Cafe Mozart, Washington, D.C.

We ended up getting our cherries at last during D.C.'s cherry blossom season at Cafe Mozart, a lovely Austrian cafe hidden behind a kleine konditorei a couple of blocks east of the White House. After a couple of pints of Bitburger beer in very tall glasses, we started with an appetizer of cheese fondue made in the traditional fashion wherein the cheeses are melted in white wine and cherry brandy. Leo's main course was a beef roulade with spätzli and a cucumber salad. I had the hassenpfeffer with potato pancakes and red cabbage. My hassenpfeffer was very good, with the braised rabbit being fork-tender and served with a sweet-sour red wine sauce.

For dessert, I had the "cherry blossom special", which was a commemorative coupe (think fancy ice cream sundae) with whipped cream flavored with just a tiny, tiny touch of cherry brandy and compote of spiced cherries on the side. Leo ordered the Black Forest cake, but the waiter returned to report that they were out, so Leo had to make due with the Mozart Torte, a layered chocolate cake filled with a raspberry-flavored chocolate cream.

This restaurant features live music most every evening, and we were "blessed" with a middle-aged Georgian (think Russian, not redneck) bass-baritone accompanying himself on an electronified guitar singing pop oldies.