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Continuing
the same brashness on the entree side of the menu, the saffron
and chardonnay risotto becomes a paella-like dish when chorizo
and littleneck clams are added with an accent of lemon thyme
and Mascarpone cheese. The risotto has just the right bite,
and the richness is enhanced with the saffron and wine.
The chorizo and clams are added dimensions that are tasty
but not over-the-top in making the dish memorable. A glass
of the Kenwood Yalupa chardonnay has a complexity of oak
and fruit to complement nicely all the components working
in the dish.
Stachowski
has personally had a big hand in another work in progress
- the wine list. The list is growing daily and gaining depth
in categories found. Reasonably priced, the wine list looks
like it will be a strong cornerstone to stand up to the
complexity of the menu.
On the
menu is a Sunday chicken that goes way beyond anything I
can imagine on Sunday at my house-or Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
whenever. Here he takes what I think is the finest chicken
on the market (Bell and Evans and it can be found for sale
retail at Fresh Fields) and tosses it into a briny bath
of salt, water, lemon and fennel. The result is an intensely
flavored half-chicken baked with cornbread and served over
rainbow chard with slivers of lemon confit. Stachowski
tells me that sometimes the chicken can brine for as long
as five or six days. The bird that night had obviously seen
the maximum brining and the saltiness has permeated the
meat-a touch beyond what he probably wanted. The reaction
of the salt solution is a great tenderizing technique that
gives wonderfully moist meat. It takes chicken to a new
level in culinary creativity. I was surprised to see salt
and pepper on the table I didn’t see anything that Stachowski
serves that needed any extra attention.
The
rest of the menu features an uncommon diversity of taste
from lobster strudel baked with Tunisian spiced carrots
with fresh fava beans to twin tandoori quails marinated
in buttermilk, ginger and lime to the filet, but wait it
comes with a Maytag blue cheese potato souffle and cabernet
horseradish.
A fine
evening treat is a house specialty dessert that is a rolled
chocolate shaped like a cigar and served with an ice cream
dollop. The cigar has a dusting of cocoa on its tip to look
like an ash. Inside it is a to-die-for chocolate mousse
that is creamy and rich.
Don’t
be surprised to find Stachowski at
your table asking about your meal. He wants to know what’s
going on in his dining room. Remember he’s not shy. What
he is, is very talented, committed and working hard to make
a name for himself away from the brighter lights of D.C.
eCITIE has turned a spotlight on this young chef let’s
hope it doesn’t go dim with all the other components of
the hot spot competing for attention.
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