Judith's recommendation for dinner on my first night in Washington DC was to take me to Zaytinya. We both worked in her basement apartment all day (yea, I had to bring my laptop on vacation to work ... score) and then in the evening, ventured out for dinner.
Though José Andrés is famous for his molecular gastronomy dishes, Zaytinya did not incorporate any of those concepts into the dishes at this one restaurant. The concept is a combination of Greek, Turkish and Lebanese cuisine.
complimentary pita bread, olive oil
kibbeh nayeh - lebanese style beef tartare ground to order, bulgar wheat, radish, mint, pita chips
baba ghannouge - fire roasted eggplant, tahini, lemon, garlic
seasonal special - spring vegetables, artisinal feta
snail kibbeh - crispy potato crusted snails, baharat spiced labneh, heirloom lettuces
seasonal mushrooms - sauteed mushrooms, dates, toasted almonds, cumin
sea scallops - dill yogurt, sugar snap peas, radish
seasonal special - shredded lamb, puff pastry
greek yogurt and apricots - muscat soaked apricots, vanilla yogurt cream, apricot sorbet, pistachio powder
chocolate rose - rose ice cream, chocolate custard, spiced berry puree
It was a great meal. And all this food for two people ... that's me and Judith for you! I particularly loved the steak tartare, seared scallops and Greek yogurt dessert. And the lamb special (apparently I was on a huge lamb kick when I was in DC last year). Though it would have been cool to see some of his famous molecular gastronomy concepts with Greek food ... maybe as the restaurant develops in the future?
I'm going to leave you with more pictures of cherry blossoms, since they were so amazing and beautiful. Happy Spring! Hopefully the East Coast warms up soon ... it's been a brutal winter for them.
Zaytinya
701 9th St NW, Washington, DC 20001
The lamb and the scallops look delicious!
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