Clyde's of Gallery Place, Washington, D.C.

Laurent and I caught the calm between the storms and dined at Clyde's of Gallery Place while the Capitals hockey game was going on in the nearby Verizon Center. We were okay until about time for the dessert course, when the game ended and people started flooding in.

Laurent started off with a bowl of French onion soup that he wanted so badly, he ordered it when the waitress was taking our drink orders. It was after 9 p.m.; I guess he must have been hungry. "Onion soup is onion soup," he explained, saying that things were only noteworthy when they are bad. Talk about damning with faint praise.

For his main course, he ordered the grilled onion-crusted Alaskan salmon on a pool of cauliflower puree and resting on a bed of sauteed spinach. The onion crust included breaded and deep fried onion straws. The dish met with his approval.

Keeping with the theme of the evening, I ordered the hoisin-sesame glazed Alaskan salmon entrée salad. A large slab of salmon nearly the size of Laurent's rested atop a bowl of mixed lettuce and napa cabbage with peanuts, black sesame seeds, vegetables, and a sesame dressing. It was quite nice.

Dessert was an interesting choice. On recommendation of the waitress, I got the Toigo apple pie with vanilla ice cream, and it was one of the best commercial apple pies I've had in a long time, with both the apple filling and the pastry being delicious.

Laurent, though, was still hungry, and decided to forego a sweet dessert in favor of a "Gallery Burger"—essentially a bacon cheeseburger topped with onion straws. He substituted a side of sautéed spinach and garlic for the French fries that normally come with the burger. Laurent's argument is that the protein from the burger is better for him than the "empty calories" of a traditional dessert.

We left just in time, as the place was getting so noisy we could barely talk. I never did hear who won the game.