Friday, September 02, 2011

Date Night in DC

BJ and I had an opportunity to have a mid-week date night this past Wednesday, thanks to Goldstar for cheap tickets, an unused giftcard, and willing grandparents for babysitting.  We purchased heavily discounted theatre tickets to see Oklahoma! and made a reservation at a place we'd been dying to try - America Eats Tavern.  This is the José Andrés pop-up restaurant in the old Cafe Atlantico space.  We've been a José fan for a long time and thought the combination of food and history was intriguing. 

We tried:

- fried chicken with blueberry ketchup:  great crust, but under-seasoned chicken.  The ketchup was good though.

- vermicelli prepared like pudding:  an old-fashioned mac and cheese.  Very delicate cheese flavor.  I could've eaten a whole plate of this.  The sauteed mushrooms on the side were amazing.


- crab cakes w/ pickled watermelon salad:  BJ said they were the best crab cakes he's ever had.  The salad was nice as well, a good combination of flavors.


- bbq shortrib with succotash:  this normally comes with cole slaw but I asked for a substitution.  The succotash was delish, very creamy and fresh tasting.  I really wanted to like the short rib, it had such good reviews, but it was incredibly salty and spicy.  Maybe the chef was having an off day.  It was cooked beautifully though.


- Kentucky burgoo: a stew of lamb, rabbit and squab  BJ liked it, was glad he ordered it, but wouldn't get it again.  He did say he'd eat rabbit again though. 


- strawberry shortcake:  a light shortcake and fresh berries, some even filled with strawberry gel.  Good, but not outstanding.


- pineapple upside-down cake:  this was awesome.  A light cake willed with warm pineapple sauce and fresh whipped cream.  Smooth and sweet.



So, maybe 3.5 stars out of 5.  We liked it and the overall experience was good.

Oklahoma! at Arena Stage was fanastic.  The cast was amazingly talented and they really brought out the humor in the script.  Definitely worth staying out too late on a school night!

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