Morrison House Grill

In the weeks leading up to Christmas there are always lots of fun and exciting parties and performances and various holiday events. One such event I always look forward to is my husbands company Christmas dinner. Superking works for a very small home-based business in the IT field.  When I say small, I mean really small...6 employees. And all the employees/employers are either close friends or family...the boss, the boss's wife, their daughter-in-law, my husband, my brother-in-law, and my brother-in-law's wife, and then there's me. I'm the only one not an employee but thankfully I get to tag along for a good meal.  For our Christmas dinner we always go to a nice upscale restaurant nearby.

This year's choice was The Grille at the Morrison House.  The Morrison House is an old Federalist-style mansion located in old town Alexandria that is now an inn. The Grille, the restaurant located in the mansion, serves a contemporary French American cuisine. Each room is filled with beautiful antiques, several fireplaces, and even a piano bar. Our meal that evening was accompanied by a talented pianist playing Christmas carols in the style of Vince Guaraldi (see A Charlie Brown Christmas).  

Our meal began with a fancy cheese platter for the whole table to share. Five glorious cheeses...Ameribella (cow cheese from Indiana), Brabander (a Holland goat cheese), Umber (New York cow), Moses Sleeper (Vermont cow), Cashel Blue (Irish cow).  I don't really remember which was which, all I know is that they were all delicious. I haven't met too many cheeses I didn't like. This was a nice variety of mild, sharp, tangy, and creamy.

One of my favorite French dishes is the classic escargot. Yep, snails. If you are a little put off about trying escargot, I always tell people if you like shrimp in garlic butter, you will like escargot.  The escargot itself doesn't really have much flavor on its own, it has a similar texture to shrimp, and its soaked in garlic butter.  Everything tastes yummy if its drenched in garlic butter.  And they are served hot with a nice piece of crusty bread!

Superking also had the Country Pate. It was served with pickled onions, cornichons (tiny pickles), a few greens, grainy mustard, and a crusty baguette. A mixture of salty meat and tangy sharp mustard.

He also had the seared filet mignon served with Yorkshire pudding, sauteed mushrooms, and a bordelaise sauce. I was a little disappointed to discover that Yorkshire pudding is really just a popover.  Not that it wasn't tasty, I just thought a Yorskhire pudding should have something in it for the "pudding" part! Oh well! The way I understand it, it is a light fluffy bread thats made with drippings from the meat and thats what makes it special.  The sauteed mushrooms were deliciously earthy! The bordelaise sauce is made with a dry red wine, bone marrow, butter, and shallots.

The pan seared Rock Fish, while the skin was a little too salty for my liking it was crispy and the fish light and flaky. It was served over a mushroom risotto and wilted kale. It could've done with a little less kale (which would've been better if it was crispy) but the risotto was delightfully creamy.

A couple people in our party ordered the dark bavarian chocolate cake which seemed to be quite delectable. But I had to go for the Chevre Cheesecake. When we ordered it, the waiter asked us, "you know thats goat cheese; do you still want to order that?" We chuckled and replied, "of course we know thats goat cheese; thats WHY we are ordering it!"

The cheesecake itself was superbly creamy and tangy and it was topped with a shortbread crumble and huckleberry jam, which was a nice balance of sweet and tart as well.  Next to the cake were several meringues made with rosemary.

All in all it was a tasty meal and a great time with friends and family!

Locolat

A few weeks ago was Superking's birthday (the big 3-5).  We decided to venture into DC and wander around. We had plans to go have lunch at one restaurant we've been wanting to go to when instead we stumbled upon another place.  Locolat, a Belgian cafe, located in Adams Morgan.

Very small but quaint.  Their specialty is waffles of all kinds, sweet and savory with a myriad of optional toppings.  I, of course, had to go for the waffles.  I went with a savory kind...green herb.  My topping? Escargot!  It. Was. Awesome.  And it was served with a beautiful little green salad with a house-made dressing.

cool modern art on the wall

The waffles were soft and herby and covered these wonderful tasty little snails smothered in garlic butter that dripped down into the waffle crevices and down the sides.  The salad was light and crisp, the dressing creamy and slightly tart perfectly drizzled on top, not too much, not too little.

a wreath on the wall made from mussel shells

Superking Bday Boy got one of favorite dishes...mussels.  Yummy little morsels swimming in buttery mussel juice and broth and served with warm crusty bread. Lovely!

After we finished our delectable meal, we perused the chocolate and pastry counter.  So many beautiful hand-made chocolates and cakes and pastries! And some very unique flavors.  We bought a small bag of chocolates...hazelnut, cayenne, mojito, white chocolate, strawberry pomegranate, truffles...sooo very very yummy and rich!

Definitely a precious gem in Adams Morgan that must not be missed!

Cafe Renaissance Surprise

Warning: This is an epically long blog with lots of super yummy food!

Superking works for a small computer company. When I say small, I mean he's like one of 4 people that make up the company.  This month marks the 6th year anniversary of him being there.  It just so happens that his boss and her husband, er, I mean his boss and his wife (love ya Tony and Lisa!), who are also very close friends of ours, decided they wanted to take us out to a nice restaurant to celebrate this anniversary. Knowing what foodies we are, they wanted to take us somewhere unique and they wanted it to be a surprise. "Be at our house at 6pm Friday and dress nice!" were our only instructions.

See that table in the middle corner? That was ours!

The four of us hopped in their car and down the road we went. We arrived in Vienna, VA and pulled into the parking lot of a little strip mall. Where are we going? After driving in a couple circles around the building, we find a parking space and get out. Right in front of us was a tiny little place called Cafe Renaissance.

There's Tony and Superking waiting for me to take my picture

Superking and I had never heard of it before but apparently it has quite a list of restaurant accolades...Most Romantic Dinner in Fairfax, 2010 Annual Winners for Best Service in the Nation, Top 50 Restaurant List in the US, and many highly rated reviews on Open Table and Trip Advisor. The menu consists of a combination of French, Italian/Mediterranean offerings and the atmosphere has a cozy European feel with classic art on the walls and classical music playing in the background.

lovely art

huge wine bottles above Lisa's head

a view of the dining room

Thankfully our friends are always willing to share their food with us and help me take some lovely pictures of their dishes for my food blog. Again, not the greatest photos taken on my cell phone in a dimly lit dining room but hopefully you'll get the idea of how wonderful this little restaurant is.

our beautiful candlelit table with fresh flowers

Here's the rundown of the items we ordered...For appetizers, Tony ordered Escargot Bourguignonne.Deliciously hot, buttery, and garlicky!

escargot

Lisa ordered the French Onion Soup. A classic dish baked in its own adorable little pot with ooey gooey cheese pouring over the sides.

French onion soup

Superking ordered Veal Sweetbreads.  For those of you who may not know, sweetbreads is a nice collective term used to mean organ meats, in this case pancreas, we were told.  A brand new experience for us. A little nervous but anxious to try it. Surprisingly, it was amazing! Almost tasted like moist baked chicken but fattier and very soft.

veal sweetbreads

I ordered one of their specials, a crepe stuffed with crabmeat and topped with a creamy sauce. A deliciously perfect blend of creamy sweetness and succulent crab without being too rich.

crab crepe

Next we ordered some Caesar salads with a side of anchovies. The salads were served in these huge very heavy bowls. It was crisp with a lovely Caesar dressing and the anchovies added a nice salty touch.

Caesar salad with anchovies

The entrees were all served in a similar style. Large rectangular plates with the meat in the middle and a variety of vegetables (and a fruit) along the top. A poached pear, shredded squash, a parsnip, sugar snap peas in the pod, a beet, and a couple potato slices. Each added a surprising unique element to the dishes.  I was especially surprised at how sweet the parsnip and the beet were, having never eaten them before.

Tony's entree was a special Lobster in cream sauce. Sweet and juicy!

Lobster

Lisa's entree was Veal Scallopini Normand, which has fresh apples and a Calvados Cream Sauce. One of the favorite dishes of the table. The apples added a lovely sweet crunch to the veal.

veal with apples

Superking's entree was also Veal Scallopini but was served with a Cognac Cream Sauce. Also very lovely.

veal with cognac sauce

My entree was the Rack of Lamb. Beautiful presentation. Prepared medium, it was delectable.

rack of lamb

here the lamb rack leftover

For dessert, we picked three to share. A Dark Chocolate Cake. Rich with a mousse interior, drizzled with a raspberry sauce and accompanied by a few berries.

chocolate cake

A Limoncello cake. I'm not usually a huge lemon fan but this lemon dessert was so light and fresh and lovely! What's not to like?

limoncello cake

And my favorite part of the night...FIRE!!  A Mixed Berry Jubilee flambeed at your table in brandy and raspberry liqueur served on top of creamy vanilla ice cream in a fancy dessert glass! The berries were strawberries, blueberries, and cherries (a lovely surprise).  Oh so heavenly!! And a beautiful entertaining presentation!

cooking the berries

here comes the fire!

its hard to capture a good picture of a man dancing around making fire

very elegant

very yummy

Our waiter and all the servers were amazing. All of them greeted us with smiles and bows as we arrived and did the same as we left. We felt like royalty. And when I forgot my take-home box containing my leftover lamb, the waiter even ran to bring it to us in our car before we drove off! Definitely a hidden gem of Vienna! When are we going again, Tony and Lisa??  :)

Superking and I revelling in the afterglow of our meal and time with friends