Dining in Washington, D.C.

Several Great Restaurants in Washington, D.C.: Nora, Central Michel Richard, Two Amys, Zaytina and Jaleo

I spent ten glorious days in Washington, D.C., dining out with different friends and members of my family. The first evening I was there, I went to Zaytina which is a wonderful mezze bar (Mediterranean appetizers) with my friend, Ann, from college days. Unfortunately it was extremely noisy and hard to converse. That always puts a damper on my experience as you find that you can only appreciate the food and not your companion.

We did have some great "tapas" though: Havuc Koftesi which are wonderful carrot-apricot fritters; Octopus Santorini (marinated grilled octopus), Kotopoulo Youvetsi (a chicken, orzo, cheese and tomato dish), and a delicious dish of veal cheeks with preserved lemon. The food was fine but I would recommend this restaurant at lunch or with a very loud talker!

The same chef has a Spanish tapas restaurant on the other side of town called Jaleo. I had the traditional ajo blanco (chilled garlic-almond soup) this time it was garnished with fresh crab, a tortilla with potatoes and onions, and sautéed gambas (jumbo shrimp) in garlic. This was a delicious and very filling lunch.

My brother, David, took me and his companion, Kapri, to Nora. This restaurant is known for the fact that it uses organic, seasonal ingredients in its dishes. I started with a roasted chanterelle and creamy goat cheese tart which was garnished with a red pepper emulsion: sublime. Kapri had a red and gold beet salad which had feta cheese, orange and grapefruit segments, bitter greens and a pomegranate dressing. That was great too and very inventive. David also chose a salad. This one contained local baby lettuces, Medjool dates, almonds, gorgonzola, and a honey vinaigrette. The dinner was off to a running start.

As I adore corn and can really only get it in the USA, I had the salmon garnished with corn, herb pesto, and an oven dried tomato pea-tendril and radish salad. Kapri chose the wild Alaskan halibut with pepper piperade, heirloom tomatoes, green beans and roasted eggplant. David went for the succulent gnocchi with broccoli rabe and a variety of wild mushrooms swathed in a rosemary-almond pesto.

We shared a caramelized pear with Amaretto, served with a chocolate ganache and also the luscious pineapple upside down cake. With our dinner, we had a lovely South African chardonnay.

Another great place is Central Michel Richard. M. Richard is French and moved to D.C. from LA many years ago. He has a number of restaurants in the city, and this the newest edition to his "empire". It is billed as a place for wonderfully prepared comfort food. I went to Central with my cousins, Ben and Becca and we had a terrific time. Becca ordered a salad frisée with lardons and a poached egg followed by a beautiful scallop dish garnished with corn and wild mushrooms. She was not happy with her scallops. I had a flavorful yellow tomato gaspacho with lump crab meat and then enjoyed the short ribs with pappardelle and syrah sauce. Ben chose creamy burrata (a mozzarella) with tomatoes. For his main course, he chose the bucatini with meatballs. That was a true winner and definitely fits into the gourmet comfort food category. Desserts were the weakest course: Michel's chocolate bar (like a kit kat bar); apple pan dowdy with vanilla ice cream; chocolate lava cake à la mode. They were all too sweet and mediocre.

Saving the VERY BEST for last, I happily went to Two Amys twice: once alone, just for pizza, and once with my good friend, Howard. According to me and to other friends who have been there, Two Amys serves some of the best pizza in the states, perhaps in the world (!) and is matched by a favorite place of mine in NYC. Just by looking at the photo, you can see how luscious and beautiful the pizza is. At dinner time, TA serves a variety of Italian appetizers. We had suppli al telephono: rice balls filled with meat and cheese and then lightly fried golden; a beautiful and tasty shrimp and beet salad; sheep ricotta and heirloom tomato plate and pizza!! Unfortunately no room for dessert. The pizzas have thin crusts just thick enough to be chewy. For me the flavor of the tomato sauce (excellent) and a chewy crust are primordial. This is truly a wonderful place.