After a decade-long run in the kitchen at 701 in Penn Quarter, Trent Conry says he was more than ready to move to its sister restaurant, Ardeo in Cleveland Park, this past spring.
Small wonder. Unlike 701, Ardeo doesn't serve lunch, and it doesn't face "120 customers coming in at once" for a pre-theater dinner, says the 45-year-old chef. At one point, he sat down to count the number of dishes he and his staff were churning out at 701 -- which offers separate bar, lounge, banquet and dining room menus -- and arrived at 75 different items.
"The change is nice," Conry understates.
What's good for him is good for patrons of Ardeo, whose summer menu brims with fashionable -- and frequently luscious -- possibilities. Sweet peekytoe crab and a confetti of green apple are molded into a seafood salad made refreshing with citrus gelee, while a rich disk of foie gras is balanced with a drizzle of chipotle-spiked syrup. Halibut, enhanced with a sweet-spicy crust of ground cloves, star anise and fennel, is poised on a minty "pancake" of English peas and treated to a delicate scallop veloute.
As appealing as those dishes are, Conry's pan-roasted Kurobuta pork loin might be the star of the menu. Succulent from its marinade of orange juice, honey and cumin, the designer meat is sliced over a bed of risotto cooked with carrot juice -- what a way to pack in your daily dose of beta carotene! -- and grounded in the season with a chili-ignited rhubarb sauce. Is the panna cotta a tad too firm? It is. But I appreciate that the dessert is served as a tasting: three wiggly rounds of custard with terrific matching fruit compotes.
Ask for a table on the rooftop deck (and you should if the weather cooperates), and you'll get to see the source of some of the chef's inspiration. Shortly after his arrival, Conry planted lavender, parsley, a kiwi vine and a blueberry bush, the last of which has provided the kitchen with four pints of fruit thus far.
At 701, Conry says, he fed a lot of business types and arts patrons, whereas Ardeo attracts more of a neighborhood crowd. Though he has made delicious changes in his new roost, the chef concedes that "I still have to accommodate the long-timers." Note to regulars: You can still order a hamburger here, but it's been yupdated to include ancho chili paste and fruit-smoked bacon.
--Tom Sietsema (July 4, 2007)
