Top 10 Things I Put In My Mouth in 2011

As 2011 sputters to a close, it's time for a little retrospection of what has come to pass.  I've done some serious dining.  Some of the food I had was so good that I actually get misty when I describe it to people.  Some of it, not so much.

What I've assembled here are the top ten dishes I had the presence of mind to photograph this year.  If you click on the pictures they will expand to show you the big shot.  Where applicable, I've posted a link to the blog entry giving you more details.

Strangely enough, I went through and picked out my favorites from all the items I shot pictures of in 2011 and they were all in fairly distinct categories.  I didn't have to choose between favorites in the same category, which is nice. 

Let's start with dessert first:

Best Dessert 

RJ Cooper, owner and chef of Rogue 24, sent this to our table towards the end of our 24-course tasting menu.  The flavor combination here was astounding.  Everyone in our party gushed.

Best Freebie on the Table 

This is the truffled pop-over from Kevin Sbraga's eponymous restaurant in Philly.  Crispy, tender, flaky, warm, and stinking of truffles.  Don't get me started.

Best Counter Service Chicken 

Outstanding Peruvian chicken is hard to find.  A lot of it is good, but there are only a couple that are superlative.  Super Chicken is the winner in the DMV.  The customer service is great, the sides are not an after-thought as they are in most other places like this, and the chicken is so good it makes you drop the knife and fork and pick it up with your hands.

Best Appetizer....by far 

Fiola,  Fabio Trabocchi's restaurant in DC, is a quiet return to some upper-end dining.  The bar can get lively, but I think of this place as a temple to this dish.  This is all I want when I go there.  Fois Gras, perfectly seared, over a buttery brioche.  There was some fruity element and a balsamic glaze.  This is not on the menu anymore, but I'm sure there will be another iteration of it there soon.

Best Pasta

The person who created this occupies 20% of my top 10.  Chef Mike Isabella.  The is the sweet corn stuffed agnolotti which he was showcasing when the restaurant first opened.  I've posted twice about this restaurant.  The first was here.

Best Pizza.  Ever. 

It doesn't matter who I'm with or what else we're having:  If I'm at Graffiato after 5:00pm I have to order one of the Countryman Pizzas.  Here is a link to the second post I did about this restaurant when I had the pleasure of trying the tasting menu.

Best Comfort Food 

Comfort food doesn't have to be Mac n' Cheese.  That's American comfort food.  Other cultures have comfort food too, and it doesn't have to be full of fat and cheese.  Not that I'm knocking fat and cheese, but I loves me a #12 at Pho 75 on Rockville Pike.  I checked my stats on Foursquare and Yelp, and I've been here, for this dish, over 40 times in 2011.  Crazy.  My neighbors and I live 10+ miles from this place, but we run into each other there.  We like it that much.

Best Side Dish

I'm not sure how else to describe the Palak Chaat dish properly. Vikram Sunderam pulls together many flavor and creates this wonder at Rasika.  I could go there, have a plate of this, and leave satisfied. 

Best Cheese Course 

I miss this dish, and the man who created it, Roberto Donna.  I'm hoping to see him back at work somewhere soon.

  The Budino Parmiggiano.  This was a different presentation than the one in my original post, but it made a better picture.  Sublime.

Best Home Cookin' Feature 

As readers of my blog know, I sometimes take on a home cooking project and post about it.  This was the tastiest adventure of the year.  Shrimp and Grits, using a recipe posted by RJ Cooper on StarChefs.  I made it for a party my wife was attending and this was the test run.  Salty/creamy with layers of acid and flavor.  One of my best, if I do say so myself.

It was a good year for food and restaurants in the DMV.  2012 should prove exciting as well.  Please be sure to stay tuned for more posts on this and my other blog, POSmelson where I post information about the issues, tools, tricks, and technology behind and involving restaurants.  As always, your comments, forwards, retweets, and emails are appreciated.

See you next year.

Rogue 24....most of the stories aren't true. Most.

 RJ and yours truly..  He was very cordial and no, he didn't yell at me for taking pictures.  No one asked me to put down the camera either.  Everyone we came in contact with was very pleasant.

 Today's blog will be mostly visual.

 Wonders abound at Rogue 24.  Dichotomies too.  Base and elegance.  Coarse and smooth.  Rogue and milquetoast.  Did I find the contract you have to sign to eat there imposing?  Not really.  Bonji Beard, formerly the only person who could get you a reso at minibar is the person here who will follow up with you about it.  You get the same thing at many restaurants with multi-course tasting menus.  I fully understand the need to secure credit cards as well.  When you're working on dishes as complex as they are here, the preparation is time consuming and expensive, and the shelf-life can be zero for some of them.  Word to the wise:  If you make a reservation, keep it.  Not just here, but at any restaurant. 
 First trio...the Fried Rice Special #2 on the right was the winner.

 Interesting presentation of Osetra with cider bubbles

 The usual suspects clockwise...Eric Blume, Andrew Aurbach, Allison Leader, Sindhu Blume, Cheryl and me.  This is one mixed bag.  We've got a reporter, a publisher, a lawyer, a communications conusultant, a start-up partner, and a salesman.  This team has been kind enough to accompany me on various outings including the chef's tables at various restaurants, many tasting menus, sometimes good, sometimes bad, but always entertaining.  Thanks for indulging me folks.  Nothin' but love for you all.

 Frost on the garden

 Ryan Moore...formerly of minibar

 Mikey Maksimowicz talking with us about one of the courses.  Mikey has an amusing habit of hijacking RJ's iPhone and posting entertaining tidbits on Facebook through his account.

 Langoustine.   This was one of my favorites.  I wanted to lick the bowl, but I didn't.

 Hello ladies!  Interesting shot.  Light and dark, coffee and cream?  There's not a good and evil though.  They're both wonderful.

 Deep in conversation.

 See urchin

 Egg/tuna/dachi

Ox tongue

 Bryan Tetorakis and Ryan

 Pork belly and clam

 Shaved fois gras.  I wanted more of this one.

 I'm generally not a sweetbreads guy, but this was the best preparation I've ever had. 

 Tuna

 Venison with trail mix and cherries

 Poutine...didn't look like it, but it sure tastes like it.

Tasty beer.  Very fruity and thick, without the nasty after-taste.

 This was my #2 favorite.  It was a coconut/green mango/peanut butter thing...very good.  My favorite dish of the evening came in a coffee cup.  It was a rabbit reduction that tasted like the best demi-glace you've ever had.  I neglected to take a picture of that because it smelled so good I forgot to snap one.

Banana textures

Could these guys look any more satisfied?  Maybe, but I don't want to do what it would take get them there.
To wrap it up, was it worth the coin?  Definitely.  Would I go again?  If it was with people who I wanted to sit with for 3-1/2 hours and who could appreciate it.  I don't know if the dishes I liked are on the a la carte menu, so I'll have to check it out.  Unconventional?  Sure.  Objectivist?  Yes.  Unique?  Absolutely.  RJ, best of luck moving forward.  See you soon.
Thanks for reading.  If you have questions or comments please feel free to hit me up.  If you like the post, please retweet it using the link on the right hand side of the page.
Until next time.....