April 20, 2008

• Food good …

  An old college friend of Chewy’s was in town this weekend so they got to hang out together at the National Arboretum during the day on Saturday.  I got a pass since the pollen would have killed me.  Ended up watching the Wizards choke in the 4th quarter and lose to Cavs while also watching the Caps beat the Flyers to force a game 6!  Sweeeeeet.  Since Chewy’s friend is the Pastry Sous Chef at the Lever House in NYC she wanted to try out Cafe Atlantico in the Penn Quarter area.  We were definitely surprised, in a good way, with the dishes.  Some were not good, some were surprising, and others were downright delectable – but it was definitely a fun experience (* means must order again some day):
  
  Appetizers and Soups
  - Olive oil encased in a sugar teardrop, ending with a salty aftertaste (how they do it, we don’t know)
  - Liquid olive with citrus accompaniment (surprising liquid explosion in the mouth)
  - Dominican conch fritters
  with jicama-avocado raviolis and passionfruit oil (the fritter dough was like a dim sum dish and a bit too dough-y; the *raviolis were excellent!)
  - *Tuna ceviche with coconut milk and avocado (if you like ceviche, these are fantastic!)
  - Soup of the day – tomato with zucchini, creme fraiche, and other stuff (there was an unexpected kick to it)
  - Soup – foie gras (creamy)
  - *Scallops with coconut rice, crispy rice, ginger, squid, and squid ink oil (the squid and squid ink didn’t add anything to the dish, but otherwise it was one of our favorites)

  Entrees
  - Portobello mushroom with huitlacoche, Chihuahua cheese, roasted beets, and beet oil (OK as portobello mushrooms go, but not party in the mouth great)
  - Jerk Chicken “Mofongo” with plantain purée, bacon, roasted garlic, and pearl onions (plain Jane – where was the kick?)
  - *Salmon with broccoli-quinoa “cous-cous”, salmon roe, and parmesan froth (best dish by far and we’d order it again; eating the parmesan froth was fun)

  Desserts
  - Bizcocho templado de chocolate con banana: warm chocolate cake with Venezuelan chocolate flan, banana foam and fresh banana-lime salad (recommended by the server as the best dessert on the menu, but it turned out to be nothing special as even Sysco has this available frozen these days – quite a disappointment.  But the banana foam was nice.)
  - Warm white chocolate mousse with white chocolate hazelnut ice cream, Muscovado streusel, and coffee gelee (good; we wonder how the streusel stayed crispy even after many minutes soaked in the mousse, but the texture was a bit off)
  - *Coco en Dos Formas:  Eggless coconut panna cotta, vanilla-lime gelee, coconut sorbet, and fresh mango (by the far the best dessert – we would have licked the plate if possible)
  - Petit fours:  Three chocolate/cocoa covered corn nuts (interesting) and a jelly candy with saffron encased in an edible wrapper (think White Rabbit for the wrapper and honey with a bad aftertaste for the jelly candy; some think “fishy water”)
  

  • 6:26 pm
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