The Best Things I Put In My Mouth in 2013...that are fit to print.

It's that time of the year again, where I browse back through my posts and rehash the year in food. As is my style (or lack thereof) I'm not going to get all flowery with effusive descriptions, just the pictures and a few memories. If you'd like to see the full review of the restaurant click on their name in the post.
Here we go:

Kimchi fried rice from Maple Ave Restaurant in Vienna, VA.
This was a huge boat of spicy, perfectly cooked rice with slabs of crispy, melty pork belly on top and diced in the rice as well. It was enough for lunch and leftovers for another meal. Joey and Tim do good work here.

This Egg Three Ways was a special at Daikaya. Kat called it, 'The Rocky Balboa".

My earliest memories of food are all umami flavors. I didn't even know the name for it until a few years ago, but now that I know what I'm looking for, it's much easier to find.
This was a whole bowl of it and it almost brought me to tears. Honsen egg, cured roe, uni, and house-made Ponzu. Katsuyu is a beast in the kitchen. Well done.

The Pineapple Upside Down Cake at The Pineapple Grill in Maui.

We ate a ton of Pineapple Upside Down Cake in Hawaii. Each was it's own interpretation, but this was the best. Macadamia Brittle Ice Cream, moist cake, perfect pineapple caramel sauce.
I don't think I'd go for dinner next visit, but I'd definitely stop in for dessert.

The Pork Belly at Pulpo.

Better than 9 out of 10 of my attempts at pork belly. Once in a while you score, but apparently these guys have the formula down, or at least they did while Billy Klein was there. I haven't been back since he left. Time will tell. It was crisp on the outside, unctuous and almost liquid inside with perfect seasoning. The only competition to this that I've had in DC was The Source.

The Roasted Bone Marrow with Caviar at Bearnaise.

The picture above is not how it is served, but it is how I ate it. I didn't get a good shot of the actual plating of this dish, probably because I saw it and immediately dug in, forgetting that I had a job to do. Regardless, this is a stupendous dish and a great idea...how much luxurious goodness can you fit in one bite? Not sure I've found my limit yet, but this was close.

Bravo Spike and Brad.

Who makes the best pasta in the city? It's a toss up between Roberto Donna and Mike Isabella. Roberto is more old guard and Mike is the young upstart.
Mike's flavors and textures on his hand-made ravioli can't be beat. My wife said it best with this dish, which was the Sweet Potato Ravioli at Kapnos: "It tastes like Thanksgiving."

And last, but not least, the Linguettine with garlic, parm, and white Alba truffles at Rose's Luxury.

This dish is exactly what you should get when you order a truffled pasta at exactly the right price. Too many places serve old, stale truffles with other things that shouldn't be on the plate for twice what they should charge. Aaron Silverman and his crew do it right.  It may be hard to get a table there, but the wait is worth it. You won't be disappointed.

Thank you for taking the time to check out my year. I hope yours was just as tasty and I look forward to providing you with reviews of some of the best restaurants in the Mid-Atlantic in 2014.

Until then, bon appetit!

Bearnaise Restaurant

315 Pennsylvania Ave. S.E.

Washington, DC 20003

202-450-4800

http://www.bearnaiserestaurant.com

 Yours truly, Executive Chef Brad Race, and Co-Owner Spike Mendelsohn just before taking me on a trip back to Paris...at least on my palate. 

Brad and I have known each other since we met at minibar back in 2009. He guided my group through an incredible experience at that restaurant (here's a link to my post about that meal) and I was looking for more of the same. Obviously this restaurant is not about molecular gastronomy, it's about French comfort food, and I assumed, rightly, that he'd be bringing his attention to detail to the food here.

Spike, as you likely know, was a contestant on Top Chef and one of the players in Life After Top Chef. We've been working together since his first Goodstuff Eatery, which conveniently enough is two doors down, separated by his other concept, We The Pizza.
Cheryl and I had a night free while Alex was camping, in the rain, again. Poor kid. Too bad he missed out on this meal. He would have been impressed. We certainly were. The meal brought us right back to our honeymoon. We did one grand meal at L'Espadon in The Ritz, Paris, but we were just starting out so the rest of our meals there were in small, family-owned bistros we could afford. This meal brought us right back to those cozy, tasty restaurants where we spent numerous hours during our trip.

If you're unfamiliar with the concept here, your basic meal is priced by which cut of steak you choose. It comes with a soup or salad and all the frites you care to eat. The fries rock, but if you're smart you'll save room for some sides as they were the star of the show.

 The wine list here is very accessible. There is a flat price for most of the wines on the menu, and then there is the reserve list. This Pinot came from the reserve list, but was very reasonably priced. I posted a picture on FB and Mark Slater, famed sommelier of Citronelle and other restaurants commented on it, so I figure it must have been a good choice! We enjoyed it.  

 The bread basket is served without asking, or charge I might add, with butter and mustard. Don't fill up on the bread.

 The French Onion Soup. Had to try it and wasn't disappointed. Perfect for the cold, wet night.

 Cheryl had a creamy cauliflower soup, which was the special that night.

 I had the bone-in ribeye and Cheryl had the flat iron.

 The steaks were good, but the sides totally stole the show.

 Our table was overwhelmed with all of the sauces and sides. We had ordered bearnaise and spicy bearnaise, but Brad brought the lot of them including bordelaise and au poivre.

My favorite, by far, was the plain bearnaise. It was smooth, herby, and totally decadent.

 For sides we had bone marrow roasted and topped with caviar.

 The Tartiflette, which was roasted potatoes with pork belly and Reblochon cheese.

 And last, but not least, crisped brussel sprouts in Bearnaise sauce. 

 The winner in my book, hands down, was the bone marrow with caviar. I wish I could describe how good this was. Just thinking about it now...several weeks later...makes me want to go back.

There was so much food we asked them to pack the potatoes and the brussel sprouts to go. They were very tasty for lunch the next day.

For dessert we had the Praline Creme Brulee and the seasonal tart. Those of you familiar with my blog know that I have to get the creme brulee if for no other reason than to determine if I'm still the boss of that, and I am. The look on my wife's face when she bit into the seasonal tart was amazing. It was a poached pear with a lot of herbs in the liquid. She was glowing.

My advice is to try this restaurant. Make reservations for the next available time slot! 

There are some haters out there who don't appreciate the whole "Celebrity Chef" thing, but I can tell you from first-hand experience that it is just hype and most of the haters are just jealous of the free publicity this guy gets. They have to pay for theirs. Unfair advantage? Maybe, but you can't knock his food.

At the end of the day I don't care where his publicity comes from, I care how his food tastes and what the service is like in his restaurant and I was very impressed with both.

If you go, please tell Brad and Spike you read about it on Pleasures of the Table. I just may see you there.

Thanks for reading.