Still Wrapping

This is it, I promise. The food post from Washington DC. As you know, food is always part of the travel agenda, and this trip was no exception. We had two reservations at least a week before we left. In order of appearance, the dining included.


Firefly: Lunch on Friday and just a few blocks from the Dupont Hotel (on Dupont Circle). Frank had spotted this restaurant on prior trips to DC and thought it looked like a good option. Right he was. The decor was great, the location was very convenient, and the food was very good. We shared an appetizer of Salt Roasted Baby Beets which was wonderful. I opted for the House-Made Charcuterie which consisted of a rabbit pate, chopped chicken liver, and bresaola. Good? Oh, yes ! Frank enjoyed the Portobello Mushroom Reuben sandwich.


Jaleo: Friday dinner: This was one of the restaurants high on our list to try as it is owned by one of our favorite chefs, Jose Andres. His TV show, "Made in Spain", is fun to watch as it includes travel to Spain, and cooking in his DC kitchen. And Jose's high level of enthusiasm is infectious. The space was great, as was the service and the food. The restaurant prepares typical Spanish tapas with a modern twist. We shared a number of tapas including;

• Ensaladilla Rusa, a potato salad with imported tuna
• Fried pasta shrimp paella, a short thin pasta prepared like a typical rice based paella
• Rabbit Confit (OMG, was that good)
• Piquillo Peppers stuffed with Goat Cheese (yummy!)
• Bacon Wrapped Fried Dates - very nice, but this put us over the "full" mark. But none were left, and we still found room for dessert of 
• Flan.

This was my favorite restaurant of the trip.


Tabard Inn: Brunch on Saturday: If you want the very best donuts ever, go here for brunch. House-made, melt in your mouth soft, and served with fresh whipping cream. It doesn't get any better than this. My dear cousin Shirley was in DC a few weeks before us (also to see the Terra Cotta Army exhibit). She stayed at the Tabard Inn and dined there too. She raved about the accommodations and the food. Since we already had our dinners planned, we tried to get Sunday brunch reservations a few days before our trip. It wasn't to be; obviously a popular spot. We lucked out and scored 2 PM Saturday brunch reservations and we were very happy we did. In addition to the top notch donut, we each had an Eggs Benedict dish; mine with house-smoked salmon and Frank's with house-made Tasso ham.


Central Michel Richard: Saturday dinner: This was the second of our pre-reserved dinners. Central is Michel's moderately priced answer to his flagship restaurant, Citronelle. This great looking space serves typical French bistro fare. For started we shared the Faux Gras. Yes, it is spelled correctly, since it was not real Foie Gras, but fake... made with chicken liver instead of goose or duck. It was served with a Country Pate. Faux or not, it was excellent. For my entree I selected the filet mignon with wild mushroom and potato hash. The steak was perfectly cooked, medium rare throughout. The hash was a nice accompaniment to the rich flavors of the steak. Frank ordered the Hanger Steak with Onion Carbonara. His steak was also very tasty and the onion carbonara looked like a pasta carbonara, but made with onion slices instead of pasta. Dessert was a shared signature dessert, a Banana Split. After the donut for brunch, why not go with a banana split. While it might be considered an "ordinary" dessert, it was served with house-made chocolate and vanilla ice cream, and a very wonderful, intensely flavored strawberry sorbet. 


Believe it or not... our Sunday late afternoon lunch (snack) was at the Air and Space Museum McDonald's. Yep, it isn't all fine dining. 


That's all I'm Saying.