Thai Coast, Washington, D.C.

Last night after Assumption Day services, Laurent, Ryan, and I walked over to Thai Coast for a more earthly supper. Ryan wasn't happy about having to eat Thai instead of American food, but he didn't want to make one of his usual anti-Thai restaurant scenes in front of his cute new boyfriend, so he acquiesced. I think he actually enjoyed it and had a good time, but I'm sure he'll never admit that to me.

Laurent ordered the beef pad thai. The pad thai noodles were topped with ground peanuts and there appeared to be ample slices of beef. Laurent liked it and said it compared favorably with the pad thai at one of his usual restaurants.



Ryan got the sweet and sour pork. This dish actually looked healthy, since the pork was stir-fried slices without the usual Chinese breading and deep-frying.



I started with a little bowl of shrimp tom yum soup. As usual, the sweet and very sour broth was spicy hot and spiked with pieces of lemon grass. My main course was the crispy duck basil, a very tasty dish of honey-roasted duck slices deep-fried, then stir-fried with chiles, garlic, and basil, garnished with flash-fried leaves of basil and accompanied by steamed carrot slices and broccoli florets, plus miniature corn on the cob.




Laurent and Ryan each had mango sticky rice for dessert. Singhas washed down everyone's meal.

PS7, Washington, D.C.

Every now and then, one of the Restaurant Week restaurants decides to "hold over" another week (some two), giving more people the chance to sample their cuisine. We found one of those last night, and I'm very glad we did because this place is both under our nose yet off the beaten path, and we might not ever have found it without looking specifically for it.

Open less than a year, PS7 is the project of chef/owner Peter Smith, formerly the long-time chef de cuisine at one of my favorites, Vidalia. He found a space in the block just north of Chinatown and had a facility constructed in a very contemporary, high-style look. A large, open bar with glass-walled wine cellar occupies one half of the restaurant and the dining room (overlooking an outdoor patio) the other. Contemporary art hangs on the walls and a large, blue, wooden "wave" runs almost the length of the room. Even the restrooms are striking. The men's room is tiled in black with two illuminated large goldfish bowls embedded in one wall, pin spots over each of the urinals, and frosted glass lavatories illuminated from below. That, plus a spherical crystal chandelier with just two very low-wattage light bulbs provides all the light for the room.

The only menu they had was the Restaurant Week menu, and there was quite a nice range of choices in each category. They also had an elaborate cocktail and wine menu with some creative cocktail combinations and a short list of well-chosen wines.

Ryan's friend Laurent started with the tuna sliders. These were three tiny "hamburgers" on Parker House buns, filled with a spicy tuna tartare (raw, like sushi, then chopped and mixed with spice and cilantro). Ponzu and wasabi sauces graced the plate. A salad of long, thin julienne of cucumber rounded out the dish.



Ryan was less adventuresome and got the roasted tomato soup with basil crème fraîche.



I managed to pair some of my very favorite foods in my appetizer and entrée choices. I started with a crispy duck confit with spiced, roasted peanuts with a salad of arugula and pickled grapes in between paper-thin tuilles of potato. Yum! The duck was just exploding with flavor.



It was followed by an exquisitely prepared combination of braised breast of veal and roasted sweetbreads with a wild mushroom, cream, and wine sauce and topped with the shreds of dauphin potatoes. The sweetbreads were perfectly done and the veal was fork-tender and juicy. I was very pleased.



Laurent got a beautiful plate with a thick piece of pan-seared king salmon surrounded with a melange of fresh fruit and berries and blackberry-red wine sauce. He ordered it medium, and it looked very good on the inside without being dry at all. I also suspect there was a bit of a spice rub on the fish, though I forgot to ask him.



Ryan had meat and potatoes—this time the roasted hangar steak with some very interesting deep-fried potato gnocchi and a dice of cooked wild mushrooms in a blue cheese aioli, all topped with a wad of newly sprouted greens. It looked good, though he ordered it medium well, and I prefer steak cuts to be less cooked.



Desserts were not quite so spectacular as the appetizer and entree choices, but they were still above Washington standard. Ryan got a peach crisp with vanilla ice cream, the crisp being heavy with oats, and, from his description, I think perchance the peaches were not quite as ripe as they could have been.



Laurent had the Black Forest mousse cake, a thin rectanular slice of baked mousse cake layered with mousse and accompanied by a cherry compote and an egg-shaped dollop of whipped cream. Both were garnished with sprigs of mint.



I had the beignets with strawberry and chocolate sauce. These were the little small rectangular "doughnuts" that are so popular in New Orleans, in this case dusted with confectioner's sugar. It was a light but tasty ending to a very rich meal. Also with my meal, I drank a very nice Brut Rosé Cremant d'Alsace NV Willm—a sparkling wine we would call champagne if it were from the Champagne region of France instead of the Alsace.



Thus was dinner. I highly recommend PS7 for people looking for a nice change of pace with better American food. I think you'll find a few neat surprises.

Mitsitam, Washington, D.C.

I've mentioned Mitsitam, NMAI's American Indian foods cafeteria, a few times before. While I didn't eat there again this weekend, I did wander through the serving area and snap a few pictures.

Here are some foods from the Northwest Coast area of the United States. They have lots of seafood here, including oysters, salmon, and fish wrapped in leaves and steamed.

In the Great Plains area, they have a lot of things targeted more for the children, featuring bison (a/k/a buffalo) burgers and Indian fry bread. They also have several stews here.

One really tasty area is the South American station, where it's like eating what most Americans would probably call "Mexican" food. One of the things I like from here are the big, fat, tamale-like things they do with masa and stewed pork.

The Northeastern Woodlands station always has roast turkey and roast venison (though the venison was absent this week!), plus things like succotash, clam chowder, and "Indian pudding" made from corn meal and maple syrup. This week, they are having a strawberry festival in honor of the strawberry moon (which actually I think is already past).

Here's another shot of northeastern food, this one particularly showing the whitefish with green onions and corn.