Sailing Into the Suburbs
A veteran D.C. restaurateur discovers Reston's rewards
By Tom Sietsema
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, Dec. 21, 2008
Reston is not like Washington. Jeff Tunks learned that when he launched his fifth restaurant, his first outside the District, in October.
For one thing, the lunch crowd in the suburbs includes a lot of empty-nesters and retirees who like to eat late and sip wine. For another, Restonians tend not to make reservations before heading to dinner: On a recent Thursday at PassionFish, the chef's gleaming new seafood restaurant had 80 diners on the books and nearly 100 walk-ins.
Then there's the matter of what his new customers are willing to eat. Unlike in Washington, where Tunks co-owns Acadiana, Ceiba, DC Coast and TenPenh -- and where he feels obligated to have such conservative choices as chicken and steak on those menus to accommodate "the guy from Indiana" -- his clientele in Northern Virginia, he says, is all about surf.
That means his staff was eating pretty well in the early weeks as it got a feel for the habits of the audience, which sniffed at ordering beef or poultry; one lunch, a single request for each went out. "We had skirt steak sandwiches the other day," Tunks told me by phone not long ago. And chicken confit the day before, he added.
Tunks knows this isn't the best time to open a restaurant. But the deal for PassionFish's space, in the Reston Town Center, was initiated two years ago, and what's a restaurateur to do? He's also got loyal players on his team, and he likes to promote them when he can. The executive chef at PassionFish is Chris Clime, 34, who has served Tunks and his business partners at all four of their Washington establishments. Clime, who lives seven miles away in Centreville, got an easier commute along with the new assignment.
Aside from the ropes of lights suspended from the ceiling to resemble trails of bubbles, the focal point of the room is a display of seafood on ice in front of the open kitchen. The raw oysters and king crab legs should be your focus, too. The bivalves are plucked from a variety of waters and neatly shucked; the crab -- cool, sweet from the sea and good enough to eat without its mustard dip -- hails from Norway. There's sushi, too, and though it's no match for D.C.'s finest, it's fun. The Kamikaze Roll brings eight large bites assembled from fried shrimp, nori, avocado, spicy tuna, eel sauce and (hang in there!) shredded wontons. The rock-and-roll appetizer is not for the sushi purist so much as for the adventurer.
There's no bread service at PassionFish, which instead eases diners into lunch or dinner with a small crock of horseradish-spiked whitefish spread and thin rounds of toasted baguette for spreading. It's a pleasing touch, as is the flatware designed with fins on the handles and the Goldfish crackers dished up at the bar. Perhaps the most elegant cocktail is one of the simplest: the St. Germain, named for the newly fashionable French liqueur made with elderberry blossoms and mixed here with sparkling wine and a splash of soda. The fragrant spirit has a flavor similar to that of litchi.
Although his developer had pushed for another DC Coast, Tunks didn't want to repeat the Washington seafood restaurant here. Still, there are elements of PassionFish's menu that will resonate with anyone who has eaten at DC Coast or at any of its related establishments. The seafood gumbo -- heat layered with spice -- is a bowl that would taste right at home at Acadiana, while the crab-and-shrimp spring rolls suggest the Asian-inspired TenPenh. I like their electric dipping sauce better than the blond and bland cigars themselves. Eating the hamachi crudo, I'm transported to the Latin-leaning Ceiba. The dewy slices of yellowtail rest atop juicy grapefruit segments, a snack made jazzier with cilantro and other enhancers.
Eating the grilled octopus, on the other hand, makes me wonder how the kitchen made it both smoky and mushy. The starter's bed is better: pearly couscous reverberating with mint, lemon and saffron. Big, fat scallops are dragged down by pasty cavatelli pasta in an entree that includes diced sweet potatoes and a veal jus -- and doesn't taste as if it's out of its trial phase.
There's much to like about the heads-on grilled shrimp, all eight of them lined up on their plate with an orange carpet of romesco sauce to sweeten the deal. The accent is a little crunchy (with almonds) and a little zesty (thanks to crushed garlic and red peppers). Fish, as evinced by whole fried flounder, delivers enough snowy meat for three. A daisy chain of pickled cucumber and a tongue-teasing clear dip are fine foils to the main course. The catch of the day might be more straightforward. Herb-marinated salmon, one day's offering, was crisp and flavorful, simply served with a fluff of mixed greens. It was a modest satisfaction.
Here's what all the fish eaters are missing: a delicious grilled chicken. Clime and company enhance the entree with a tasty hash of wild rice and sweet potatoes, and a delicate mustard sauce.
Snags here and there keep this new arrival from seeing more stars. Fried Ipswich clams are hot but not particularly crisp or flavorful. You'll need all of their pickle-spiked dip to knock them back. French fries, presented in a bucket, are underdone. Typically robust cioppino brings together all the expected fish and seafood, but the stew's broth tastes only of tomato, nothing more.
Servers do their best to keep diners happy, though. And desserts are easy to finish. Warm doughnut holes with a coffee-flavored whip of cream and a better-than-average apple crisp using local fruit call to the Midwesterner in me.
PassionFish is vast and airy, packaged in soaring glass walls and spread across two floors whose whites and blues hint of the sea. Ask for a seat upstairs, where some of the tables overlook the show of servers and diners below. The most enviable place to land may be No. 90, a curved booth with its back to the wall that allows for both a view and conversation. ("The mafia table!" a friend jests.)
Another detail that sets PassionFish apart from its siblings in Washington: kids. PassionFish is prepared to make them and their handlers happy, with toys and games and a special menu that runs to applesauce made in-house and shrimp served with french fries in a little pail. The shrimp dish is $6, like every entree on the children's menu. As in so many other ways, this restaurant is reaching out not just to a new market, but to the next generation.
