by John Cruz (@EatDrinkDCCruz)
Happy hump-day and happy (early) St. Patrick's Day to all from EatDrinkDC! First off, some thanks are in order for all of the love shown during the lamb cooking contest from a few weeks back. We were a small fish in a big pond, but we’ll come at them next time with a vengeance. If you have any recipe feedback, please let me know and we can always tweak things to make them tastier and better.
Look for a few updates over the next few days as I am trying to get some posts up and off of my plate; been eating a lot of fun and tasty stuff lately that I wanted to share with you all.
Starting off...
Two weeks ago, Eat Drink DC was lucky to be invited to a media sit-down dinner at the group table of The Federalist, for a menu sampling. Chef Harper McClure is looking to showcase local and farm-grown veggies and meats that are prepared with reverence for where they came from. Check out their website for a more eloquent description of what they do.
All drool-inducing photos are courtesy of my partner-in-crime, Jordan Gantz.
Here’s a quick rundown of some of our favorites from the evening:
Starters-wise, the charcuterie board was definitely a table favorite. We got a little taste of each of their housemade wares, and the lardo, duck ham, quince butter, onion jam, pig's trotter, and the chicken liver parfait all stood out. There was little left on the board once it was all said and done.
The grass-fed sirloin beef tartare was lean and tasty, and well accompanied by the quail eggs and house made pickles.
The oysters were very fresh and crisp tasting, highlighted by the nice finish with the breakfast radishes.
Some of our favorite entrées included the Rhode Island diver scallops (perfectly seared and sweet and salty (thanks to the bacon)), the rockfish with crab risotto (great flakiness to the fish, a nice crispy, and great texture to the risotto), and the chicken roulade.
The chefs are talented at this place, and their skill and technique is highlighted best by the roulade: starting with a deboned chicken, the dark meat is mixed with black truffles, stuffed back into the white meat, rolled up, and cooked perfectly sous-vide. It's finished by crisping the skin and served with rustic carrots, a potato puree, and an excellent Madeira sauce with a perfect consistency. This was my favorite dish of the evening.
And sides of brussel sprouts with bacon and macaroni and cheese never hurt anybody.
The dessert course had some highlights too: donuts and hot chocolate and lemon verbena panna cotta. If you’re in the mood for something different, check out the syllabub with bananas.
Along with some choice cocktails and some fantastic wine (check out the 70/30 Grenache/Syrah blend from Domaine de la Guichadre) it was tasty meal and definitely work checking out the next time you’re in the neighborhood.
Alright kids. That's enough for now. Remember to show some love to Chef Harper (@chefharpist) the next time you're downtown and keep an eye out on the blog for more tasty things to come. And on another note: happy 25th birthday to my lovely cousin Sheila! Love ya cuz.
Thank you for sharing, the drink very happy. rushangshenglongba
Posted by: RB-4095 | May 10, 2012 at 10:11 PM