During a trip to Barnes and Noble, I noticed 4 chefs from Top Chef on a cover of a magazine. Spike was on there, but I couldn't make his restaurant. Bryan Voltaggio was on there, but his restaurant Volt, was a 45 minute drive; couldn't do that one. Carla was on there as well, but she just does catering. The one left, was Mike Isabella. He is the chef at Zaytinya, a Mediterranean restaurant just two blocks from where I was staying.
I decided that I wanted to eat there on Monday night. It turns out that my clients wanted to do dinner with my company on Monday, so my colleague and I took the 4 of them to Zaytinya. We were seated quickly, as we had reservations. The waitress then explained that the restaurant served in a Tapa style, i.e. the plates were very small and the group could share them. For a drink, my colleague took my recommendation and we both ordered the Greek Sidecar (Metaxa, cointreau, luxardo maraschino liquor lemon juice, candied citrus rim.)
Starter:
We were brought the complimentary Pita Bread with Olive Oil, along with the 3 Spreads we had picked out: Hommus, Baba Ghannouge and Htipiti which were shared amongst the 6 of us.
For the rest of the meal, my colleague and I had agreed to order 3 dishes each for both of us to share. (We should have done only 2 each.)
Course 1: Crispy Brussel Afelia (brussel sprouts, coriander seed, barberries, garlic yogurt) Mom; can you believe I ate brussel sprouts? They were delicious!!!
Course 2: Knisa Lamb Chops (grilled lamb chops, smoked yogurt, caper-dill saltsa)These lamb chops were so delicate and tender; perfectly charred!
Course 3: Seasonal Mushrooms (sautéed mushrooms, dates, toasted almonds)I love me my mushrooms!
Course 4: Ottoman Pilaf (saffron rice, dates, pistachios)What a splendid dish of rice. Sure, it sounds easy, but this was some really good rice. Quoting Remy from Ratatouille, "You know what would make this dish? Saffron!!!"
Course 5: Shish Taouk (grilled chicken, sumac, onions, grilled tomatoes, garlic tuom)Wow! The chicken combined with the limey yogurt was wonderful!
Course 6: Garides Me Anitho (sautéed shrimp, dill, shallots, mustard, lemon juice)This was the dish I had read about online. It was simple, but so flavorful. You literally don't want to waste the juice, so you soak it up with your Pita bread. Yummy!
We didn't have anymore room in our stomach to eat dessert. Next time, I'll know how much food to order per person. This ends my culinary adventure through Washington DC. Thank you to my company for footing the bill.
