Vidalia, Washington, D.C.

Crispy pig tails? How about roast goat, frog legs, skate wing, or veal cheeks?

The menu options were nothing if not adventuresome at Vidalia today, one of my favorite restaurants that just happens to be on the Restaurant Week list this week. Vidalia is one of Washington's top eateries where they take Southern classics and elevate them to gourmet heights. Vidalia has been reviewed several times before in my blog, so I won't dwell on their sleek, contemporary dining room or other details of the ambiance.

My friend Joel and I were quite impressed by the large list of exciting choices in each of the course categories on the Restaurant Week menu. There were so many things we wanted to try just because they sounded intriguing. As it was, Joel started with the yellowtail hamachi with wasabi and several sauces, garnished with a little caviar. I got the salad of veal cheeks with sweetbread terrine. I got a little block of the terrine and several paper-thin slices of veal cheek on the plate topped by a salad of veal tongue, pickled mushrooms, and raddiccio with a truffled honey-mustard dressing.

After our exquisite appetizers, we moved on to main courses. Joel got one of Vidalia's classics, the shrimp and grits with andoille sausage and spicy shellfish cream. I got the slow roasted roulade of young goat, stuffed with goat sausage, and accompanied by sauteed broccoli rabe and natural jus. The standard goat entree also came with an eggplant puree, but I had them leave that in the kitchen, and they didn't replace it with anything. The goat was very mild and flavorful, and cooked to a medium rare.

We continued to have to make hard choices for dessert. Joel opted for the banana napoleon, and got a lovely, delicate tower of caramelized bananas, salted caramel mousse, and thin wafers of bittersweet chocolate. I had the Georgia pecan bar, served warm with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream.

We washed down our sumptuous repast with flutes of Mont Marcal Riserva Brut cava, a sparkling wine from Spain. As always, Vidalia did an outstanding job of presenting culinary excitement for Restaurant Week and showing off the range of the chef and what one can do with modern Southern cooking.