Minibar

I finally chose where I am going to attend law school. Sweetmonger was thrilled with my decision and decided to take me to Minibar to celebrate, and it was a meal that I will not soon forget. Minibar challenges any preconceived notions about presentation, texture and taste one has about food. The components of the meal are intricate and creative, and an evening dining there is as much an entertainment production as it is a meal. Nevertheless, the food happens to be quite tasty and much of it is exceptional.

Minibar is, of course, the six seat restaurant within a restaurant at Café Atlantico in the Penn Quarter. The bar is situated directly in front of a kitchen where chefs prepare the 28-30 course meal. This set up not only allows one to observe the chefs while they’re at work but also allows the diner to interact and ask questions, and there are plenty of questions to ask. The only drawback to the set up is that you are forced to sit too close to people you don’t know. For example, sweetmonger and I were seated next to some over-indulged, prissy, self-important woman who complained more than she smiled. “Oh, I don’t eat fish. . . . Oh, I don’t like avocado. . . . . Ughh. . . . I’m just so full.” I really thought sweetmonger was going to reach over and slap her. I feel this must be what it's like to dine with Britney Spears. Nevertheless, the food is of such high quality that this is only a minor complaint.

The meal is divided into three parts: munchies, flavors and textures and sweets. We started with some house made parmesan chips that tasted like awesome Cheez-Its and they were served with a delicious Greek yogurt. Many “munchies” followed. Here are some of the highlights: an Olive Oil “Bon-Bon” burst with deliciousness, a cone filled with salmon roe and cream cheese was great, an almond shell enclosing a blue cheese cream mixed nutty and sharp saltiness perfectly, a steamed brioche bun with lemon foam and caviar was wonderful and eel wrapped with wasabi and ginger in a Japanese leaf and then surrounded with cotton candy was surprising, delightful and without-a-doubt amazing. Also worth mentioning is “Dragon’s Breath” popcorn, which is a popcorn ball frozen in liquid nitrogen. Taste wise it was pretty good, but when eaten it causes one’s ensuing breaths to resemble that of a dragon. It’s pretty cool.

The middle part of the meal also had its share of great dishes. “Zucchini in Textures” was a three layer dish: zucchini puree on the bottom, zucchini seeds in the middle and a zucchini gelee on top; it was intriguing and quite good. The smoked oyster dish was probably my favorite of the night. Fresh oysters were served with some type of sauce and an apple foam I think. The result was a smokey, sweet barbeque taste that was out of this world. The “Philly Cheesesteak” also merits discussion. Thinly seared strips of wagyu beef and mushrooms were served on top of hollowed-out bread filled with cheese. Enough said.

The only major miss of the night was served before the cheesesteak. It was a breaded cigala (a lobster type shellfish) served with a sea vegetable salad. A lot went into the dish but not a lot came out. It wasn’t bad but was just missing the exploding flavors of many of the other dishes.

We had two desserts, one of which was probably the second best dish of the night. It was called “Thai Dessert,” and combined coconut ice cream with a peanut shell, some curry sauce and Cheyenne pepper. Easily one the best desserts I have ever had.

Is the food at Minibar as good as other leading progressive restaurants that I have been to like Schwa in Chicago or the Town House Grill in Southwestern Virginia? No. Is it as good as CityZen, Restaurant Eve or Komi in Washington, D.C.? Not quite, but much of the food is, and when the entire experience is taken into account, Minibar is hard to beat. It is certainly worth eating there at least once in your life.



Minibar
www.cafeatlantico.com/miniBar
405 8th St. NW
Washington, DC 20004

Bar Pilar

Bar Pilar is my favorite restaurant that I can afford to go to on a regular basis and is one of the best DC restaurants period. It has a very good beer list (which is important for any bar) and a welcoming, but distinctly barish, feel. This is not a restaurant with a cool bar but rather a bar with a great restaurant.

The tasty, creative and cheap menu is awesome and constantly changes. The food is always really good, and outside of CityZen, Restaurant Eve and Komi, I have had more exceptional dishes at Bar Pilar than anywhere else in the area. The menu is one of small plates and is divided into five sections: soups/salads, vegetables, fish, meat and dessert. My typical meal there consists of a soup or salad, fish, meat and sometimes dessert. Considering that nothing on the menu is over $10, I can sample an array of food of similar quality for a fraction of the price relative to the three restaurants mentioned above.

Here is my meal from my last visit with sweetmonger: a garlic mussel soup (very good), radishes and butter, seared scallops with maple glazed roasted beets (this dish was exceptional) and a veal tongue taco. Seriously, at what other bar or restaurant can one eat a veal tongue taco? Sweetmonger’s meal started with the same soup, but she had a crab cake served with an excellent cocktail sauce and a seared chicken breast with a tasty sauce that I cannot remember. Bar Pilar’s chicken dishes always have perfectly crisped skin. It’s very impressive.

Highlights from previous meals include a delicious coq au vin (Bar Pilar has a particular talent for producing excellent poultry dishes) and a tuna burger that is on par with the lobster burger at Citronelle and goat meat gyro at Komi. Again, notwithstanding the three best restaurants DC, Bar Pilar offers the best chance of sampling creative, exceptional cuisine on a regular basis. It is an absolute steal of a restaurant.

The only negative is the service. One has to remember that you are eating in a bar and the service can be erratic. It is not uncommon for dishes to come out at random times or all at the same time. However, this is the risk you have to take to enjoy exceptional cuisine at even more exceptional prices.



Bar Pilar
http://www.barpilar.com/
1833 14th St. NW
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 265-1751

CityZen - Washington, D.C.

I have dined at CityZen, the restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental, three times and it is, along with Restaurant Eve and Komi, one of the three best restaurants in the D.C. area. CityZen is also the home of the only perfect meal I’ve ever had. Perfect meals are so rare because they not only require that every dish be exceptional without any flaws but also display creativity in preparation, presentation and flavor while at the same time carving out a long term spot in a person’s mind. I honestly have thought about my first meal a CityZen at least every week since I ate there, and I still fantasize about going back in time and re-eating Eric Ziebold’s monkfish and foie gras preparation. No other meal has ever affected me in such a way.

This being said, my most recent meal at CityZen was no where near perfect, though it did reach a few great heights. However, it was very different from my first two dining experiences there. Previously, CityZen had been a demonstration in how a chef can use ingredients to create flavors entirely his own. My most recent meal was more a showcase in restraint, allowing ingredients to speak mostly for themselves.

I was there with sweetmonger and our first course was seared foie gras served with pineapple marmalade and pickle tempura. Wow! This foie gras dish was heads and tails above the one I recently had at McCrady’s in Charleston. The foie was seared absolutely perfectly. It was warm, rich, buttery yet delicate. The pineapple marmalade was a perfect sweet contrast and the pickle tempura provided the spot on amount of acid. Even though the marmalade and the pickle tempura gave a decidedly Asian twist to the dish, I was reminded of eating Carolina barbecue with fried pickles. This is always a great memory for a dish to recall.

Our second dish was no where near as successful. Seared Maine scallops were served with endive spaghetti and extra virgin olive oil. How does one make endive spaghetti? Anyway, the scallops were seared nicely and they had a good, sweet flavor. However, the dish was just so soggy and 95% of the flavor was that of olive-oil. It was simply okay.

The third course was sautéed pavé of South Florida cobia with green leek fondue, crème fraîche whipped potatoes and smoked salmon emulsion. Not much to say about this dish. It was fine but well-below my expectations based on my two previous meals.

For the entrée, I had a grilled sirloin of Japanese wagyu beef topped with shaved salt. It was a stunning, jaw-dropping, almost life-changing piece of meat. I do not eat wagyu beef very often but when I do I am always amazed at how much better it is than prime Midwestern beef. As much as I love Ray’s the Steaks, it just cannot compare. Before this meal, I always considered fresh tomatoes as the best possible ingredient: protein, vegetable, whatever. I once had tomatoes at Schwa in Chicago that brought tears to my eyes. After eating this steak, I am not so sure. The only conceivable complaint about this dish is that it required very little from the kitchen and exhibited zero creativity. But when something tastes that freaking amazing, I could care less how much work the kitchen did.

Sweetmonger's entree though was a near disastrous lamb concoction. The meat was overcooked and the flavors and plating were pedestrian. Not good. Our entrées were followed by an excellent cheese service. Sweetmonger and I were each served 4 different cheeses. Mine included a wonderful spicy blue cheese along with three other delicious ones: a hard orange cheese, a buttery earthy cheese and goat’s milk cheese. Next came the first dessert. It was huckleberry sorbet served over top of some type of peanut butter cream encased in a graham cracker shell and it was very tasty. Our main dessert was a three layer coconut, dark chocolate and ginger bread bar served with condensed milk ice cream and candied walnuts. It also was quite tasty.

Finally, the bread service at CityZen merits mention bread. Diners are served their choice of sourdough, Guinness rye or bacon and cheese (with hunks of bacon actually in the bread) with their pre-entree courses. With the entree, the kitchen sends out a box of homemade Parker house rolls. They are amazing.

Before this meal, I considered CityZen one of America's very best restaurants, and I still consider it a must for any gastronomically curious person living in or visiting Washington, D.C. However, last night's meal was disappointing. The foie dish and the Japanese beef were up to par but there were dishes that were very disappointing. My two previous meals were easily 4 cutting board material but last night's was only worthy of 3. So I am splitting the difference.

CityZen
www.mandarinoriental.com/hotel/535000039.asp
1330 Maryland Ave. SW
Washington, DC 20024