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 Whenever a new restaurant opens – especially if it's a high-profile place or a big-time chef is in the kitchen – Washington diners are eager to get the lowdown. But responsible restaurant critics wait before swooping in to pass judgment. First Bite offers brief introductions to new restaurants shortly after they open. Contributors include Eve Zibart, whose Courses column runs every Friday in The Washington Post's Weekend section, and Kim O'Donnel and Anne Glusker, Style Live's resident food mavens. If you have comments and suggestions, please let us know (odonnelk@washingtonpost.com or gluskera@washpost.com).
New! Sallie and Jeffrey Buben of Vidalia have transformed the dark old Tiber Creek Pub into a very blond-wood-and-etched-glass complex that somehow makes you feel that your companions may be billing you by the hour: zinc-topped bar, semi-detached dining "suites" off a hallway, cigar-bar mezzanine with lobby-like chairs. "Bis" also means "encore"; but instead of the updated Southern dishes of Vidalia, the Bubens are serving up intriguingly idiosyncratic semi-classic French fare – pan-roasted monkfish wrapped in cured ham with apples and calvados; pepper-crusted salmon; potato, rabbit and goat cheese galette – as well as the more traditional steak 'n' fries, sweetbreads, duck confit, etc.
And although opening parties are not always good barometers, the samples
at Bis had the food trendies swooning, especially the tangy steak tartare
topped with cornichon fans and served on super-crisp garlic potato chips and
the escargot-artichoke ragout in brioche. With Bis's close neighbor, the
longtime favorite La Colline, undergoing a face- and menu-lift, Capitol Hill
could be in French heaven pretty soon.
18th & U Duplex Diner, 2004 18th St. NW; 202/265-7828
The menu attempts to re-create a retro experience, with items such as meatloaf ($10), macaroni and cheese, milkshakes ($5), grilled cheese ($6), and burgers with fries ($8). You can even have French toast for dinner if you want – a weird choice, but perhaps a good one for the carbo-craving after-bar crowd (food is served on weekends until 4 a.m.).
Adams-Morgan needs a restaurant to call home – and maybe Duplex, with its broadcasts of "The Simpsons" at the bar, its staff's casual rapport with customers and its unintimidating menu, could become that place.
Smaller and less showy than McCormick & Schmick's seafood restaurant, its nearby corporate sibling, the M & S Grill has slick wood styling, a nice bar with street view and a menu that explores almost the entire range of new-American super-saloon fare: lox cured with Macallan scotch, shrimp Caesar salad, grouper with hot Jamaican rum butter, grilled tuna with soy, deli sandwiches, homey braised short ribs and spit-roasted meats. And the budget has quite a range, too, from sandwiches under $10 to seafood and steaks in the teens and even twenties. Surprise tip: Keep your eyes peeled for the $1.95 appetizers (bruschetta, burgers, ceviche, chili, quesadillas, etc.) that come when you order two drinks, available from 3 to 6 p.m. weekdays.
The crowd may change from conference-goers to Caps fans to folks wiling away a lazy afternoon, but it's always very relaxed – the new Pennsylvania Avenue locals sport ponytails as often as pinstripes. If you want to separate the bizboys from the tourists, order the caviar (on the menu as sevruga, but one recent, lucky day, we got osetra instead) with silkily iced Stoli for $45 – the one-ounce caviar tin, minced egg yolks and whites, red onion and sour cream are all set right into a huge block of ice. Only out-of-towners will stare.
Medaterra, 2614 Connecticut Ave. NW; 202/797-0400 Medaterra is a lesson in Mediterranean influences, from Morocco to Lebanon. The menu features the standard Middle Eastern starters of baba ghanoush, tabbouleh and grape leaves; but the entrees travel further afield with lamb shank, North African-style, and spicy "Moorish" shrimp with harissa. The cross-border melding continues in the dining room, where the bright blue, yellow and red walls are reminiscent of Provence, while the background music is positively Middle Eastern. Although the restaurant is a little more dressed up than other places on the block, it doesn't require formal attire.
Medaterra is a budget paradise, with entrees running less than $15. Small plates, which can make a meal, are less than $6. And the homemade desserts – saria, a milk custard with berries; citrus baklava; and rice pudding with mangos – are tasty, so be sure to save room. New Fortune, 16515 S. Frederick Ave., Gaithersburg, 301/926-8828 Remember those all-nighter munchies only a trip to Chinatown could satisfy? Roast duck in the window, lobsters and crabs jousting in tanks, whole crispy fish, huge bowls of soup . . .
The menu is so huge it has chapter tabs, and even at that, standard dishes, such as fried and steamed dumplings, only squeeze in as pictures. The various Chinese "barbecues," really roasted pork and duck, etc, are available as appetizers that could serve as whole meals (and for $5.95). This is serious Hong Kong-style stuff – including hot pots and casseroles, frog (in several versions), sea cucumber, abalone, conch, fish maw (throat), tripe, oysters – all listed in English as well as Chinese. Don't be shy about asking for advice or for something that isn't on the menu; this is one ambitious kitchen.
Already the crowd mix is encouraging – heavily Chinese but definitely multi-culti. Dim sum is available every day at lunch, and even at dinner, nothing tops $14. And
you may well have a little free costume entertainment if a Chinese wedding party appears.
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By Reginald A. Pearman Jr./
By Craig Cola/
By Craig Cola/washingtonpost.com