Fogo de Chão, Washington, D.C.

Today I was supposed to meet Robert at the National Press Club for lunch, but he was feeling sick this morning and backed out. So, I cancelled my reservation and talked Ryan into going out for a late lunch (far be it for me to ask him to get up before noon!), since this is the last day of the "official" Restaurant Week (several others are extending another week, but that's not part of the official program). He looked at the available places and decided upon the Brazilian churrascaria Fogo de Chão on Pennsylvania Avenue in the Federal Triangle area.

For those of you who've never been to a churrascaria, it's a sort of Brazilian steakhouse, except instead of ordering a specific piece of meat, you select from various meats brought around the dining room by gaucho-trousered waiters bearing roasts skewered on swords. The waiters keep coming around feeding you until you are so full you are ready to pop. Fogo also has a fabulous salad bar with many delicious, high-end, gourmet selections.


So, we had all kinds of things from top sirloin to filet mignon to pork ribs to leg of lamb. Along with the meats, they bring sides, this time a garlic cheese mashed potato dish, some bread-like stuff that was a sort of cross between polenta and cornbread, and some sweet sautéed bananas.

After eating way, way too much meat, I made a little sojourn to the salad bar. Eschewing the traditional lettuces, greens, and salad materials, I filled up a plate with green and white asparagus spears, artichoke hearts, gigantic green olives, hand-carved broccoli spears, red and golden beets, Waldorf salad, parmesan cheese wedges, and some little balls of fresh mozzarella. I probably sampled only about a quarter of the offerings. They had a huge tray of smoked salmon and an assortment of thinly sliced charcuterie meats, but I passed, having already eaten enough animal flesh for the next week.

They had a lovely litany of dessert options. We both opted for the house special, a fruit cream, Ryan with the strawberry and me with the papaya. Think rich ice cream and fresh fruit whipped together until it was the consistency of a milk shake. The creams were presented in large bowled stemware on a large white plate heavily decorated with squirts of raspberry sauce and shakings of ground cinnamon.




One of the interesting things about the dessert service is the waiter came bearing a bottle of crème de cassis (blackberry liqueur), and on our request, poured a generous amount into the fruit creams. I thought the desserts were pretty fabulous.

The desserts, though, led us to a little bit of drama when it was time to pay the check. When we first sat down, we asked one of the waitresses how the pricing thing worked with Restaurant Week, and she said that "everything is included." Now, that's a pretty good deal, considering they usually charge about $30 for their all-you-can eat food at lunch, and R.W. is just $20.07. And, following the Restaurant Week pattern of appetizer, main course, dessert, we had salad bar, meat, and dessert. But, the desserts weren't included! What's more, those little fruit milk shakes were $8.50 each. That additional $17 was almost enough for us to have brought a third person! Ryan chatted with the waitress, though, and talked her in to taking the dessert charges off the check. So, all was well.

Now, it's dinner time, and I'm completely, totally not hungry.

Taberna del Alabardero, Washington, D.C.

It has been so busy this week, I've not had an opportunity to get out for Restaurant Week until today, and now that I've been out, I am so pleased with our choice! Ryan and I went to a late lunch at Taberna del Alabardero, an elegant Spanish restaurant just northwest of the White House.

The "Tavern of the Palace Guard" comes from an eponymous restaurant in Madrid, and has been in Washington for over fifteen years. The dining room is very attractive with a window wall to 18th Street allowing lots of sunlight into the room, where walls and ceiling are painted dark red with white ornamental architectural elements. Austrian shades in bold stripes cover the windows and also provide a presumptive room divider. Tables are covered with floor length golden yellow silk tablecloths topped with white cloths.

The Restaurant Week menu (for the uninitiated, during Restaurant Week, participating restaurants provide a three course meal for $20.07 at lunch and $30.07 at dinner) was rather limited, with only two choices per course, but we still were able to order different things and be happy.

Ryan opened with ensalada alabardero, the house salad with hard-boiled eggs, artistically carved tomatoes, and some delicious green olives (Ryan doesn't eat olives, so I took them).



I had the cold gazpacho soup. Their version is fully puréed, and the melange of vegetable flavors were nicely balanced.



For his main course, Ryan chose the trucha con arroz meloso de setas, judias verdes, y salsa Cantábrica, a grilled trout filet with a Cantabric sauce, accompanied by green beans and a risotto-like rice with mushrooms and cream. He said it was very good.



I had the pollo al ajillo con patatas al Romero, sautéed morsels of chicken cooked with garlic and presented topped with flash-fried rosemary-scented shreds of potatoes. While the potatoes, while good, weren't really that exciting, the chicken morsels were a pleasant surprise with their bold flavor and juiciness.



What excited me most about the restaurant is that after Ryan ordered his fish, an assistant came, removed his stock place fork and knife, and replaced them with a proper fish knife and fork! I loved it! (They were placed in the correct positions, but I moved them for the photograph.)



Dessert was a pair of very standard Spanish/Mexican desserts. Ryan had the flan tradicional, an egg custard flan with a dollop of crème chantilly and some strawberry sauce, and I got the arroz con leche, a rice pudding in a thick, rich, sweetened cream and garnished with aromatic cinnamon.




After dessert, I had a lovely little cup of espresso.

So, we had an excellent lunch in a lovely setting. I look forward to coming back again, though I will warn you that their prices are very definitely on the high side.....at their standard menu prices, this lunch would have cost twice the Restaurant Week rate. But, you know, it just may be worth it, and I'm very tempted to go back in September when they are having "Paella Month."

La Frontera Cantina Tex-Mex Restaurant, Washington, D.C.

Forgot to mention the other day our late night sojourn to East Dupont, where we dined al fresco at La Frontera Cantina Tex-Mex Restaurant. Their indoor dining room was closed, but they were still seating people on the patio, and we were seated immediately.

We started with drinks. Robert had a Mexican beer, and Ryan and I both ordered iced tea. The iced tea, though, was nasty—instant—so we exchanged them for Coke and Diet Coke. Our waiter—a tall, handsome, non-Mexican Hispanic—was very nice about it.

Robert had the beef quesadilla dinner. He said it was "good, but unremarkable." Ryan ordered the nachos. I had an appetizer called a pupusa, which can best be described as cornmeal pancakes pressed around a mixture of cheese and meat, served with a distinctive shredded pickled cabbage salad. I also ordered for all of us to share a fried plantain appetizer. Wedges of plantain were deep fried, then served with sour cream and refried beans (yes, beans) as dipping sauces. I found them a little dry and starchy, but I guess that's what plantains are. I think I was expecting the sweet version. Overall, the food was okay. I didn't think of anything I ordered as being "Tex-Mex," though. For dessert, I had a little cube of tres leches cake. It was pretty good, though I'd liked to have had maybe a piece twice as big.

Summer supper

Sometimes a simple summer supper can be just plain good.

We picked up some corn on the cob today, since Giant Foods had it on sale, twelve ears for $1.99. Great buy. So, I cleaned half of them so we could have corn for dinner.

After roasting some big sweet potatoes in a slow oven (to encourage caramelization of the natural sugars), I put a big, inch-thick pork steak in the broiler til it just got to "medium well." Then, while I let it sit to settle the juices, I popped the corn under the broiler, turning occasionally until they were hot and had a few little broiled brown patches here and there.

Such was dinner. We're stuffed, but content.

Marshall's Bar and Grille, Washington, D.C.

After Mass today, my friend Doug (who was an altar boy this morning) and I walked over to Marshall's Bar and Grille for lunch. Doug had the roasted chicken with French fries and long green beans. It looked fine. I had a very tasty seafood salad with tender squid, shrimp, and scallops on mixed European-style greens dressed with a spicy vinaigrette and presented in a fried tortilla shell (like they use for taco salads). We passed on dessert.