pictures to do it justice. It was a huge, deep bowl filled with the most delicious chocolate mousse. It’s really “Chocolate Mousse Bowl for an Army,” not just for two. He managed to put a pretty decent dent into it.
Being less adventuresome, and less hungry, I just had a bowl of house-made chocolate ice cream.
The restaurant itself has a very casual feel and, even though I don’t recall what we paid, we all felt that it was quite reasonably priced. The service was fantastic and our waitress was friendly and informative. It was also one of those restaurants where we all had a hard time choosing what to order and felt that there were numerous things that would have been satisfying. The second time we went we ordered different things, but we’re all having a hard time remembering. I seem to recall I had a bowl of soup and an egg salad sandwich. My mom has the “straw and hay” pasta and she loved it. Beyond that, though, my mind is blank. I just remember it was all delicious and we still want to go back again and again!
Total price: Unknown
Founding Farmers
1924 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20006
Reservations: 202.822.8783
Cornmeal Crusted Blue Cod; Napa cabbage, roasted eggplant, white rice, wood roasted tomato-red pepper sauce
Mike and I both ordered the blue cod and It was delicious. The medley of roasted vegetables complimented the fish very well. The sauce was fantastic with a great flavor from the roasted red peppers. I was very pleased with how well each component of this dish worked with the others. 
Cathy and Lance both ordered a special which included filet mignon, shrimp, potatoes, and some greens. This was the restaurant’s version of surf and turf and was enjoyed by both of them. 
For dessert, I had a bowl of vanilla ice cream. Ice cream seems to be a trend for me recently and I’m not sure why. I suppose because it’s safe ingredient wise and most restaurants we go to seem to have Haagen-Dazs which I know I like. 
Waterman Chocolate Bread Pudding - chocolate-bourbon soaked bread, chocolate pistols, warm chocolate sauce, vanilla bean ice cream
Lance and Cathy both had the chocolate bread pudding and I was a bit envious. It was gooey and chocolaty and warm and rich and wow. I couldn’t even taste the alcohol and I could have happily eaten Lance’s entire dessert if he had let me!
Crème Brûlée - caramelized sugar top, fresh mint
Mike had perfect looking Crème Brûlée. 
baby arugula, local cauliflower, pretzel croutons, mustard vinaigrette
For starters, Lance got an arugula salad. It was topped with crunchy pieces of cauliflower and homemade pretzel crouton bits. He loved ever bite of it. 
housemade pretzel sticks, horseradish cheese sauce
We shared the pretzel sticks because I’d heard so many good things about them. They were soft but chewy, just like a good soft pretzel should be. The cheese sauce had a great spiciness due to the horseradish. I’d love to try to replicate this at home. 
house-smoked salmon, deviled egg, pickled onion
I chose the smoked salmon deviled eggs for an appetizer and they were scrumptious. The egg filling was lovely and mustardy and all of the flavors just went really together. 
crispy pork shoulder, farro, local squash, jus
I normally don’t get pork in restaurants since I normally enjoy other meats better, but for some reason this caught my eye on the menu and then kept calling to me. So I ordered it. Oh my gosh, it was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever eaten. I’ve tried to describe it to people and this is the best I can come up with. Imagine a roasted pork shoulder that’s so tender it shreds. Form that shredded pork into a rectangle and pan fry it so it’s all nice and crispy. The it was served on farro, which is a grain, with some squash and jus. It was amazing. I want to try to make this at home since it seems like it should be possible. Although I know it won’t be as good as what I got at Julian! 
roasted chicken, rosemary potatoes, roasted asparagus
Lance also deviated from his usual and ordered chicken. It was so super tender and moist. The asparagus was lovely and the potatoes were perfect. We both would have been happy to lick our plates clean. 
chocolate ganache with strawberry sauce
Lance’s dessert was like a chocolate brick with a bit of chocolate cake and strawberry stuff on top. He loved it. 
chocolate puddin’ with a ginger doughnut
This chocolate pudding was rich and chocolaty, like a very good mousse that had all of the airy mousseness mixed out of it. The ginger donut was a very nice compliment and I would have been happy to eat a bowl three times the size. It’s a good thing I didn’t, since the meal as it was was just perfect. The portions were all lovely and we felt truly sated and pleasant after we finished. 
Bread! This sort of looks like pretzel bread and I seem to recall that it came with a number of seasoned butters. I love bread. 
This looks like a Caesar salad. I love those too. But this one might have been Lance’s.
Teriyaki Skirt Steak - Grill Smoked Onions, Roasted Poblano & Sweet Peppers
I knew I was going to order this before we even got to the restaurant because I’d been envious of it on people’s plates the years before. It did not disappoint. Skirt steak is a fantastic cut of meat and I enjoyed every bite. It looks like it came with mashed potatoes as well. 
This looks like a filet mignon, so chances are it was Lance’s dinner. He also got garlic mashed potatoes. I seem to recall that he did some Prix Fix menu because we were there during restaurant week. 
Asian Sesame Chicken Salad - Marinated Chicken Breast, Nappa Cabbage, Snow Peas, Edamame, Oranges, Wontons, Sesame Ginger Vinaigrette
Being a weirdo, Brian got a salad. At a grill place. Who does that? He was kind enough to let me have a bite and, I must say, when we go back in 2011 I will be tempted to order this salad for myself because it was amazing. Full of lots of amazing flavors that all worked very well together. 
And, of course, Lance got some amazing chocolate cake creation. It was dense and moist and sort of like a bundt cake in texture. Delicious!
This is some sort of salad with thousand island dressing. Lance ate it. 
This is an awesome Caesar salad. The plate was cold, the lettuce was crisp, and it even came with a few tomatoes. I love tomatoes!
Lance had some sort of huge filet mignon. If you’ve been following my restaurant review posts over the years, I’m sure you’re not shocked by this! 
We shared shoestring fries with some sort of herb. I can never seem to remember what kind of herb it is, just that I love these whenever we’re at RC. 
Being in need of green after a day of GenCon, I ordered broccoli as well. I was crispy and lovely. 
This is my standard order for RC. It’s a tuna stack with some lumps of crab. The tuna is beautifully seared and rare inside. Of all the possible ways to have tuna, this is the best. 
We shared this chocolate mousse cheesecake creation.
Even working together we were unable to finish it. The cake was super rich and we were so full! 
Cauliflower aranbeet. Saffron-parsnip puree. Espelette pepper.
Our meal started with a bite size Amuse served in a spoon. The cauliflower was crunchy and the puree tasted almost like there was a creamy tomato component. Lots of flavor in a small bite – I licked every bit of my spoon clean. This was a recurring trend throughout the meal. 
Local root vegetable “chopped salad.” Apple cider vinaigrette. Very old sherry vinegar.
Our first course was a “salad” of seasonal vegetables. Carrot, leaves of Brussels sprouts, parsnips, and golden beets all with a delicious vinaigrette. Perfectly seasoned and just tender. 
House made fennel sausage braised with local endives and roasted garlic. Parsnip cream. Pickled cauliflower.
The third course was our first hint of pork from the chef referred to by some as Bacon Jesus. It was also a reminder of the fact that there are ingredients I only think I don’t like due to the ways I’ve had them prepared. In this case, I don’t consider myself to be a fan of fennel, but the fennel component in this sausage was very well balanced and not over-powering in any way. All the flavors were grand. 
Pickled red beets. Toasted pistachio pistou. Caciocavallo cheese.
Between the third and fourth courses, we had a Taste. This was a cube of pickled beet with a thin shaving of cheese and a pistou underneath. Again, I licked every bit of the spoon clean. I’m glad that I’ve come to love beets in my middle age. 
Wood grilled local bobwhite quail. Skillet roasted faro and collards. Tahini sauce. Pomegranate marinated beets. Pickled onion. Parsley.
The fourth course was the first of the entrée courses. Our plates had little teeny quails served over farro, collards, and with yummy sauces. We were encouraged by our waiter to pick up the bones and nibble every bit of meat off them with our teeth. So we did! 
Smoked Berkshire pork loin and belly. Roasted fennel. Jalapeno. Anson mills grits. Local apple chow chow. Caramelized pork jus.
Aaah, the pork course at last. Surprisingly, this was also the one course that failed for me, although Lance was happy to clean every bit from his plate. I think that the roasted jalapeno turned me off of the course. That said, I did eat the pork belly and it was amazing. Rich, buttery, decadent. When our waiter saw that I hadn’t cleaned my plate, she expressed concern and offered to have the chef send out something different. But, in my opinion, this is a risk you take and I was happy to accept the consequences. Not to mention, I was starting to get full…
Wood grilled strauss farm lamb loin. Roasted baby carrots and broccoli. Black truffle sweet potatoes. Virginia peanuts.
This picture is all blurry, probably because I was so eager to dig in that my hands were shaking! Again, I thought I wasn’t a fan of black truffles but I had to accept that I only feel that way because I’ve had them badly prepared in the past, since their inclusion in this dish was lovely. The lamb was perfect, the carrots and broccoli delicious. Another plate polished clean. 
This dessert bite wasn’t listed on the menu, so I’m not 100% sure what it was. There’s a cube of rich chocolate brownie-like pastry, a foam, and a cherry. Yum. 
Chocolate molten cake. Vanilla ice cream. Port reduction. Cherry mascarpone. Cocoa nib.
For some strange reason, I’m not a fan of fruits in desserts so I sort of ate around the cherry mascarpone. The bits I had were great, I just didn’t feel a great desire to eat all of it. The molten cake, however, was insanely good. Most molten chocolate cakes I’ve had have been heavy and dense. This one was as light and as soft as a cloud. It was amazing. The vanilla ice cream was lovely as well and the chocolate nibs provided a nice crunch. The chocolate garnish on top was the darkest chocolate I’ve ever had in a restaurant, completely bitter and perfect. 
The Shrimp Cocktail. This is St. Elmo’s crowning glory. You might think you’re getting normal, mild cocktail sauce, but this stuff is actually laden with fiery chopped horseradish. If you need your sinuses cleared out, this is the stuff for you. I don’t eat shrimp, but I always snag a bite or two of the sauce when Lance orders this because I love it.
And then there was steak. The first two times I went to St. Elmo’s I ordered the lamb chops. Then I discovered the Bone-In Filet and it’s been Bone-In Filet ever since. Lance gets this one too. Mine is shown with a side of mushrooms. In traditional steak house style the sides are large enough to share with the whole table. (This filet is 16 ounces, the angle of the photo makes it look smaller than it actually was.)
And more steak. The special of the night was a tomahawk steak which is essentially a huge, Frenched rib eye. This picture is of Nate’s. He ordered it with loaded French fries.
Mike also got the tomahawk. His came with a loaded baked potato.
Sean’s tomahawk came with a baked potato as well and, since that’s the one I got to taste, I’ll say that it was delicious. The meat had a nice, rich flavor yet was tender and juicy. Definitely a winner.
This is Brian’s Bone-In Prime Rib. It’s 32 ounces. In his defense he did ask if there was a smaller cut, but his request was denied. He managed to eat the whole thing while we watched with astonishment. I also got a taste and it was phenomenal. Some day I’d like to attempt prime rib at home.
We also ordered asparagus for the table which is one of those vegetables I love and rarely eat at home. This was done perfectly and the hollandaise sauce was great. I probably could have eaten the whole platter by myself but, sniff, I had to share.
Our meal began with warm bread in a little skillet type pan. The bread was topped with salt, pepper, and fresh rosemary. 
As usual, I ordered the Tomato and Bufala Mozzarella Salad which, at Smith and Wollensky, comes in the form of a stack topped with basil and drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Sadly, while the salad has potential and was delicious the last time I ordered it, I suppose that July is a bad time to be ordering tomato salads in Maryland. The tomatoes were not quite ripe which made for a sad salad experience.
Lance ordered the Wollensky Salad. This salad has mushrooms, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, thick bacon pieces, and “croutons” that are made from potato chunks. It’s Lance’s favorite salad ever. 
On a whim and recommendation from our server we ordered Truffled Mac and Cheese. It looks so tasty but we all had to come to the realization that we’re just not huge fans of truffles. Bummer. 
Of course we had to order French fries to satisfy the potato requirement of our meal. 
And delicious sautéed mushrooms – the leftovers went into eggs the next day.
Lance and I both ordered the 14-ounce Filet Mignon simply grilled. It was tasty and done to perfection. 
Art ordered the Bone-In Rib-Eye and devoured it. This is probably his favorite cut – nice and steaky flavor but still fantastically tender.
I love Crème brûlée and ordered their trio for dessert. This comes with chocolate, vanilla, and then a seasonal berry which, in July, was blueberry. I opted for two vanilla and one chocolate because I’m not a berry fan. 
The best part of the meal was definitely the chocolate cake. This cake is HUGE and has delicious sponge cake layered with light and fluffy chocolate mousse. The guys each ate about a third of their cakes and the rest went home for delicious leftovery goodness. 
Lance ordered the Pork Tenderloin Sandwich for his meal. We weren’t super hungry so sandwiches seemed like the way to go. He was only able to eat about half of it, but thought it was delicious. 
I got the Hot Pastrami Sandwich served on rye toast with Swiss cheese and nice, spicy mustard. I was also only able to eat about half of my sandwich, much to my dismay.
Our meal started off with the same house made chicken liver pâté and toasted bread. I enjoyed it just as much as last time, which was no surprise.
The house specialty gruyere popovers followed. These reminded Lance of Norwegian pancakes, but they just reminded me of deliciousness. They were hot, eggy, and perfect. I really should try to make them at home, since I’ve got the recipe.
Tuna Tartare / Avocado / Soy-Lime Dressing
Caesar Salad
Grilled Double Cut Bacon
My steak was fantastic and I wish I could remember the proper name – sadly it was a special, so I’m not able to refer to the menu to make sure I’ve got it right! I believe this was some sort of chuck cut. It was extremely tender and just as extremely flavorful. It was much meatier than a filet mignon steak. It’s topped with a very large piece of foie gras, shaved black truffles, and the sauce is some red wine and foie deliciousness. The only downside to my entrée is that it was served on top of a piece of toast, which made it hard to get to all of the sauce!
Seared Muscovy Duck Breast / Confit Sausage / Fennel Marmalade
Onion Rings / French Fries / Stuffed Mushrooms
None of us had any room left for dessert, so our meal ended with these delicious warm gooey brownie/cake bites. I was so full that I only ate half of mine and then sadly gave the rest to Art.