Tosca - An Opera In Your Mouth

Ristorante Tosca

1112 F St. N.W.

Washington, DC 20004

202-367-1990

www.toscadc.com

It's unlike me to go to an older restaurant unless it's a favorite of mine, i.e. Old Ebbitt, Billy Martin's Tavern, Brasserie Beck. I'm not sure why, but I thought it would be fun to try Tosca. I've never been there before, but my son was away and the parents wanted to play so we gave it a shot.

I'd read about Tosca, and Chef Matteo had given me some pointers on Facebook, so I figured, "Why not?"

Turns out it was a good choice.

If you've followed my blog in the past you'll notice the familiar chef's table crew. These folks are always so good about humoring me on my culinary adventures.

Here we have Chef de Cuisine Jesse Long on the left and the blurry go on the right is Executive Chef Matteo Venini. They were both very pleasant and accommodating during the meal even though the dining room was full.

Here is the first course being plated.

Cured Ora Salmon with several accompaniments. Charred citrus emulsion, grapefruit vinaigrette, olive oil powder, and lychee sorbet. The salmon was like butter. Apparently this type of salmon is known for it's consistent, thick marbling and takes curing very well. 

Second course was house-made burrata with smoked eggplant crema, onion ash and beets. 

The eggplant crema brought a serious flavor boost to what could have been a boring dish. I like burrata, but it's often bland. Nicely done.

This is the braised cuttlefish stew with wild mushrooms, garlic oil and olives. There was a whole lot of flavor in this. Unfortunately, I was taking pictures while everyone else was stealing the rest of the excellent bread to sop up the broth and wipe their plates clean, or I would have done the same. The trumpet mushrooms were screaming umami. I began to enjoy this meal in a serious manner here.

Next up was the Carbonara Ravioli. Inside the ravioli was a 1-hour duck egg. Excellent combination.

The shavings of summer truffle and the smoked butter were awesome.

I had to take a shot of these entrees as they were awaiting final touches before hitting someone's table. Everything looked tasty.

Sorry I didn't get a chance to try this!

Shanks a lot!

Back to our dinner...next course was a risotto with burned leeks and crispy sweetbreads. I'm not normally a fan of sweetbreads, but these were just the right size and texture. Perfectly cooked risotto as well.

The octopus had a shrimp and scallop mousse with a beet coulis. The flavor and texture was perfection.

Next was an intermezzo of sorbet and a shot of margarita! Ole!

Muscovy duck with spicy cherry gastrique. This was my wife's favorite.

Here's another look at the plate. Well composed.

Here is our dessert being plated.

The money shot!

Now I'll explain it to you: Foie Gras and Salted Caramel Candy Bar.

This may be the best thing I've put in my mouth all year. That is saying a lot. The dark chocolate and salted caramel with the chilled fois was stupendous. I can only think of a few desserts that are even close to this. Bravo chefs!

Sometimes it's worth the trip to visit something that isn't on the Eater Heatmap. Give it a shot. You won't be disappointed. If you go, tell them you read about it on Pleasures of the Table, and grab me one of these candy bars to go, would you?

Grazi.

Gregorio's - Family Food in Potomac

Gregorio's Trattoria - Potomac

7745 Tuckerman Lane 

Potomac, MD

http://www.gregoriostrattoria.com/

There's a new Italian restaurant in town, and I'm glad to welcome them to Potomac.

Gregorio's is a family-friendly restaurant. It's casual and reminds me of a lot of little restaurants you'd come across in New Jersey. It's owned by the Kahn family. They've been around the area for a long time dealing with a lot of restaurants as vendors, and now they own two. This is their second location, the first being in Reston.

They start you out with some warm bread sticks that fills the air with a great cloud of garlic. That always gets my appetite working.

The wine list has a good selection and plenty of bottles that don't require an expense account. If I remember correctly they are happy to go by the glass on most selections.

We started with some Calamari.

Fried nicely. It got to the table hot and crunchy. They took the right route with the breading. Not so heavy that it falls off, very mildly seasoned.

We had the Mozzarella Caprese. Good end-of-summer tomatoes with fresh mozz. 

They shook my up Manhattan, but we had a discussion about that..

Grandma was in town, so she got to join us. Even Grandmas like the food here!

They've got a comfortable bar to hang out and have a drink. They're just getting started on the bar program. I'll be interested to see how it progresses. It's nice to have a place to go and have a cocktail that's close by.

Their pizzas are good. We've ordered take out from them a couple of times now. Much better than the other locally available pies.

Pizza chef!

Alex had the pasta with sausage and meatballs. Good flavor to the meats.

.I had the veal chop Carmine style with herbed garlic butter. They were happy to switch out my pasta for some sauteed spinach. I have to say that the veal chop was done perfectly and was the most tender I've ever had. I've eaten a lot of veal chops, so that is saying something.

On a side note, they have dishes for gluten-free and carb-free folks. The carb-free lunch plate was really good and just the right size.

Cheryl had the linguini with clams. Not as good as mine, but, then again, whose is? Legal Seafoods tought me well.  I can say that it wasn't lacking for flavor and the clams had been washed well. The sauce is flavorful and there were plenty of clams.

Hello there tasty bivalves!

Grandma had the eggplant parm. I didn't get to try it, but she liked it.

We had to try a couple of deserts. The flourless chocolate tort was perfect. Rich and decadent.

.

The cannoli was the best I've had since Piancone's in New Jersey. Exactly the right amount of sugar and vanilla in the marscapone. 

The tiramisu was exactly as it should be. Give it a taste if you can fit some in after the cannoli.

Overall, a great place you can go and get a slice of decent pizza at lunch or have a good dinner with your family without driving downtown or breaking the bank. If you live in the area, it's definitely worth checking out. Their sign is small and they opened quietly. Now that they've got their sea-legs under them, give them a shot.

If you go, let Greg know that you heard about it on Pleasures of the Table.