2009 Fall Dining Guide

By Tom Sietsema
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009

A reservation for a top table prompts heightened expectations. How will the chef dazzle us? In the case of CityZen and Eric Ziebold, one of several wonders on the new fall menu is a first course of crisp pork jowl teetering on a garlicky slice of baked tomato poised on a round of grilled nan. The small stack is packed with tons of flavor and circled with a summery basil sauce. Another sublime impression is formed by a main course of sauteed turbot arranged with shrimp, mussels and squid in a broth bolstered with basmati rice. "Bouillabaisse meets gumbo" is how the chef sums up the treasure trove of seafood. Plenty of chefs give lip service to serving what's local, but Ziebold is the only one I know to offer St. Mary's County stuffed ham, a regional classic that he updates with chard mousse, finishes with a vinegar-sharpened sauce to cut the porky richness and serves alongside a small raft of scrapple. (You read that right.) The Iowa native loves his turf, but he lavishes attention on produce, too; one taste of the gratineed cauliflower terrine, an option on his vegetarian tasting menu, proves that. The appetizer is beautifully garnished with super-sweet ruby and orange infant carrots and a crisp frizzle of chard. This is a generous and gracious den of luxury: Request coffee, and it comes with warm cardamom-orange cakes. But the staff isn't afraid to express a lighter side, as anyone who has ever tapped sommelier Andy Myers for advice knows. (Order the pinot gris from Domaine Weinbach, if only to have the lanky wine maven amuse you with a story about the time he and his dad chanced to meet the producer in Alsace.) Frequent patrons might be weary of seeing the same amuse bouches visit after visit -- it's time to retire the mushroom fritter with truffle sauce -- but I know there would be a riot if CityZen ever deleted from its drill the little wooden box of warm Parker House rolls that shows up with the entrees. Because I'd be leading the protest.