1789 Restaurant, Georgetown, D.C.

Not long ago, Leo and I went to 1789 Restaurant for dinner, and I've been saving my description of our meal for this special anniversary in memory of the first anniversary of the death of Julia Child, as this was the restaurant chosen for Julia's gala 90th birthday party. I'm always worried when I dine at a restaurant "legend," since most of the time I end up being disappointed. Not only did I go to 1789 knowing about Julia's birthday dinner, but I knew that Gourmet magazine had named it as one of the top restaurants in America, and it appears in all the guidebooks and lists of "top" Washington restaurants, with a long pedigree going back to its 1960 opening. We weren't disappointed, though, and I can certainly see why 1789 received the honor of hosting Julia's 90th birthday dinner.

1789 is located in an old, Federal-era house right by the Georgetown University campus. The rather small rooms are all furnished with period furnishings and art, and there are antiques everywhere, including colonial silver and a wine shelf from a 16th century Irish monastery. Even though we dined on a week night, not only did we have to have reservations, we were only able to get 6 p.m. reservations, as everything later in the evening was already taken. I also took note of the restaurant's dress code, with gentlemen being required to wear jackets. When it was time to eat, we were escorted up a steep, narrow staircase (this old building is most assuredly not handicapped accessible) to the Wickets Room. The walls were done in old, light-colored oak panelling, and 19th century lithographs of caricatures and hunting prints were framed and hung in every niche of the panelling. A large, black, wrought-iron chandelier hung in the center of the room. From our vantage point at a square table near the wall, we could see into the Garden Room, which was painted a light butter-yellow, had floral and botanical prints, and featured a window wall looking out over the Georgetown U campus.

No matter how good the chef in the kitchen, one of the major things that can ruin a dining experience is the service, from the host to the waiter to the busboys, but Chef Ris Lacoste has no worries in this department. Service was not only impeccable, it was impressive. The wait staff was all formally attired in black trousers and bow ties, with the full waiters in white mess jackets (think tailcoats without the tails) and the waiter's assistants in long, white waiter's sackcoats. Our waiter, Micheal, was a young man, but he had eleven years of experience with 1789's owner, the Clyde's Group, and has spent the last five years at 1789. He knew everything about the food, the accompaniments, and the wines. If you had a question about an ingredient, he knew not only the answer but the history. He was intimately acquainted with the wine list and knew what went with what. After we had ordered and I was pondering wines, I asked him about a particular varietal with which I was not familiar and he told me all about the wine; but then, he actually suggested that I consider a different, more complementary white wine for our meal, a wine that was cheaper!

As our food was prepared, we were brought a basket of warm foccacia bread, sufficiently flavored with caramelized onions and cheddar and parmesan cheeses so as to almost constitute an amuse bouche. They make their breads and pastries in house, and the bread was clearly fresh and hadn't been rewarmed. My only criticism of the restaurant for the entire evening is for the foccacia, which I thought was ever so slightly too salty. Historically, though, 1789 was originally a French restaurant before becoming the quintessential Washington "American" restaurant, chef received her training in France, and the French do tend to like a bit more salt than do modern Americans. Along with our bread we received a square of fresh unsalted butter which had been sprinkled with crystals of sea salt and then given a splash of virgin olive oil (Micheal told us which kind, but I've forgotten) to add a little extra richness to the butter.

We chose seafood for our first courses. Leo sampled the Prince Edward Island mussels, which had been poached in a broth scented with garlic and Pernod (an anise- or licorice-flavored liqueur). On the edge of the plate were several grill-marked crostini (think fancy toast) and some saffron-yellow aioli (hand-made mayonaisse). He liked the mussels and even allowed his crostini to "accidentally" drop into the broth so he could eat it, as well. My first course was a large, soft-shelled crab that had been tempura-battered and fried, then cut in half, some green Japanese-inspired sauce inserted, and the two halves were then stood on end on one side of the plate, claws and legs waiving in the air. On the other end of the plate was a salad of mixed seaweeds with a few threads of carrot and some slivvers of mushroom in a lightly spicy dressing. A little bowl of ponzu dipping sauce (think flavored soy sauce) which I didn't use was served on the side. The crab was perfectly cooked and I thought the seaweed salad gave the course an interesting opportunity for crunch.

We stuck with seafood for our main course, though I was quite tempted to try the house specialty rack of American lamb. Leo ordered the New Bedford sea scallops on Thai rice noodles. He received a goodly quantity of large scallops which had been lightly rubbed with a red spice then seared on the grill and served rare on top of the noodles. The Thai rice noodles were combined with shrimp, peanuts, ginger, basil, lime, and spices to make a hot, spicy, delicious pad thai. I had the grilled North Carolina grouper, a thick chunk of fish which was presented on a fried green tomato and surrounded with a South Carolina risotto. This simply prepared fish was delicious. The fish was just cooked through, with no dryness or rareness anywhere. The green tomato was a nice touch. I didn't detect any cornmeal flavor in the breading, so chef may have used fine Japanese bread crumbs, or else white corn meal that was so mild I didn't notice it in the profusion of other flavors.

Oh, I should mention our wines. I chose, based on Michael's recommendation, the Chateau La Mothe Du Barry Entre-Deux-Mers (Cuveé French Kiss) 2004, a nice buttery, yet crisp, white which stood up well to the variety of foods we ate. Leo prefers non-tannic reds, so he ordered the Trinchero Family Selection Merlot 2003, a California wine. I thought it was rather pleasant for a domestic merlot (and Leo had never watched the movie Sideways until this week!).

Now, on to the dessert course. I wanted to do a cheese course first, but Leo is somewhat lactose-intolerant, so I thought a cheese course might not be the most considerate thing to suggest, and we went straight to the goodies. He had a warm chocolate cake with peppermint ice cream that he still talks about everytime we go to dinner. He had a large, muffin-sized, individual dark chocolate cake that was a little crusty on the outside and soft and warm on the inside, drizzled with a tiny bit of chocolate and accompanied by a handmade vanilla ice cream with little bits of fresh peppermint mixed in the ice cream, and garnished with a bright green sprig of peppermint. He didn't share.

Thinking of the warm peach cobbler served in lieu of cake at Julia's birthday dinner, I ordered the warm peach galette, which was a sort of an individual peach cobbler. It came with a handmade vanilla ice cream with a swirl of fresh raspberries. It was lovely, of course, but I was particularly intrigued with the pastry. They used pâte sucreé—pie dough with lots of sugar in it, making it almost like a cookie dough—yet the end result was layered and almost flaky, like a puff pastry! I have no idea how they did that, so I guess I'm going to have to experiment and try to recreate it. Another pastry challenge. Remember how Julia used to do those puff pastries on TV, making it seem so incredibly easy?

1789 Restaurant, 1226 36th Street Northwest at Prospect Street, Georgetown.