12.14.2009

Happy Chanukah to us. Love, Todd Gray


See, even the White House was getting into the Festival of Lights! And you should, too.

You still have a few days to get yourself over to Equinox for the Chanukah tasting menu.  Even though they spell it "Hanukkah," my personal favorite involves the CH that comes with the CHET of Chanukah.  

The amuse was a double shot of warm & smoky cauliflower soup, accompanied by a spoonful of potato/leek/mushroom.  Pretty AND tasty.  Very nice.




Next, cured salmon on top of two latkes and a shaved fennel salad.  Not bad, Equinox, but I made latkes last night and if I do say so myself, mine were pretty darn good.  The salad was fresh and crunchy, a great contrast to the warm potatoeyness of the other side of the plate.




The 24-hour brisket (beef--is there any other kind?) was actually served two ways--one in the traditional chunk of meat super soft falling apart w/red wine-y finger-lickign sauce, you know, the usual.  And then two little cubes of chicken-fried brisket, battered and crispy on all but one side.  The veggies underneath were soooo good, too--not an afterthought.  Turnips, teensy onions, potato, carrot...



Oh, dessert.  How I love thee!  The apple cider doughnuts were pretty good, but to me the star of dessert was the vanilla bean custard.  It packed so much flavor and was super creamy.  Not just cream-creamy, but vanilla-creamy.  I'd do that again in a heartbeat!




The wine pairing was lovely, and a fair deal if you ask me (by reading, you impliedly asked me).  My favorite was actually the first--a Napa Valley 2007 Provenance Sauvignon Blanc.  I've been sort of "off' whites for a while, but this was a delight.

Happy Chanukah, everyone.




Equinox
818 Connecticut Ave NW
Metro: Blue and Orange Lines to Farragut West
Equinox on Urbanspoon

12.07.2009

Ray's News, Courtesy of WaPo

Ray's the Steaks, Ray's the Bar, Ray's the Classics, Ray's Hell-Burger, and coming soon Ray's the Glass, Ray's the Game, and Ray's the Catch.  Read about the news that Hell-Burger is moving down the street (I guess to the base of the Bennett Park Apartments, based on the address) to make way for Ray's the Game.  No clue when, but I'm sure our pal (jk, we don't know him) Michael Landrum will keep us posted somehow.  We've been waiting on the Catch for a while...

Thank goodness I follow @tomsietsema  on Twitter!