What an unbelievable meal! I frankly did not have it in me last night to post about it -- mainly because my stomach was hanging out so far my hands could not reach the keyboard. It is nearly 24 hours later, and I am still stuffed!
The restaurant rolled out the red carpet for us, and the staff was extremely attentive and engaging. Travis came out from the kitchen and visited us quite a few times, and took the time to tell us about each dish and preparation, and to field our questions afterwards. He and the staff made sure we did not go hungry -- in fact, we probably ate more last night then was consumed in the entire State of Rhode Island.
The 2-1/2 + hour dining adventure was capped off with a visit to the kitchen, where we were able to check out all the wonderful things going on in the walk-in fridge. You want pickles -- well they really know how to make them here. Okra, zucchini, peppers, onions, carrots, mustard seeds, and who knows what else. And sausage rolls, marinating chicken and marinating ribs as far as the eye could see.
Travis and his team are really proud of their food -- rightly so -- and live the farm-to-table, locally-sourced and snout-to-tail credos in a manner my wife and I have not seen executed so thoroughly and deliciously in our long history with DC area restaurants. And they do it without forcing those buzzwords down your throat the way many establishments seem to do these days. In fact, my wife and I went to a snout-to-tail dinner with the local Slow Foods chapter last summer, and all of the courses came only from the normal parts of the pig (shoulder, loin, belly and ribs only). That was not the case at all last night, as Travis and fellow cooks and chefs made several charcuterie preparations using other parts of the whole pigs they butchered themselves in the restaurant. They even threw in some beef tongue for good measure. The world would be a much better place if all restaurants followed their example. (well, it would at least be a much fatter place! And tastier!)
For any of you KKF members traveling to DC, I highly recommend you send Travis a PM if youll have a chance to eat dinner downtown one night - you will not regret it. Oh, and copy me too, as my wife and I would hate for you to have to eat all alone in a strange city
Travis, thank you again for your hospitality. It was truly a memorable evening!
And if a separate thread appears on KKF containing an essay about a dinner my wife and I had recently, well its probably just a coincidence.