For the history buffs in the crew, you know that the Federalist Papers were authored by Hamilton, Madison and John Jay...well, I didn't know about John Jay, but anyway. And for the googlists in group, when you do some basic research on the Federalist Papers you find that they were signed "authored by Publius"...thus, the title. A glass or two of wine will make titling a blog really, truly...fascinating.
We decided to take in a new adventure last weekend and checked out Chef Harper McClure's new restaurant, The Federalist, on the corner of 15th and M Streets, tucked on the side of the Madison Hotel. You will learn that one of us is not a fan of restaurants tucked inside hotels...but when the other one of us makes a reservation...we occasionally end up tucked inside a hotel. This time...I won ;)
We were coming from a show, so we were dressed appropriately, but this place will take you in jeans and a tee just as kindly. The host was adorable and sat us in one of their "booths"- elevated up on the side, in a U-shaped couch. They have fun lounge seats, a big farmers table and a few other 4 seaters along the wall. Nice decor, somewhere in the 1700s. Cutting to the chase, the experience is what made The Federalist blog-worthy.
The menu is a portfolio of Chef McClure's visions encompassing fresh foods that resemble farm-table delights, BUT and a giant BUT...this is NOT your gamey, farmy, icky, wanna beeee 18th century restaurant. You know exactly what we are talking about- those places that locate themselves in Old Town or in Williamsburg and dress their staff in butter churning outfits and serve roasted duck that looks like a...roasted duck. The food at The Federalist is modern and delicious.
We approached our meal the way we always do...what appetizer or two can we share? What entree will we share? What sides will we share? We are eaters, but lovers of appetizers and sides...so the entree is typically the short sale. So, as we approached the menu, we identified three appetizers- Roasted Baby Beets, Veal and Cabbage Meat Pie and the cheese-off (we'll explain)- Cremont (Vermont Creamery) vs. Chaource (Burgandy, France). They pair two cheeses- new world vs. old world. Let us stop right here and tell all of you brie or chevre lovers to go to the nearest cheese shop and beg them to carry the Chaource...OMG, fantastic!
For entrees, we were eying the Chicken Roulade and the Pork Belly. As per our usual, we considered the Brussel Sprouts and Baked Macaroni for the sides. We were a little torn because everything sounded good and yours truly was starving...so we punted to our waiter. Both of us found him to be everything that you want in a waiter- not the least pretentious but the most knowledgeable and encouraging. He gave us time to think after he explained the minutest details of the cooking techniques used for both the Roulade and Pork Belly. Being the eaters that we are and the suckers for an awesome "pitch" by a server, we skipped the meat pie and ordered the Cheeses, the Beets, and two entrees (Chicken and Pork), passing on the sides.
As noted above, the cheeses were fabulous- served with amazing honeycomb and toasted bread (they should probably splurge on an additional piece of bread). The pairing was delightful. The honeycomb with a sliver of the Chaource or Cremont...melt in your mouth, take you to another level kind of flavor. The beets were served with watercress and a fun peanut creme. Flavors were great, portion was a little wimpy. Again, we're eaters...we want more!!! And they are beats- so...FEED US!
Onto the Chicken Roulade...where to begin. The roulade was made with chicken and fennel sausage. It was beautifully presented and not the least bit dry. Maybe even more notable was the potato puree with tarragon jus. The flavors on the plate linked one thing to the next and left you wanting the experience to continue...and fortunately, we had pork belly to move our attention to! Our waiter said that the plate would perform like a beautiful pulled pork plate...and in a way, he was correct. Similar to an amazing plate of bbq, this plate kept your attention as you sliced through the crispy pork belly and moved your fork through the creamed savoy cabbage. Honestly, when you think of creamed cabbage...well, who thinks of creamed cabbage?? It was AMAZING...multiple times, we said "WHAT IS THIS?!" (Remember, menus are picked up after you order and you always forget something that accompanies the main dish...)
We found ourselves filled to the brim so we turned down dessert...and in truth, the desserts did not match the excitement and creativity on the rest of the menu. We recommend trying The Federalist if you're in the mood for great food, outstanding cheeses, a solid wine menu and fun servers. Chef McClure deserves a high five- great addition to the McPherson Square scene!
We can't yet say what will be the norm, because we have only just begun...but Co Co Sala was our most recent stop as we looked for a place to end our "NO MORE TURKEY LEFTOVERS" afternoon. The day began with brunch at home, complete with mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey and bacon all sauteed in a pan, then plated with a fried egg delicately placed on top to suit the chef's (my) nasty fried egg fetish. Fueled up, we left the house to take in DC. Combined, we have lived here for 25 years but still find plenty of things to do that make us both smile and say "God, I love this town!"
We started our walk near the George Washington University and weaved our way to the Washington Monument, enjoying the Mall and the people watching, wrapped around the south side of the Capitol and stopped at the Folger Shakespeare Library. There is an exhibit on the Kings James Bible which was interesting enough. After reading as much as we could, we decided a quick stop at the Library of Congress was in order. If you haven't been, go- it is magnificent and you can't beat the price.
We walked back, this time cutting up Pennsylvania Ave. and returned to the car to drive up to Dumbarton Oaks. For those of us who have spent the better part of our adult lives in the Georgetown area, it is amazing that such serenity can exist just north of M Street and east of Wisconsin. Again, it's worth a stop...especially when your parents are in town.
Wait! This is a food blog of sorts, right? Well, most of what we do is experience driven, so bear with us...we travel, tour and make it a mini-adventure, even if it's just to walk from Foggy to Penn Quarter, we soak stuff in. Very rarely will we (use robotic voice here) get-into-car--drive-to-restaurant--eat--return home. So back we go, down 31st Street, zipping on over to the Penn Quarter area, finding a killer parking spot just around the corner from Co Co. Sala.
Understand, we had skipped over and past Co Co. several times either on Opentable or as we walked past it looking for a place to grab a drink. It seemed to be a chocolate driven shop that just didn't suck in these two flavor driven folks.
Still, yesterday was the day. Reservations were early, a 5:30pm seating. When we arrived, we were greeted by the hostess who sat us in the back by the bar...just beyond the 8 year old birthday party- no joke. Still, the space was fantastic- low table with cushy lounge couch seating. Our waiter was great...explained a little about the restaurant, its history and made us feel comfortable immediately. Not one bit stuffy, which is had a chance of being.
For two wine drinkers- we made an early, mutual decision that we were at a chocolate based restaurant with chocolate infused vodka drinks...so a cocktail was in order. Let's see- I got the Festish...a fantastic take on a chocolate covered strawberry. She ordered the Co Cojito...a limey, minty, chocolately mojito sub in vodka, leave out the rum. Both were great!
For dinner, they have small plates and our waiter suggested two to three per person. We opted for two each because movie popcorn awaited in the hours ahead. Early disclaimer- WE LOVE MOVIE POPCORN!!!! It will find its way into most nights...even if it's at home on the couch!
Back to the small plates- so fun...we ordered sweet and sour cauliflower and a duck confit cigar fennel salad to start. We are suckers for funky takes on old standbys, and we were both amazed at how the chef made a piece of cauliflower taste like a protein. If you close your eyes, you might believe you were eating a delicious batch of sweet and sour chicken, minus the nasty fatty stuff. The dish came with three pieces of cauliflower, sitting in a bed of crispy, shredded spinach...sweet and tasty with good texture. The duck confit cigar was something between a duck-spring roll and one of those "texas toothpicks" from Rock Bottom. My apologies to the chef because the "cigar" was fantastic, but it reminded me of the aforementioned toothpick. Moving along...the duck confit was perfectly complemented by the fennel and Asian pear salad, which has some sort of chili pepper or something that added an additional kick- it was fabulous.
The two "main" small dishes we ordered we the swordfish sliders and the butternut squash, pancetta, smoked gouda risotto. Our mouths are watering as we relive last night's dinner. The swordfish was perfectly cooked, not at all dry. The portions were great and there was a little fennel "slaw" that was placed on the asiago mini-buns...delish! The risotto was excellent, however, we decided it should be renamed. The butternut squash was a secondary flavor at best. The salty beauty created by the pancetta coupled with the gooey gouda made the dish fantastic...and don't think for one second that we looked past the friend sage leaf...in fact, we cut it up and ate it with our final bites.
Overall, Co Co. Sala pleasantly surprised us with outstanding ambiance, great service, intriguing cocktails, creative teasers and rich "main" courses. We'll return...not right away, but we will return. Note- we didn't have dessert at the chocolate place!!!
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| Worth a trip! |
God created the heavens and the earth and a craving for all things delicious. Admittedly, this is a first for us. It is just that we eat out and in and drink great wine and search high and low for good flavors that make you go hmmmm. So why not write about it?
Exactly...why not? So here is a space for two people to write about their experiences, most of which will take place in the DC area where we live. We do travel and our taste buds come with us, so we'll jot down what we discover along the way. The mission of this journal of sorts is not yet defined but will hopefully come to life over the next few something or others...we like food, wine, cheese, dessert, decor, great service, amazing people who put their hearts and souls into their work. When we find something to write home about, you'll hear from us. In the mean time, cozy up to the chocolate bar for your first aperitif of sorts...or maybe it was dessert?
