The New Year

Earlier today I was reading on Scotch Blog about all the defunct websites and blogs about scotch and whisky that promised so much and then petered out after only a few posts. God forbid such a thing should happen to me, but then I see it has been over two months since I last posted. A lot has happened since then, so I wanted to share with you some of what has happened in the mean time. (This posting is brought to you by three drams of Talisker 10 yo and 1 of Cooper's Choice 1990 Bowmore, so please forgive any rambling or misspellings).

First, I have to tell you about the single best restaurant in Washington DC. You may have seen Michelle Richard's book in Borders or Barns & Nobles, Happy in the Kitchen. Well, count me happy in the dining room. Leslie and I celebrated our second anniversary at Citronelle at the Latham Hotel in Georgetown. I was bowled away by his cuisine. Tom Siemtsa (food critic for the Washington Post) described Chef Richard's creations as playful interpretations of traditional foods, including (as I recall) making something look like a sunny-side up egg that was very different. (His review is here.) While the chef at Maestro experiments with different flavors (for which I have great respect), Michelle Richard makes beautiful creations that taste wonderful. I can't remember everything I had, but the rabbit tasting (loin, leg, sausage, etc) was divine, and certainly better than Gordon Ramsay's rabbit at the Claridge in London (which I found a bit salty). I can't even remember what Leslie had at this point, but I still remember the apple done four ways for dessert, including a wonderful apple ice cream, a cider, and a dessert terrine. On top of that, the sommelier Mark Slater suggested a wonderful wine (Chateqeuneuf-du-Pape 2004 La Bastide Saint Dominique Secrets de Pignan "Vieilles Vignes") that went with it all perfectly (unfortunately it is not a widely distributed wine and I have not found it anywhere in stores).

So, we have now eaten at three of the four four star restaurants in the DC area (Maestro, Citronelle and Cityzen) and found two of them fantastic, and one very well executed, but not to our liking wholely (Maestro). The one we have not been to is the Inn and little Washington, but that we will save for a while (both in terms of time and money!).

After Christmas, we headed up to New York to enjoy the Metropolitan Museum of Art, some opera at the Met (die Zauberfloete) and dinner at a new restaurant (for us): Compass in the upper West Side. The restaurant has a beat-up sign out front that reminds you of a diner, but the inside is all class. It is quiet and modern (granted we were the first table seated at 5:45pm, so no one else was there yet) and the service is excellent. They have a limited, but delicious, prixe-fix menu for $35 that is well worth it. A la carte has some great dishes as well. If you find yourself in New York and looking for a restaurant before the Opera, symphony or ballet, you can do far worse than Compass.