The Oakville Grille and Wine Bar (WaPo review is here) was a lunch-time choice recently as the clouds threatened a torrential down-pour and I had time to kill before my hair cut at nearby Salon Nader in Bethesda on Old Georgetown Road. The first thing I noticed as I was the first customer is the music -- an eclectic mix of music I cannot begin to describe. I could have been an old fart and asked them to turn it down, but it wasn't THAT bad.
In any case, my one visit to Oakville was not disappointing at all. The wine list has many wines by the glass, though given its supposed homage to the Oakville section of Napa Valley, many of the bottles standing around as ambience were pretty standard $10 bottles, but the list of wines by the glass was actually quite pleasing -- many choices, from $8 to more than $20. I chose a Vino Verde from Spain that was pleasant, fruity without being noxious, and paired well with my tilapia BLT, though the BLT came on what looked like store-bought wheat bread. The bread provided on your side plate is served hot, though the crust is set, so I suspect it was heated in an oven. It is good, though, don't get me wrong.
A pleasant experience overall. Worth stopping in if you find yourself a bit peckish in the area.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Talisker
We are off to Scotland in just a few weeks and I am definitely looking forward to spending some time tramping about the Highlands and on the Isle of Skye. While on Skye, we're signed up for the tour at Talisker distillery. My sister and I will get to sample five whiskies at the end of the in-depth tour, while Leslie, at least for the moment, will not. I say for the moment, because at our scotch on the ribs night last weekend (see my post on it), she actually liked the Glenkinchie. She said she might well want to try the Taliskers, but actually told me to get some Talisker for her to try before we leave so she can decide whether to partake. This is a big deal after the bare tolerance of my Scotch habit Leslie has shown to date.
So I headed to one of the best places in the Washington DC area to find Scotch (link is on the links side of this page) and bought a bottle of 18 year old and one of the distiller's edition (which is a 13 year old bottled in 2005). The latter is "double-matured", whatever that means. We'll see whether Leslie likes them -- they at least are less forthright than the Islay malts.
So I headed to one of the best places in the Washington DC area to find Scotch (link is on the links side of this page) and bought a bottle of 18 year old and one of the distiller's edition (which is a 13 year old bottled in 2005). The latter is "double-matured", whatever that means. We'll see whether Leslie likes them -- they at least are less forthright than the Islay malts.
Komi *****
You will note that I have added some asterisks to the title of this posting. I have decided to start adding a rating system (out of five stars) to my restaurant reviews. For Leslie's birthday recently we went to Komi Restaurant in DuPont Circle, and fittingly for the first restaurant I rate, it garners five stars out of five.
Komi is the restaurant of Johnny Monis in a converted row house on 17th street, just above Massachusetts Avenue. We originally thought Saturday would be good, but more than a month out, only 9:30 pm was available. So we went with Leslie's actual birthday on Tuesday for a 6:30pm reservation. And that was a lucky turn of events. The dining room is spare -- I would call it farmhouse chic because of simple tables combined with very little decor and a bare, distressed dining table used to hold open bottles of wine and a tall server along the wall. The menu is simple, but deceptively so. We opted for the dinner (mezze, pasta, main course and dessert for $84) with wine pairings.
Komi's cuisine is mediterranean, though there is some emphasis on greek. Half of the wine list is greek wine, but by some circumstance, all of our wine pairings were either Spanish, Italian, or American (a pinot noir from the Finger Lakes). We had a spanish sparkling white similar to a blanc de blanc with our mezze, all of which were wonderful with only the odd off note. A medjool date stuffed with creamy mascarpone was divine, once the excess salt is taken off. A whimsical cone filled with beef tartar and topped with a parmesan foam, quail egg, and a bit of parmesan at the bottom was excellent. We also had a small gyro like no other. I was worried we would get too full just on mezze, but luckily we moved on to the pasta course. I had beet ravioli with feta, candied pine nuts and maple, which might have been too sweet but for an excellent pairing with a cabernet franc. Leslie had fava bean caramella with charcoal grilled octopus. When I tried it my mind immediately screamed "flamed broiled Whopper." It was very smokey, perhaps a bit too much.
Our main courses were monkfish with fenugreek (the flower, not the seed) for Leslie and local Iberian pig done three ways for me. I had the pinot noir with the pig, which came as a trio: delicate tenderloin, blood sausage with clove, coriander, and fennel, and pork cheeks in the style of pork belly. The pork came with fresh, crunchy peas and carrots, including a carrot puree. My dish was delicate and rich at the same time, while Leslie's monkfish was delicate and lightly sweet, making me realize that monkfish really can be the poor man's lobster when done right. The gruener veltinger from Tirol was light and short-lived on the tongue.
Finally for dessert I deferred to the birthday girl, letting her have the bittersweet chocolate mousse. Leslie had ordered a port, but the sommelier felt bad when we pointed out that we had not tried any greek wines, that he changed her order to a greek vin santo that paired well. I had a white port with my basil panna cotta with a rhubarb compote (firm and crunchy, almost halfway to a candied rhubarb) and shortbread.
Overall, this was a wonderful experience (minus the woman who brought up her gynecologist in conversation with her husband loud enough for the whole room to hear) and service was attentive without being overbearing. I have read reviews on-line from people who felt slighted on service (though on a busy Friday) and that the portions were tiny. I left the restaurant very satisfied, but not bloated and full, which I appreciated. Komi is highly recommended, particularly during the week when it is not packed.
Komi is the restaurant of Johnny Monis in a converted row house on 17th street, just above Massachusetts Avenue. We originally thought Saturday would be good, but more than a month out, only 9:30 pm was available. So we went with Leslie's actual birthday on Tuesday for a 6:30pm reservation. And that was a lucky turn of events. The dining room is spare -- I would call it farmhouse chic because of simple tables combined with very little decor and a bare, distressed dining table used to hold open bottles of wine and a tall server along the wall. The menu is simple, but deceptively so. We opted for the dinner (mezze, pasta, main course and dessert for $84) with wine pairings.
Komi's cuisine is mediterranean, though there is some emphasis on greek. Half of the wine list is greek wine, but by some circumstance, all of our wine pairings were either Spanish, Italian, or American (a pinot noir from the Finger Lakes). We had a spanish sparkling white similar to a blanc de blanc with our mezze, all of which were wonderful with only the odd off note. A medjool date stuffed with creamy mascarpone was divine, once the excess salt is taken off. A whimsical cone filled with beef tartar and topped with a parmesan foam, quail egg, and a bit of parmesan at the bottom was excellent. We also had a small gyro like no other. I was worried we would get too full just on mezze, but luckily we moved on to the pasta course. I had beet ravioli with feta, candied pine nuts and maple, which might have been too sweet but for an excellent pairing with a cabernet franc. Leslie had fava bean caramella with charcoal grilled octopus. When I tried it my mind immediately screamed "flamed broiled Whopper." It was very smokey, perhaps a bit too much.
Our main courses were monkfish with fenugreek (the flower, not the seed) for Leslie and local Iberian pig done three ways for me. I had the pinot noir with the pig, which came as a trio: delicate tenderloin, blood sausage with clove, coriander, and fennel, and pork cheeks in the style of pork belly. The pork came with fresh, crunchy peas and carrots, including a carrot puree. My dish was delicate and rich at the same time, while Leslie's monkfish was delicate and lightly sweet, making me realize that monkfish really can be the poor man's lobster when done right. The gruener veltinger from Tirol was light and short-lived on the tongue.
Finally for dessert I deferred to the birthday girl, letting her have the bittersweet chocolate mousse. Leslie had ordered a port, but the sommelier felt bad when we pointed out that we had not tried any greek wines, that he changed her order to a greek vin santo that paired well. I had a white port with my basil panna cotta with a rhubarb compote (firm and crunchy, almost halfway to a candied rhubarb) and shortbread.
Overall, this was a wonderful experience (minus the woman who brought up her gynecologist in conversation with her husband loud enough for the whole room to hear) and service was attentive without being overbearing. I have read reviews on-line from people who felt slighted on service (though on a busy Friday) and that the portions were tiny. I left the restaurant very satisfied, but not bloated and full, which I appreciated. Komi is highly recommended, particularly during the week when it is not packed.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Ardbeg Recovery
You will recall my disappointment when I discovered that Ardbeg's Still Young and Almost There are not available in the United States. Luckily on a recent trip to Europe I spied a bottle of Still Young in the window of a tobacconist just of the Grand Place in Brussels. Some 57 Euro later and much careful wrapping to survive three C-130 rides and a transatlantic flight, the bottle survived to stand on my whiskey table at home. I haven't tried it yet, but will likely do so as soon as I have finished off a couple of bottles that have been around a while.
Scotch on the Ribs
Last night's dinner and scotch-tasting was a rousing success, I would say -- everyone seemed to have a good time and enjoyed the food and companionship. After a slight hiccup with some of the ribs (my normal source was completely out on Thursday evening, so I went to Whole Foods, which besides charging a lot for ribs ($7.99 a pound for baby back), also sold me one rack that turned out to be past its prime. Don't worry, I took it back for a refund and went to Snider's to get some replacement ribs.) Leslie had the weekend off too, so she was able to help out by making her three-bean salad and a pasta salad (with which she was dissatisfied).
After a satisfying dinner of smoked baby back ribs, salad, chips with home-made guacamole, we dove into a tasting of three scotches. I had pulled out the map of Scotland and placed some bottles on it to show the diversity of regions. We tasted the following:
Glenkinchie 10 year old from the Lowlands
Glenfarclas 12 year old from Speyside/the Highlands
Laphroaig Quarter cask from Islay.
A diverse group indeed. Many people were surprised by how good the Glenkinchie was -- even Leslie liked it, though she has never liked scotch before. The Glenfarclas was also well-received, probably due to the sherry cask finishing that gives it a sweetness, honey-like finish. And of course opinions on the Laphroaig were at both ends of the spectrum -- comments like "I feel like I just licked a wet cigarett butt" and "wow, that's got some power to it" were indicative.
We rounded out the evening with some strawberry-rhubarb pie (Whole Foods does this quite well) and good conversation.
After a satisfying dinner of smoked baby back ribs, salad, chips with home-made guacamole, we dove into a tasting of three scotches. I had pulled out the map of Scotland and placed some bottles on it to show the diversity of regions. We tasted the following:
Glenkinchie 10 year old from the Lowlands
Glenfarclas 12 year old from Speyside/the Highlands
Laphroaig Quarter cask from Islay.
A diverse group indeed. Many people were surprised by how good the Glenkinchie was -- even Leslie liked it, though she has never liked scotch before. The Glenfarclas was also well-received, probably due to the sherry cask finishing that gives it a sweetness, honey-like finish. And of course opinions on the Laphroaig were at both ends of the spectrum -- comments like "I feel like I just licked a wet cigarett butt" and "wow, that's got some power to it" were indicative.
We rounded out the evening with some strawberry-rhubarb pie (Whole Foods does this quite well) and good conversation.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Vegas Part 2
The other restaurant I went to while in Vegas a few weeks ago was L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, which I had not originally planned to go to, but was easily talked into after I won all my bets on the Super Bowl and could cover (most) of my Guy Savoy check. L'Atelier looks more like a sushi bar when you walk in, with a few tables, but most of the seats at the bar that is all black with hi-chairs. I had the discovery menu, which is nine dishes, most of them sublime or at least very very good. In fact, I was more impressed with this menu than I was with Guy Savoy. The pork belly is not on the discovery menu, but Scott had it and kindly let me try it -- it is pure heaven. The one off note perhaps were the oysters, that had too much lemon juice and vinegar. The oysters have a sublime sweetness that stands best on its own.
But the other dishes were wonderful, including an asparagus soup, smoked salmon, and two desserts. Well worth a visit, and (relatively) reasonable price ($120 for the discovery menu) for Vegas. One interesting note is that the seats at the bar give a full view of the kitchen. We watched the executive chef carefully dissect what looked like a sausage with no casing, and then proceed to eat the whole thing. When we asked him what it was, he said "an experiment that I'm still working on," but he declined to tell us any specifics.
But the other dishes were wonderful, including an asparagus soup, smoked salmon, and two desserts. Well worth a visit, and (relatively) reasonable price ($120 for the discovery menu) for Vegas. One interesting note is that the seats at the bar give a full view of the kitchen. We watched the executive chef carefully dissect what looked like a sausage with no casing, and then proceed to eat the whole thing. When we asked him what it was, he said "an experiment that I'm still working on," but he declined to tell us any specifics.
Valentine's Day, Take 2
After coming down with a truly nasty cold on Valentine's Day, we had to postpone our celebrations until after Leslie got back from her trip to Nashville and Los Angeles. Last night was the second take -- dinner at Palena in Cleveland Park. Dinner was wonderful, I must say. The menu is short, but packed with so many intriguing dishes, it's hard to decide what to get. Leslie started with a sweet and spicy Japanese ceviche (snapper, I think). I had the salt cod on an italian braise -- both dishes were excellent starts to the evening.
I followed that with parsley ravioli that started strong on the parsley and then melded into lovely heat. The ravioli are accompanied by mushrooms and frogs legs (that I forgot were in the dish until the main course came, when I said to myself "oh yeah, those were frogs legs in my pasta"). Leslie had the saddle of rabbit and enjoyed it. My main course was pork done three ways, including a cube of smoked pork belly (basically a very fine bacon) and loin cooked to perfection (slightly pink still). Leslie had monkfish. We finished off with wonderful desserts -- I had the chocolate almond cake with chocolate sorbet (naturally), and Leslie had the cannoli (also a natural choice for her. The cannoli looked more like a fried wonton and open-faced, instead of the traditional tube. Both our plates were clean in seconds (maybe a minute or two).
The wine was a difficult one. We looked at some pinot noirs and I thought maybe a St. Emilion (though from 2004) might go well. The wine steward recommended a barbaresco from 2001, noting that its floral and lavender notes would go well. My first impression was twizzler -- a faint candy cherry smell. The wine was good, but didn't really pair well with any of the dishes all that well. Ah well, you experiment and sometimes it doesn't pan out perfectly.
All in all, it was a wonderful dining experience. I would go back -- perhaps to try the cafe in front, but wouldn't turn up a chance to eat in the formal dining room again.
I followed that with parsley ravioli that started strong on the parsley and then melded into lovely heat. The ravioli are accompanied by mushrooms and frogs legs (that I forgot were in the dish until the main course came, when I said to myself "oh yeah, those were frogs legs in my pasta"). Leslie had the saddle of rabbit and enjoyed it. My main course was pork done three ways, including a cube of smoked pork belly (basically a very fine bacon) and loin cooked to perfection (slightly pink still). Leslie had monkfish. We finished off with wonderful desserts -- I had the chocolate almond cake with chocolate sorbet (naturally), and Leslie had the cannoli (also a natural choice for her. The cannoli looked more like a fried wonton and open-faced, instead of the traditional tube. Both our plates were clean in seconds (maybe a minute or two).
The wine was a difficult one. We looked at some pinot noirs and I thought maybe a St. Emilion (though from 2004) might go well. The wine steward recommended a barbaresco from 2001, noting that its floral and lavender notes would go well. My first impression was twizzler -- a faint candy cherry smell. The wine was good, but didn't really pair well with any of the dishes all that well. Ah well, you experiment and sometimes it doesn't pan out perfectly.
All in all, it was a wonderful dining experience. I would go back -- perhaps to try the cafe in front, but wouldn't turn up a chance to eat in the formal dining room again.
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