Kapnos

With all the delicious restaurants in DC, it's rare that we go back to the same place multiple times.  Mike Isabella has done something special at his first restaurant, Graffiato, and it's one of our all-time favorites, so when he opened a Greek spot, Kapnos, we knew we had to try it.  We've always wanted to try the tasting menu at Graffiato, and since this was a special occasion, we decided to splurge and try it at Kapnos.  We turned over control to the kitchen, and let them make all the decisions for us.  We just sat back, relaxed, and waited for dishes to roll in!

Let's start with drinks.  They have a trio of kegged lemonades, each with a different liquor.  Justin started with the gin lemonade, which also had a slice of grilled lemon, batavia arrack, honey, thyme, and soda.  It had a slight sweetness to balance out the tartness of the lemon, and was quite refreshing.  I started with the mustachio, pisco-based drink with house made ginger beer, maraschino, angostura bitters, and lime.  It came in a copper mug with pellet ice (I have a thing for pellet ice), and was quite tasty.  Maraschino can sometimes be too sweet, but the ginger beer and lime cut the sweetness.

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For our first course, we were presented with a bowl of marinated olives, and two spreads, the tyrokaftarl and the melitzanosalata, served with warm flatbread.  The tyrokaftarl was the clear favorite.  The feta, smoked manori (greek sheeps mil cheese), and yogurt combined for a rich and creamy spread.  It was topped with thin slices of serrano pepper and grains of paradise, which gave it the perfect amount of heat.  The melitzanosalata, a spread of smoky eggplant, roasted red peppers, walnuts and feta, had a nice sweetness to it, and was a great counterbalance to the cheese spread.

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The second course consisted of a couple salads.  The first, and our favorite, was the spicy watermelon salad.  Slices of compressed watermelon were lined up and topped with pickled watermelon rind, and shaved fennel.  The watermelon was super sweet with just the right amount of spiciness.  The other salad consisted of roasted fennel, arugula, dates, and almonds.  The fennel was rather sweet, from being roasted, and not the usual anise flavor you get with fresh fennel.

At this point, it was time for round 2 of drinks.  I took our server's suggestion and tried the papadapolous, made with skinos, a Greek liquer made from from the Mastiha tree.  She described it as piney and nutty, and since I like gin, I figured I'd give it a try.  She did not steer me wrong!  It had a nice tartness from the grapefruit, but was balanced out by some honey.  If you're not careful, you could drink it in one big gulp.  Justin went with the gonzo, a drink made with genever, aquavit, spiced honey, and lemon.  He likened it to a lemon gin martini.

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Course three consisted primarily of seafood.  We were really excited to try out the charred octopus, since it's one of our favorite dishes at both Graffiato and Zaytinya (Isabella's former kitchen).  The octopus was served with green harissa and eggplant.  The octopus was cooked perfectly, with a nice char, and the harissa added a subtle spiciness.  We were also served the clams, a mix of razor clams, geoduck clams, and salt cod.  The sauce was citrusy and fresh, but we could've used more clams, and less cod.  The halibut made up for it though, sitting atop a bed of sauteed garlic and leeks, in an avgolemono sauce.  The halibut was moist and flaky with a golden crust.  The garlic, and leeks were confited but didn't become overly mushy, and lemon sauce were the perfect compliment to the protein.

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For the fourth course, we finally got to try one of the spit-roasted meats that were taunting us as they rotated before our eyes through the evening.  We had the lamb, served with some ancient grains, tzatziki, and harissa.  The lamb was perfectly tender.  Because of the charring and slow roasting didn't have the expected gamey, lamb taste.  The ancient grains didn't add much for me.  I would've preferred no grains, and more meat!  We were also served the duck phyllo pie with cherries and pureed pistachios.  The phyllo was only a couple layers thick, golden brown, and crispy.  The duck was extremely flavorful, though a bit on the salty side, so the cherries helped balance out the salt.  It was served with a pistachio puree, which had a bit too much heat and detracted from the dish.  Along with the lamb and duck, we had the gigandes, or giant beans.  They were tasty, but I would've preferred a different vegetable--we will have to go back and try the hen of the woods mushrooms and/or Greek Fries.

And if all that weren't enough, we still had dessert to come!  We dug our forks into the chocolate mousse

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cake with mastic ice cream, and the apple baklava with apple ginger ice cream.  Let's start with the mousse.  It wasn't a cake at all.  Instead, the mousse was formed into a long rectangle, like a candy bar, and had a thin, chocolate coating covering it with a crunchy bottom, reminiscent of a Nestle Crunch bar.  It was quite rich and decadent, though the mousse was extremely light and fluffy, and the cherry sauce added some sweetness to the dish.  There were also a few cherry jelly cubes, which I wasn't a huge fan of.  However, the mastic ice cream was a hit.  Mastic is made from the sap of the same tree that skinos is made from, and it had a piney nutmeg taste.  It was delicious!  The apple baklava was my favorite though.  I tend to prefer fruit desserts over chocolates, and this was no exception.  Baklava tends to be cloyingly sweet, so the apples added a nice tartness to balance it out.  The apple ginger ice cream had a nice spice to it as well, adding another layer of flavor to the dish.

Overall, it was a great meal.  The service was wonderful, and the food was great.  If you have a big appetite, and aren't sure what to order, I highly recommend the tasting menu.  We were able to try a variety of dishes, many of which were dishes we probably would've chosen on our own.  We can't wait to go back to try the suckling pig and roasted goat!

Restaurant Week Rundown

And another Restaurant Week has come to an end.  Twice a year, restaurants offer price-fixed lunches and dinners, and if you do a little research, you can find some awesome deals.

Step 1: Seek out the list of participating restaurants
Step 2: Check out their normal menu.  This year, dinner costs you $35.13 for 3 courses.  If you would normally pay this amount, or less, at a given restaurant, don't bother going for restaurant week.  Look for restaurants whose entrees are normally $25-$30+ to ensure you're getting a good deal.
Step 3: Check out their restaurant week menu.  Most of the time, restaurants will pare down their menu for restaurant week, giving you a handful of choices for each course.  Sometimes they only offer their less pricey options, so it not longer becomes a good deal.  A select few will offer their entire menu.  These are your best options.  But in the end, make sure their restuarant week menu has items that you're actually interested in eating.
Step 4: Make a reservation.  They fill up fast, so it's best to have a few choices.  And if you can't get in for dinner, you can always try lunch.
Step 5: Enjoy your meal! Be sure to tip really, really well, you are basically getting a free appetizer and dessert...your server has to come to your table a lot and restaurant week is really busy, so take care of your servers :)

Now, here's where/what we chose to eat...

Our first stop was Bibiana.  Friends had said good things about it, and initially, they were offering their entire menu.  Upon arrival, we were handed a pared down menu, but there were still great options to choose from.  We started with a couple cocktails while we perused the menu.  We ordered up a Speciale (ginger infused vodka, grapefruit, rosemary, and cherry bitters), and an Aged Negroni (gin, vermouth, and barrel-aged Campari).  Justin commented that his Negroni was one of the better ones he's ever had because of the balance between the sweetness and bitterness.  My Speciale had a nice spiciness from the ginger, while the grapefruit gave it a nice citrusy finish.  For our first courses, I went with the arancini, which were stuffed with mushrooms.  They were perfectly crispy on the outside, and nice and gooey on the inside.  Justin chose the squid, stuffed with white beans and soppresatta.  It was cooked to perfection.  For entrees, I went with the grilled cod, and Justin opted for the black truffle risotto.  He has a weakness for truffles, so this was a no-brainer.  The risotto was so creamy, buttery and not overly truffle-y, while the rice was cooked to a perfect al dente.  My cod had a nice smokiness that permeated into the olive oil mashed potatoes.  The tomatoes, olives, and capers that adorned the plate added a nice saltiness to the dish too.  And to round out the meal, I chose a coconut panna cotta with roasted pineapple, and Justin chose the torta, an almond pastry topped with strawberry jam, toasted almonds, and cream.  Both desserts had the perfect amount of sweetness, and were a perfect way to round out the meal.

Part 2 of restaurant week took us to Mintwood Place.  It's a very quaint and rustic spot in Adams Morgan.  But don't worry...it's removed from the craziness of the bars on 18th St.  While we perused the menu, we had to start with the maple pork cracklin's.  These were an additional item, but we couldn't resist.  They were perfectly crisp and airy, and served with a dipping sauce that complemented them perfectly.  As for drinks, I chose the Woodrow Wilson (gin, hum liquor, elderflower, and cava), which had the perfect amount of sweetness and some bubbles.  Justin opted for the Farewell to the 20s (rum, aperol, lime, spice bitters and orange syrup).  He's a sucker for anything with aperol, and the rum was a nice compliment.  For our first courses, I went with the smoked potato, sunchoke and mussel chowder.  The presentation was superb...the potatoes, sunchokes and mussels were mounded in the center of the bowl, and the rich broth was poured around it, tableside.  The broth was exactly what you'd want in a chowder; thick and creamy, but with some sweetness from the mussels.  Justin went with the wood-grilled confit beef heart.  The beef heart was cooked perfectly, and was atop a bed of greens and a poached egg.  For our main dishes, I chose the dorade, which was grilled and served with fennel, olives and onions.  Justin went with the grilled Amish chicken, served with wax and green beans.  The skin on the chicken was perfectly crispy, while the meat was still moist and juicy.  And for dessert, I opted for the baked Alaska, while Justin chose the pecan pie with a creme fraiche drizzle.  The baked Alaska came with a bit of a show.  Some alcohol was set ablaze, tableside, and poured over the dessert.  Rather than the outside being covered in merengue, it was engulfed in marshmallow, and within the white cake was some strawberry sorbet.  It was refreshing, and a great way to end the meal.  Justin's pecan pie was equally delicious, and the creme fraiche was a nice, fresh component to the dish that cut the cloying sweetness of that ooey gooey delicious pie filling.  The crust was nice and brown and buttery and flaky and um...crusty!?!?!

Overall, both restaurants proved to be great choices, and places we'll likely return to in the future.  Now we have about 6 months until we have to decide where to go for summer restaurant week.