Washington, DC

For brunch on Saturday we went to Poste near the Spy Museum.  (It’s a great museum, by the way.)  This was another restaurant I found on Washingtonian’s 100 Best Restaurants list.  They don’t serve lunch on the weekends, only brunch.  

Poste is an open and airy sort of restaurant.  The kitchen is open to viewing and they’ve got a lot of outdoor seating.  The noise level was nice and quiet so we were easily able to make our plans for the rest of the day over brunch.  

As always, our meal started off with bread.  This basket included a croissant, a scone, and two different types of bread with dried fruits and nuts.  The swirl of butter was actually honey butter, a treat I haven’t had in entirely too long.

Croque Madame mornay sauce, sunny side up egg, pomme frites

I have wanted to try a Croque Madame since I first learned the words in French class.  I finally got my chance and was thrilled!  The toast was at least an inch thick, rich and buttery.  The egg was perfect and the sauce was delicious.  It reminded me vaguely of the sauce on top of the Chicken Crepes I make.  The fries were very similar to fast food fries.  Thin, crispy, and not super potatoey as a result.

nueske bacon

We felt compelled to order a side of bacon.  Enough said.

Bev’s Grass-Fed Beef Burger organic cheddar, dill pickle, frites with neuske bacon

Art wasn’t in a breakfast sort of mood, so he chose the burger.  It was very rare in the middle and he thought it was the closest thing to a homemade burger that he’s ever had in a restaurant.  Considering he adores homemade burgers, this is high praise.  The meat had a very clean taste and was very simple.  It was exactly what he wanted and he loved it.

Total price, no alcohol, including tip: $61.70

Poste
555–8th Street, NW
Washington DC 20004

Reservations:  202.783.6060

Update: It has come to my attention that TenPenh has closed :(

Friday morning started our first full day in DC.  We knew that we were going to do the Discover DC Safari with Segs in the City at 2:30pm, so we planned lunch for TenPenh at 1pm in order to be directly across the street from where the Segway tour began.  (On a side note, it was awesome and our tour guide, Adam, was full of interesting tidbits of information I’d never heard before.  It was a great way to cover quite a bit of ground in the city!)  We dined at TenPenh earlier in the year and I was eager to try out their lunch menu.  Art cheated a few months ago and went there with a coworker for lunch, so it wasn’t new to him anymore.   

We had a great table by some large windows, so I was able to get some good light for my photographs.  Apparently lunch is the best meal as far as lighting goes, too bad I can restrict myself to that meal!  

As a pre-meal munchy, we were given a bowl of steamed edamame in shells.  I’d never had these before and was pleasantly surprised with the flavor.  They’re a bit nutty!

Art and I both ordered a glass of lemonade with ginger.  While I found the drink to be entirely too tart and sweet, Art was happy enough to drink both our glasses.

Stir Fry Minced Chicken Lettuce Wraps Shiitake Mushrooms, Pine Nuts, Mustard Sambal

For an appetizer we shared these lettuce wraps.  The sauce was rich with peanut butter and just a little on the hot, spicy side of the spectrum.

Ahi Tuna Burger Wasabi Aioli, Pickled Ginger and Asian Slaw

My entrée was the Ahi Tuna Burger, rare.  It was, indeed, rare.  The slaw was very spicy as was the aioli.  I put all of it on top of my burger, sort of like a Rueben, and was in seventh heaven with all the flavors going crazy in my mouth.

TenPenh Vegetarian Pho Seasonal Vegetables, Tofu, Rice Noodles

Art was nursing a bit of a cold, so he opted for the Pho.  The smell was amazing when it was brought to the table and had accoutrements of basil, hoisin, jalapenos, and sriracha.  The taste was great, he was kind enough to share a taste with me, and it did wonders for his throat.  He tried to lick the bowl but was unsuccessful.

Saigon Cinnamon Sugar Dusted Donuts Dark Bittersweet Chocolate Pudding

We opted to share a dessert and the only one that really called to me was the donuts.  It’s the same dessert I had the last time I was at TenPenh, but some things are irresistible.  Warm, freshly made donuts are among those things.

With our check, we received two coconut bibingka.  These are a Phillipine sweet made from rice flour and other good stuff.  The taste was very reminiscent of coconut macaroons.  Which I love.  So I loved these too!

My second experience with TenPenh was as lovely as the first.  Even having been there two times, I’m still eager to go back for more.  

Total price, including tip: $55.99.

TenPenh Restaurant
1001 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC

Reservations:  202.393.4500

Art and I just got home from a long weekend mini-vacation in our nation’s capital.  We enjoyed being touristy and eating good food.  It’s amazing how many great places there are to eat and how close they are to home!  

I picked all of our restaurants with the help of Washingtonian’s 100 Best Restaurants list.  We were not disappointed at all with any of the choices.  It all started with a visit to Bistro Bis by Jeffrey Ruben.  

The décor was very relaxed and we both felt very comfortable.  I had requested a table with good lighting and wasn’t disappointed.  Our server was attentive and extremely knowledgeable which is always a bonus.  It’s nice to feel that the people serving you have actually eaten the food they’re serving!  

Our meal started off with lovely little gougères.  The cheese tasted like asiago to me, but I might be wrong.  They were nice and light.

Gougères were followed by warm sliced bread with butter.

Salade de Tomates au Marché Market tomatoes with opal basil sorbet, shaved petit basque, micro basil and balsamic vinaigrette

And then came my salad, the clear winner of the meal.  The basil sorbet, which is in the middle, was phenomenal.  Everything else was great, but that basil sorbet was perfection.  Hindsight ²⁰⁄₂₀, I should have ordered this salad for every course of the meal.

Salade Frisée au Lardons Frisée lettuce with applewood smoked bacon, poached path valley farm egg and sherry vinaigrette

Art’s salad was also delicious!  He is slowly becoming a lover of poached eggs which is pretty astounding; he used to avoid any hint of runniness in eggs.  The bacon was great, nice thick slices cooked almost crisp.  The egg yolk combined with the vinaigrette to make a delicious dressing for the salad.

Lapin Chasseur Mustard crusted loin of rabbit with glazed carrots, sweet potato mousseline, herb spaetzle and tarragon rabbit

I ordered the rabbit from the specials.  It’s on the menu to try out for the restaurant’s fall menu and, having never had rabbit before, I decided to be adventurous and give it a go.  The taste was somewhere between chicken and steak, a bit more flavorful than chicken breast but in a way that was hard to put my finger on.  While I enjoyed the meat, I’m not sure I’d go out of my way to order rabbit again; I prefer fish, cow or lamb.  

In the top left corner of the plate, I had some wild mushrooms served in a cup made of Brussels sprout leaves.  The top right has the spaetzle and there are teeny roasted carrots in between the two.  In the middle you can see the mousseline with sweet potato crisps on the top.  I cleaned my plate.

Raviolis Ardenaise Artichoke stuffed pasta with crisp bayonne ham, oven dried tomatoes, arugula and caramelized onions

Art ordered the ravioli.  He loves artichoke and dried tomatoes, and, especially, ravioli.  This was all fantastic and he was kind enough to share one delicious bite with me.

Ratatouille Provençale

We ordered Ratatouille Provençale for the table and Art loved it.  I found it a bit to bell peppery and oily for my tastes, but I’ve never been a huge lover of ratatouille to being with.

Coconut Chiboust Coconut crème and almond génoise with milk chocolate crémeux, passion fruit coulis and fresh berries

I have very little idea what any of those words mean, but it was delicious.  It was rich, but not too much so.  The coconut flavor was very mild but present in every bite.  The thing on top is a dried slice of pineapple – wow.

Art’s dessert is not on the menu so I can’t post the name and description for it.  Our server referred to it as “The Chocolate Thing.”  The chocolate in the middle was very heavy and similar to fudge.  It was also orange flavored.  Surrounding it were supremes of grapefruit, grapefruit gellée topped with berry coulis, hazelnut powder, and candied orange rind.  All topped with a cherry and a praline thing.  Art loved it.

And then, because we don’t do these things every day, we had a cheese course.  We were given a print out of cheeses to choose from, picked three, and then they arrived with some accoutrements.  Sadly I forgot to take pictures of the entire plate before we started to eat; I guess we were just too excited!

Our first cheese, Hoch Ybrig (cow) from Switzerland, can be seen in picture above.  It’s the rich gold cheese that’s in the back row farthest away from the knob in front.  It’s described as “slightly granular in texture with full-flavored nuttiness.”

Our second cheese, Pecorino Tartufo (sheep) from Italy, is “semi-hard and speckled with pieces of shaved truffle.”  The truffle was very subtle and lovely.

This is the plate that all the cheeses arrived on, but I only remembered to take a picture of it when only the Rockie Sage (goat) from the USA was left.  This is a “young cheese aged with Colorado sage to give it a distinctive aroma and spiciness.”  While the sage was strong, stronger still was the rind which made it taste more like a blue cheese than anything else.  I’m not a lover of blue cheese, but it was mild enough that both Art and I were able to enjoy the taste.

The accoutrements included bread, crackers, apricot mustard, and pear puree.

This was a fantastic and satisfying meal.  The restaurant was very warm and inviting, nothing on the menu was “scary” for a person not accustomed to French dining.  

Total price, including tip, sodas for Art, and no alcohol: $162.83.

Bistro Bis
15 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001

Reservations: 202.661.2700

Friday evening we headed to BLT Steak by Laurent Tourondel.  I’ve been interested in going here since last March while investigating restaurants for my birthday.  I was reminded of my interest while perusing Washingtonian’s 100 Best Restaurants list during trip planning.  

The restaurant is in a great location and was a very easy walk from the hotel.  The atmosphere was pretty laid-back and relaxed; the tables just had placemats, no tablecloths.  The chairs were comfortable and the noise level was low enough that we never had a problem with our conversation.  

Our meal started off with some house made chicken liver pâté and toasted bread.  If I think about pâté too much the idea sort of squicks me, so I tried not to think about it while trying it.  The pâté was great and had a very rich flavor.

And then the popovers came.  Freshly made, with gruyere cheese, and that little card in the picture had the recipe.  They were light, eggy, and perfectly puffed.

Tuna Tartare / Avocado / Soy-Lime Dressing

For the second night in a row, my appetizer was the star of my meal.  It was served on a plate set on ice.  The soy-lime dressing had a hint of wasabi.  I wish they had given me a spoon instead of a fork to eat this with since I had a hard time getting all of the dressing up with a fork.  In the cup on the right you can see some of the waffle potato chips peeking out.

Butternut Squash Ravioli / Candied Walnuts / Foie Gras / Sage

Art continued his ravioli trend and ordered this special.  He’d never had a good foie experience but I assured him that, when done correctly, foie just melts away into deliciousness.  This was definitely done right.  The foie was rich and buttery, the ravioli were perfect, and Art enjoyed reinforcing his newfound love of butternut squash.

American Wagyu Skirt Steak / Horseradish Sauce

Since I was at a steak place, I felt obligated to order steak.  I have recently discovered a love of skirt steak, so I opted for their Wagyu Skirt.  Every steak comes with a choice of one of nine sauces and, being in a spicy mood, I went with the horseradish.  The steak was extremely flavorful; it was topped with tarragon and some crouton bits.  The horseradish paired very well with the steak.  I like skirt steaks.  They’re similar to flank steak and have a nice meaty flavor.  Both of our steaks were sliced into manageable pieces which was a nice touch.  It’s hard to cut a steak in one of those cast iron serving dishes!

Adobo Marinated Wagyu Flank / Oregano Lime Vinaigrette

This was one of the evening’s specials and, when our server told us about it, Art had no other options.  He loves southwestern flavors and this really hit the spot.  The meat had a great chipotle flavor and was topped with a compound butter and some thyme.  The sauce was extremely flavorful and Art found that a little went quite a long way.  I thought the little plastic cows to indicate degree of doneness were a cute little touch.

Stuffed Mushroom Caps / Potato Skins

We ordered two sides to share and, while both were tasty, neither were awe-inspiring.  The potato skins were served with crème fraîche which was a nice touch.  The stuffed mushroom caps were a bit soggy and not as flavorful as I would have liked them to be.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Mousse / Banana Ice Cream

My dessert was ridiculously rich.  So much so that I was only able to eat about half before giving up.  The ice cream tasted of fresh, not quite ripe, banana.  Just the way everyone in my family aside from me likes them.  The peanut butter and chocolate flavors in the mousse were both strong, I enjoyed it quite a bit, and I would have been content with a portion half the size!  It was topped with a praline flower.

Carrot Cake / Ginger Ice Cream

Art is quite the lover of carrot cake and he was very thrilled with this dessert.  Unlike the ginger ice cream I’ve made in the paste, this one had a very subtle flavor.  The carrot cake was full of great flavors and he ate every bite.

And with our dessert we were given a pair of these little chocolate caramel pastry things.  I have no idea what they are; I just know they were also very rich.  I had one bite of mine and Art was happy to eat the rest!

Overall I enjoyed our BLT Steak experience.  Our waiter was knowledgeable and friendly and the service was perfect.  When either of us got up from the table a server would immediately come over to fold our napkin correctly.  The recipe card for the popovers was also a very nice touch.  

My only disappointment was our seating.  I had requested a table with nice lighting for photography in my reservation and, while there were clearly open tables for two with better lighting in the restaurant, we were not seated at one of them.  This made me sad and resulted in me needing to use a flash while taking pictures – a solution that is never the optimal one.  

Aside from that minor point of contention, everything was fantastic and I’d be happy to dine here again!

Total price, no alcohol, including tip: $207.08

BLT Steak
1625 Eye Street NW
Washington, DC 20006

Reservations:  202.689.8999

Art, Lance, and I just had the pleasure of dining at Brabo in Old Town Alexandria.  From start to finish the experience was a pleasure.  I found the restaurant through the internet – we knew we wanted something in Alexandria since it’s a fairly easy drive from our home and doesn’t require an hour on the Metro.  Brabo was rated fairly well on a few sites, so after running it by Art and Lance we decided that it would be a great location for our August celebrations. 

It’s located on King Street and has complimentary valet parking which made it quite a cinch to access.  The décor was nice and simple, the seating was comfortable and my request for good lighting in the reservation got us a great table by the front windows with plenty of natural light.  We started dinner around 6:15pm and it wasn’t until dessert that the light started to run out. 

Southern Pennsylvania Tomato Gazpacho Avocado Tomato Relish

After quite a bit of deliberation, and input from our server, I chose the Gazpacho for my started.  The presentation was fantastic – it was served in a bowl with just the avocado tomato relish in the center and the gazpacho was then poured around it from a small carafe.  The aroma of the gazpacho struck me immediately and it was all uphill from there.  I wanted to lick my bowl when I had finished.  The baby croutons on top were fantastically crispy and it was served with wasabi crème fraîche which added a great spiciness to everything.

We also got toasty warm baguette slices which were served with butter that had a few kinds of salt sprinkled on top.  I just wanted to show the gazpacho first, but the bread was served shortly after we sat down.

Hamachi Crudo Sweet Soy, Ginger Milk, Yuzu

I admit, I ordered this for the table to share solely due to wondering what hamachi tastes like after watching so much Top Chef.  Crudo is, apparently, very similar to sashimi.  The hamachi had a nice flavor, similar to other fatty fishes, but a bit fishier finish than tuna has.  We all tried it and even Art found it passable.  The sauce was sweet and complimented the fish well.

Pipe Dreams Farms Mixed Green Salad Raw and Braised Local Path Valley Vegetables, Lemon Vinaigrette

Lance ordered this salad.  While I didn’t get to taste it, it appeared to be very nicely dressed.  Each piece of lettuce had a nice bit of shine, just right.  The carrots, beets, and radishes all appeared to have been cut with a peeler or mandolin.  It was fresh, crunchy, and just the right amount of salad.

Parma Ham Wrapped Roulade of Caesar Salad Parmesan Tuile

Art had a hard time deciding which starter to order since many of them tickled his fancy.  He went with the Caesar and was not disappointed.  He was even kind enough to share with me one of the soft boiled quail eggs!  The presentation of this dish was great.  The lettuce was served wrapped in Parma ham, the dressing and croutons are on either side with the egg halves, and the Parmesan tuile on top was nice and crispy.  Every restaurant has a Caesar salad and every restaurant has their own take on that salad, this was a unique one and it succeeded.

Seared Chesapeake Rockfish Potato Gnocchi, Baby Artichokes, Wild Mushrooms

I had a very hard time choosing an entrée for myself.  I was only able to make a decision by telling myself that I was going to enjoy Brabo so much that I would want to return.  I ended up going with the rockfish because it’s a fish I don’t recall having before, it’s the Maryland state fish, and I love artichokes and well prepared gnocchi.  I was not disappointed at all!  The greens on the top are (I think) baby arugula.  The gnocchi were light and the artichokes melted in my mouth.  The fish is a mild white fish and didn’t have a strong fishy flavor at all.  Everything on my plate came together perfectly.

Grilled Lamb Tenderloins White Bean Puree, Ratatouille, Cumin Madeira Sauce

Art probably deliberated longer than I did over entrée choice.  I believe he made the right choice because he made such exclamations as “you must make ratatouille in the future” and “this is the best lamb I’ve ever had” and “I want to like the plate!”  I’d say his dish was a resounding success and, because he rocks, he gave me a taste.  It was pretty much perfect and the lamb was prepared fantastically rare.

Fell’s Point Bistro Filet Belgian Frites, Roasted Shallot Cabernet Sauce

For Lance, the entrée choice was an easy one.  He loves cow.  He loves filet… it’s what he orders most often when we go out and I can’t blame him at all.  He certainly got a winner at Brabo.  The filet was a beautiful medium rare and he said that the sauce reminded him of the stroganoff of his youth.  It didn’t have quite the same sear as you’d find at a steakhouse, since the filet was served sauced.  Since Lance also rocks, I got to taste the filet as well and it was wonderfully tender.  I guess I’ll have to try to figure out how to replicate the sauce at some point.  The fries were also lovely and served with…

… mayo.  They were Belgian frites after all, it’s only proper.  Three different kinds of mayonnaise no less.  Sadly I forgot to try them!

Fricassee of Irwin’s Mushrooms

Art ordered these as a side to share.  It was a nice blend of wild mushrooms with garlic and parsley.  Tasty and well prepared.

Dessert was a very hard choice.  The list of ice creams and sorbets our server gave us was fantastic and I would have been happy to have tried all of them.  The cheese plate would have been lovely to split as well.  The tart, brûlée, and mousse are their most popular desserts.

Triple Chocolate Mousse Terrine White, Milk and Dark Chocolate Mousse, Burnt Orange Cardamom Sauce, Pistachio Tuile

Both Art and Lance decided to go with the mousse.  Both of them found it tasty, Art loved the Orange Cardamom Sauce.  I tasted a bit of Lance’s mousse and I think it would have hit the spot if I had been in a chocolate mood.  Lance would like everyone to know that “terrine” means “in a bucket,” so now you know.

Tahitian Vanilla Crème brûlée Fresh Berry Compote

But I wasn’t in a chocolate mood, so I went with the Crème brûlée instead.  Between you and me, loyal readers, I think I made the right choice.  It was creamy and rich; I could see all the vanilla bean seeds through the dish.  The top was caramelized wonderfully and the serving size was just what I wanted.  I’m not a huge berry fan but I fished a strawberry out of the compote and it was tasty enough.  It couldn’t compare to the awesomeness of the brûlée though, so I just stuck with that.

Overall, this was a great dining experience.  Art was giddy like a schoolboy afterward and had nothing but praise for the meal.  Lance and I were also thrilled but maybe a bit less vocal!  The service was great, our server was attentive but didn’t hover, she was also knowledgeable about the food and able to answer all of the questions we had for her.  I was thrilled that they accommodated my request for a table with good lighting for photography.  I’m happy to say that we will be going back, so I’ll be able to try all those dishes I had to pass up on our first visit. 

After the meal we walked next door to The Butcher’s Block where Brabo sells many of the raw materials used in the dishes they prepare.  I came home with four lovely duck breasts which just counts as the icing on the whole Brabo experience. 

Total price, including tip, 4 bottles of cola, a double espresso, and no alcohol: $225.63.

BRABO Restaurant
1600 King Street
Alexandria, Virginia

Reservations: 703.894.3440

Update: It has come to my attention that TenPenh has closed.  :(

In late April, Art and I had the pleasure of eating at TenPenh in Washington, D.C.  It’s a restaurant we’ve been wanting to eat at for some years and had just never gotten around to.

We were extremely pleased with the entire dining experience and left questioning why we had taken so long to eat at this amazing place!

It was a hot, humid, DC day - we’d visited the Sackler and Freer earlier in the day and walked across The Mall to get to the restaurant.  We were feeling a bit wilted and the cool, damp towels brought to us after being seated were a refreshing way to start off our dining experience.

For appetizers we ordered Lamb Pot Stickers and Peking Style Duck Rolls.  The lamb was perfectly rare and flavorful.  Ingredients included pine nuts and they were served on a watercress red onion salad with sesame soy dipping sauce.  The only down side was figuring out how to split the 5th pot sticker.

The duck rolls were wrapped in moo shu pancakes and served with hoisin sauce, cucumber, and scallion.

The next offering was an unexpected treat.  We were each served an amuse-bouche of an Asian inspired gazpacho.  The perfect way to further cool down after a hot day in the city.  Sadly, I forgot to take pictures until mine was almost gone.

I am a fish lover who lives with someone who does not love fish, as a result I tend to order fish when eating out.  I was not disappointed by the Peanut-Shallot Crusted Ahi Tuna which I ordered medium rare and was served with scallion lo mein, oven cured tomato, and a beurre blanc sauce.  The composition and balance of the dish was perfect and my tuna was cooked exactly the way I wanted it.

Art ordered the Silk Road Spiced Cowboy Steak which was served with TenPenh chimichurri, saffron rice, tamarind hoisin broccoli. He was kind enough to give me bites to try.  The rice was cooked perfectly, the broccoli had a fantastic sweetness and flavor, and the steak was wonderfully tender with a kick of spiciness due to the chimichurri.

To go with our entrees, we ordered two side dishes to share.  Art’s choice was Szechuan Green Beans.  These were nice and crisp and evenly coated in Szechuan sauce.

My choice was the Tempura Vegetables which were served with a traditional soy sauce based dipping sauce.  There was one piece each of cauliflower, broccoli, sweet potato, potato, mushroom, zucchini, and yellow squash.  My only complaint of the entire meal was that the pieces of vegetable were much too large and, as there was only one of each, we had to split each one in order to share the pieces fully.  Still, the frying was great and the batter was nice and light.

Last, of course, we had desserts.  It has only been recently in my life that I’ve ordered desserts in restaurants, but I suppose that I have seen the light and now know how delicious a well crafted dessert can be.  We were not disappointed with what TenPenh had to offer.  Art ordered a dessert he’d seen on the way into the restaurant - Dark Chocolate & Caramel Torte.  This was served with sweet soy ice cream, five spice pecan caramel sauce.  Sadly he damaged the wafer disk of chocolate before I was able to get a picture.  He devoured the whole thing in short order but was kind enough to share a taste and a pecan with me.  It was definitely a good choice of dessert for him.

I had almost settled on the Brulee on the dessert menu when I noticed donuts.  Donuts?  Coated with cinnamon and sugar and fresh made?  How can someone pass that up?  These were probably the best donuts I’ve had in my life.  They came to the table almost too hot to eat and were served with a dark chocolate pudding for dipping or eating with a spoon.  These were scrumptious, warm, and steamy.  I’d go back to TenPenh just to eat donuts.

Overall, this was one of the best dining experiences I’ve yet to have in D.C.  I am sorry that we waited so long to give this restaurant a try.  The service was great, we never felt rushed during the entire meal and our drinks were kept full without having to ask.  I never reached for my water glass to find it empty which is something I appreciate, especially on a hot day.  The ambience and noise levels were both welcoming and allowed for easy conversation.  I’m already looking forward to visiting TenPenh again in the future.

Total price, including tip: $148.25

TenPenh Restaurant
1001 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC