David Greggory Restau•Lounge, Washington, D.C.

My friend and legal colleague John was in town the past few days tending to some business on behalf of the Beverly Hills Bar Association, and after missing one another all weekend, we both finally found some time in our schedules, so he graciously took me to lunch yesterday. I selected a restaurant that was about a block from one of the embassies where he was meeting, so we ended up at David Greggory Restau•Lounge in downtown's West End.

I always enjoy David Greggory. They specialize in American classics that they "freshen" or "update" to be more interesting and rather more gourmet. Their bar/wine bar is a popular happy hour spot after work, and I keep meaning to go to one of their renowned "Aphrodisiac Bacon Dinners" they host monthly or one of their weekly "Pork and Pinot" parties.

While we perused the menu, I had an iced tea (still having work to do later in the afternoon) and John started with a glass of white wine (I forgot what he ordered), so that's what he used for his Kody Pose.



Meanwhile, our waiter took our drink orders and since John had mentioned his entree choice in the course of picking his wine, the waiter ran off without taking my order while I was momentarily distracted by turning off my ringing cell phone, so I had to wait for him to come back with the drinks before I could pick my food. Then he acted surprised.

I guess they don't have crabs and crabcakes in southern California, so John ordered yet again this weekend the crab cake for his lunch (he'd had a crab cake at brunch at Old Ebbitt on Sunday). He seemed to like this one, though, and commented on how it was actually crab instead of a lot of filler. Along with the crab cake was a spicy chipotle sauce, cole slaw, and battered French fries.



There was a chef's "whim" composed salad on the menu I selected. "Composed salad" is merely a euphemism for the chef's cleaning out the refrigerator, so he's going to throw on a bunch of stuff to get rid of it, and it usually turns out to be a good deal with a lot more "interest" than the standard entree salads. It was a good decision. Chef was getting rid of a bunch of poached salmon that not only was delicious, but that appeared on my salad in a larger serving that I would have gotten had I ordered a salmon entree. The mixed salad also had a "star" of warm, steamed asparagus on top. Twas a tasty and filling meal for me.



For dessert, John chose the tres leches cake with caramelized bananas, a version of the Latin American classic. I think he actually liked it! After dessert, he savored a cup of their coffee with cream and used this cute little cylinder the waiter delivered to the table with a diagonally cut tube on top with which to dispense raw sugar crystals.



As always, we had a great chat during lunch as John updated me on his California projects and I told him about the changes in D.C. since he was at the Pentagon. It's always nice to see him, as he gets back to D.C. all too seldom.