Ray's the Steaks

Ray’s the Steaks is a carnivorous paradise easily serving the best steaks in the area and some of the best in the country. I have eaten at Ray’s numerous times in the last couple years and its steaks are always really good and more often than not exceptional. Unfortunately, the steak I had last night only made it to the really good territory. This was as much my fault as it was the restaurant’s, as I simply ordered a steak I normally would not have.

The chateaubriand, the filets, the rib eyes, the hanger steak and the sirloin diablo at Ray’s are always superb and provide a level of culinary enjoyment that few other steakhouses can match. Furthermore, the béarnaise sauce is phenomenal and the creamed spinach is perfect (it’s creamy yet allows the diner to actually taste the spinach). However, after reading on another blog about the New York strip with brandy mushroom cream, I decided to try it last night.

First, however, I had the crab bisque, which is a must at Ray’s. I do not think it is too out there to say that it is possibly the best crab bisque in the country. The soup is creamy and filled with a ton of delicious crab meat. It is quite wonderful and never disappoints. I ordered my steak medium rare and it came out well charred and cooked to absolute perfection. It was juicy, tender and oozed with flavor. I prefer rib eyes and filets but this was a really good steak. The sauce, on the other hand, left a lot to be desired. It was good, don’t get me wrong, but was a little too sweet and did not pack a flavorful punch to compensate. I much prefer the béarnaise and the spicy diablo sauce. All told, it was still a really good meal that left me extremely satisfied. I was with Simplemonger who got the cajun ribeye topped with garlic cloves. I did not taste his but he raved that it was amazing. Also, he greatly enjoyed his key lime pie. He said it was not as tart as he'd like but he loved the graham crust and the strawberries that came with it. Furthermore, simplemonger is a big fan of the waitresses at Ray's. To him, they are as big a draw as the food. He gave his meal 4 cutting boards.

No one goes to Ray’s because of the décor or the service. The service is fine but this is not a place to linger. It is all about turnover so there is no reason to go if you want a nice, slow paced meal. Furthermore, I personally like the décor, but it is a barren strip mall suite. The focus is on the food as it should be. They keep costs down by not worrying about the décor and shunning a typical management structure. Thus, Ray’s offers higher quality meat with superb preparation at prices that are $10-$15 cheaper per steak than at places like BLT Steak, Charlie Palmer Steak, Morton’s and Ruth’s Chris. Ray’s has only two drawbacks: long waits and a terrible beer list. Nevertheless, this is the area’s best steakhouse and one of its best restaurants.

(this takes into account many past meals. last night's meal was worthy of 3 cutting boards.)

Ray’s the Steaks
1725 Wilson Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22009
703-841-7297
Open Daily for Dinner

Zaytinya

A friend, sweetmonger and I dined last Friday night a Zaytinya, José Andrés’ mezze restaurant in the Penn Quarter. Mezze are small plates of eastern Mediterranean cuisine. Given my recent fascination with Middle Eastern and Greek food, I was extremely happy to satisfy my urge to eat at Zaytinya and was genuinely impressed by the quality of the food.

Zaytinya is extremely popular and only takes a limited number of reservations thus making our wait around an hour. This was expected and didn’t bother me and gave us a chance to hang out in Zaytinya’s large bar area. It has a couple good beers on tap including Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA (a 4 hop beer) and the cocktails (I tried sweetmonger’s) are inventive and very good.

We were seated in the loft area which provides a slightly quieter dining experience and allows you to enjoy great views of the restaurant below. After studying the menu, we picked 6 of the over 70 small plates to share and I ordered 1 extra course to have all to my self.

The hummus and piping hot, fresh pita bread were delicious, maybe the best hummus in DC (not positive about that though). My cauliflower soup with Moroccan truffles and lemon was light, creamy and wonderful. The scallops with yogurt dill sauce were perfectly seared, sweet and super juicy. The arayes, ground lamb and tahini stuffed pita bread, was well seasoned and quite enjoyable. The lamb and beef sausages were tender and bold and the skewered lamb melted in my mouth. The red wine braised rabbit was not quite as good as the other mezze but it was cooked well and well cooked rabbit is always welcome in my mouth.

As good as the mezze were, the desserts at Zaytinya were every bit as good. We shared two: Turkish coffee chocolate and Turkish delight. The first was warm chocolate cake, bittersweet chocolate flan and cardamom espuma finished with espresso syrup. It was not super inventive but rather very well executed and showcased great flavor. The Turkish delight combined walnut ice cream with goat’s milk yogurt mousse, honey geleé, orange-caramel sauce and caramelized pine nuts. The walnut ice cream was particularly good and was an intriguing end to the meal.

My only complaint about the night is that our waiter inexcusably brought me some radler (beer and sprite) tasting concoction even though I had ordered another Dogfish Head. It was beer so I drank it instead of complaining but it pretty much sucked. Anyway, go to Zaytinya, make sure they understand your drink order and then enjoy. It will be hard not to.

Zaytinya
http://www.zaytinya.com/
701 9th St. NW
Washington, DC 20004
202-638-0800
See website for hours.

Sierra Nevada ESB

I had Sierra Nevada ESB on tap the other night and found it quite enjoyable. It is nothing spectacular but is a very solid beer and definitely worth checking out if you can find it. It has a golden/amber color and a mild but nice American hop smell, which is complented by a slightly bready malt and caramel aroma. There is some hop bitterness up front in the taste which then gives way to the bready and caramel malts. The finish is a little bitter so to reiterate its hop profile. This is not a must drink beer, but it is still a very respectable "American" ESB.

http://www.sierranevada.com/

Russian River Pliny

Last weekend at San Diego Brewing Company, I had the pleasure of having a pint of Russian River's Pliny the Younger. (11.0% abv, pictured)

Pliny the Younger is a very limited release Double IPA by Russian River. San Diego Brewing Co only got one keg into their brewpub, and it was rumored that all of SoCal got only 20 kegs.

This beer was a beautiful bright pale color in the pint glass. Lots of piny and citrusy floral notes in the powerful aroma. Flavorwise it was beer nirvana: lots of clean, strong hoppy flavor with only a bit of bitterness. Complex but drinkable, delicious and wonderfully enjoyable.

I actually prefer their more common Pliny the Elder (8.0% abv), which is very similar but a slightly milder verson of the same Double IPA style. These are two amazing beers by an amazing brewery, a must have if you ever see it on tap. You cannot go wrong either way.

I also want to mention what a great beer joint the San Diego Brewing Co is, where I enjoyed my pint of Pliny the Younger along with many other great beers over the course of many visits. This brewpub is located on Friars Road in the Mission Valley neighborhood of San Diego, a bit east of Qualcomm Stadium. It has been around for over 15 years. They brew several house beers on premises, including a fantastic Amber Ale and their popular Hopnotic IPA. Their house beers are very rich and well crafted, and they are able to hold their own in comparison to the other great (mostly local) microbrews that are on tap. In all, there are over 30 constantly rotating taps to try as well some very good bar food. SDBC is a great place to have a beer, watch some sports, and chat with great people. Highly recommended.

Pliny the Younger:

Pliny the Elder:
San Diego Brewing Co:
Russian River Brewing: http://www.russianriverbrewing.com/
San Diego Brewing Co: http://www.sandiegobrewing.com/

Town House - Chilhowie, Virginia

Sweetmonger and I spent the weekend in rural Southwestern Virginia visiting family. While there, we dined at Town House in Chilhowie. Town House may very well be the best restaurant in Virginia (and yes I am including the Inn at Little Washington), and it is certainly a dining experience that is not to be missed.

A little background first. Town House has been in operation since early 2002 serving fairly traditional, upscale food. I have dined there on multiple occasions and found the meals to be enjoyable. However, in the fall of 2007, the restaurant and its chef parted ways over creative differences, and the owners engaged in an exhaustive search for a new chef. They eventually hired the team of John Shields and Karen Urie, who started cooking for the Town House in late 2007. Immediately prior to Town House, John was a sous chef at Alinea, Gourmet Magazine’s Best Restaurant in America, working under Grant Achatz in Chicago, and Karen was head pastry chef at the world famous Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago. Their blend of cutting edge techniques and high quality ingredients create a one of a kind dining experience.

The meal began with some “snacks.” These included a green curry rice crispy treat, an “Oreo” (my description) cookie with an olive oil cream filling, a clam chip and some dehydrated mango and pink peppercorn ribbons. A delicious way to start the meal. (This is a pic of the plate that the snacks were on)

Chilled geoduck, oysters, razorback clams, mussels, horseradish cream, leak confit, dehydrated beet, and granny smith apple sorbet

The sorbet created a wonderful blend of savory and sweet flavors and the horseradish cream added a bit of spice, which was an interesting yet delicious contrast to the cold shellfish. At the time, I didn't expect anything to top it. Superb.

Barely seared ahi, white soy bean paste, spinach and cucumber foam

This course did indeed top it though. The tuna was seared perfectly and was full of flavor. The sweetness of the cucumber and the bitterness of the spinach worked to create a balanced and delicious foam. A beautiful blend of savory and sweet. Excellent. (This is a picture of my paritally eaten tuna)

Blue crab, sunchokes, brown butter, meyer lemon mayonnaise.

This deconstructed crab cake was a stunning achievement. The best savory dish of the night and one of my all time favorite plates of food. Excellent. I had dinner about a month ago at Le Bernardin in New York City, the world-famous three star Michelin seafood temple. There was not one dish on my tasting menu that compared in taste, texture, or creativity to the three seafood courses at Town House.

Rack of Lamb, giant shallot, FAGE yogurt and honey foam

The worst course of the night, yet still very good. As the lamb soaked up the foam, a near indescribable flavor combination worked wonders in my mouth. The sweetness of the foam provided the perfect accompaniment to the robustly flavored lamb. Very good approaching excellence. (This is a pic of sweetmonger's partially eaten lamb . . . . I had already eaten too much of mine by the time I remembered to take a picture).

Our cheese course was a frozen explorator triple crème cheese was a perfect segue into the desserts.

Venezuelan chocolate, curly fries, pretzel ice cream, caramelized mustard seeds.

I was not prepared for this dessert as I hadn't expected to be eating chocolate "pudding" topped with salty curly fries. No matter, after the first bite of fries and chocolate, I thought, “Oh, this is good.” In the second bite, I incorporated the ice cream and thought, “Wow, this is really good.” After tasting all the elements in the third bite, I said, “This is the best dessert I have ever had.” A pitch perfect mixture of salty and sweet and it would still be the best dessert I have ever had had the kitchen not sent out the second one.

Chocolate chip sherbet, gorgonzola, pine nut torrone

This dessert is mind-blowing. The chocolate chips absolutely melt in your mouth and the sherbet is so good and so sweet; then at the very end, the taste of the bleu cheese rears its beautiful head and completely boggles the mind. This is the best dessert I have ever had. Karen Urie is a master.

This was an excellent meal and a dining experience that few other restaurants can match. Town House is an oasis nestled in an otherwise barren culinary desert. The cuisine easily rivals some of the very best restaurants in the country. It is well worth making a trip to Southwestern Virginia to dine there. You will not be disappointed.


Town House
http://www.townhouseva.com
132 E. Main St.
Chilhowie, VA 24319

(276) 646-8787

Kansas City Barbeque - San Diego

I went to Kansas City Barbeque for lunch today and got myself a sliced pork sandwich. This place is not really famous for its food. It is kind of a dive, most of the clientele are blue collar or tourists despite. The old man behind the bar moves very slow and takes forever to get your food and drink. The reason why this place is famous is because they filmed the famous piano scene from the movie Topgun here. They don't let you forget it either, with every inch of the wall being plastered in movie memorabilia and the back of their menu talking about how they got the chance to be in the movie.

Anyway, the food itself is pretty decent. The menu is pretty cheap, about 6-7 bucks for sandwiches with one side, 10-11 bucks for platters with 2 sides. A few local beers on tap. Everyone should have a stop in this place when they visit San Diego.

Famous Topgun Piano:

Famous Topgun Jukebox:

610 W Market St, San Diego, CA 92101

11am-1am daily

http://www.kcbbq.net/

Pizzeria Paradiso

Yesterday, I met some friends for happy hour at the Birreria at Pizzeria Paradiso in Georgetown. Not only is the Birreria the premiere beer drinking destination in Washington, DC, it also has DC’s best happy hour: half off all draft beers. The draft list constantly changes and is consistently impressive. Furthermore, in the Birreria, you can order food from the wonderful pizza restaurant upstairs.

I have tried many of the Neapolitan-style pizzas on the menu and all are superb, but nowadays I only order one: the Bosco with whole wheat crust and fresh sliced tomatoes. This is mainly because it tastes amazing and is perhaps the “healthiest” pizza one can get. The Bosco is a standard Neapolitan mozzarella and chunk-tomato pizza with toppings of spinach, mushroom and red onion. I opt for the fiber rich whole wheat crust which adds a heartier taste, and I add fresh sliced tomatoes because for my money there are few raw ingredients that taste better than a fresh tomato. The pizzas are cooked in the wood burning oven upstairs after being topped with extra-virgin olive oil. The result: the best pizza in the city, and last night was no different. The pizza was perfectly cooked and the toppings, led by the fresh sliced tomatoes, burst with flavor. This is a DC gem.

Some will argue with me about this and insist that the best pizza in the city is served at 2 Amy’s. All I can say is that to be considered pizza the toppings actually have to stay on the dough. 2 Amy’s puts so much damn olive oil on the pizza right before it comes out that all the toppings fall off; thus, the soggy mess can no longer be called pizza. 2 Amy's is tied with Michel Richard Citronelle as the most overrated restaurant in Washington, DC.

Pizzeria Paradiso has the best beer list is the city. Granted, Brickskeller technically has a larger selection but its draft list is always sub-par and everyone prefers beer on draft. The Birreria has 16 draft handles plus a cask beer (which at times as housed such excellent brews as Bell’s Two Hearted Ale and Clipper City Loose Cannon). The draft list changes weekly thus allowing repeat customers to expand their beer knowledge during every visit. Here is last night’s list: Anderson Valley Boont Amber, Liefmans Goudenband, Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti, Bells HopSlam, Bell’s Consecrator Dopplebock, De Dolle Stille Nacht, Clipper City Small Craft Warning, Gouden Carolus Classic, Southern Tier Choklat, Fullers London Pride, Ayinger Celebrator, North Coast Old Rasputin, Unibroue Maudite, Blanche de Bruxelles, Chambly Noir, Dupont Foret and Froach Heather Ale on cask. I sampled Bell’s HopSlam (see earlier review) and Bell’s Consecrator Dopplebock (see separate review). HopSlam was stunning and the Consecrator was better than most and when combined with the pizza, it made for a highly enjoyable meal. This is a great anytime restaurant, and the happy hour (T,W 5-7PM) is a steal.



Pizzeria Paradiso
http://www.pizzeriaparadiso.com/
3282 M Street NW
Washington, DC 20007
202-337-1245
M-Th. 11:30 AM to 11 PM
F-Sa. 11:30 AM to 12 AM
Sun. 12 PM to 10 PM

The Fish Market

Last weekend I stopped in for an early 11am lunch at the famous Fish Market on the waterfront of downtown San Diego. It is located in a prime location next to the the aircraft carrier museum and close to Seaport Village.

The Fish Market is a chain restaurant; however, this is their original and best known location. It is a two level restaurant, the upstairs being a fine dining setting, while the downstairs being casual dining with an oyster bar, sushi bar, and cocktail bar. Downstairs is also a fresh fish stand where you can buy all kinds of raw fish caught that morning to take home, or order for yourself a bowl of their famous clam chowder. I was here for the clam chowder.

The Fish Market offers you two choices of chowder, white New England Clam Chowder and red Manhattan Clam Chowder. I asked the fish monger for his recommendation and he said that they are definetly more known of their New England Clam Chowder. I asked for a pint, paid the man $4, and I was on my way.

Just a few steps from the restaurant, there was a section of benches with a beautiful ocean view that would be perfect for me to enjoy my chowder. I sat two benches down from a homeless bum who was comfortably napping, and I examined my purchase:

As you can see, for $4 I got a huge chunk of fresh, warm bread sliced into 4 pieces, some butter, and of course the huge one pint bowl of white chowder. I didn't even bother with the butter, dipping the soft delicious bread into the chowder. The bread soaked in the tasty white goodness was heaven in my mouth. The chowder was even more glorious by itself. Each spoonful had huge chunks of amazing clam meat, extremely flavorful potatoes and other vegetables, and of course the chowder base was creamy and wonderful! I badly wanted to savor this meal, but everything was gone into my stomach within minutes. This is what San Diego is all about. A must visit.

And here is the wonderful view I enjoyed while eating my fantastic lunch:

Fish Market: http://www.thefishmarket.com/locations.aspx?id=6
750 North Harbor DriveSan Diego, CA 92101
See website for phone number, hours, and menu

Bell's Two-Hearted Ale Mini-keg

The other weekend I came across what may be the single greatest innovation in the history of the brewing industry: the Bell’s Two Hearted Ale Mini-keg. I know, I know . . . the mini-keg has been around for years; however, never before has a beer of this quality been packaged in a mini-keg. The joy I felt seeing this for sale was indescribable. Bell’s Two Hearted Ale has held a regular place in my fridge for some time making the mini-keg a must buy.

The only drawback of the mini-keg is that it must be drunk within a day or the beer goes flat. Therefore, because the mini-keg contains roughly 10 pints of 7% ABV beer, the actual drinking of it requires some logistical legwork to ensure that enough parties can partake so that the entire minikeg is drunk. So, because of various travel schedules, it took about a month before I was ready to open the keg. Needless to say, the anticipation building within my mind was agonizing but this beer met all expectations.

Once the keg was opened, the beer poured a gorgeous amber and orange with a head worthy of a fluffy bird. The beer smells of incredible floral and citrus hops, not quite to the extent of Bell’s HopSlam but the similarities are evident. The taste is a combination of grapefruit, spicy hops and a slight malty backbone of sweetness. The finish is clean making this a beautifully balanced beer and one of the most drinkable IPAs in America. It also is the best year-round brew in the country.

www.bellsbeer.com