Peruvian + Asian deliciousness

For our 4th wedding anniversary, Hubs and I went to China Chilcano, José Andrés's most recent addition to Penn Quarter.  Like many of Andrés's other restaurants in the area, items on the menu were mostly small plates.  Never having Peruvian dishes before, much less the Asian-influenced Peruvian dishes inspired by Chinese and Japanese immigrants to Peru, Hubs and I decided that we would rely on our server's recommendations for our meal.  

Decision #1: Drinks? 

Five-spice Old Fashioned

Pisco Sour

There was a bunch of different drinks to try that I wasn't sure where to start, so I went with the Pisco Sour - a Clásico de Perú.  This surprised Hubs since I normally get a bourbon based drink.  However, I wanted to try the Peruvian Pisco and having it in a cocktail that was a bit tart also really appealed to me. It was light and refreshing, and not too tart. Hubs went with the bourbon option instead with the Five-Spice Old Fashioned - here Chinese Five Spice worked well against the bourbon and citrus notes. 

Decision #2 - Small plates (round #1)Per our servers recommendation, we got the Yuca fritters (even though Hubs wasn't really too keen on the wood ear mushrooms). And because I love dumplings, we also go the "Lucky" - a sampling of the siu mai flavors listed on the menu. The Yuca fritters were excellent and what sent them over the top was the spiced brown sugar glaze that is poured table side on top of them. The dumplings were excellent. My favorite were Dorado because of the creaminess the quail egg gave to the dumpling. The Pollo was the one hubs liked the most, though the Concha was a very close second for both of us. 

Pollo, Concha, and Dorado Siu Mai

Yuca Fritters

Decision #2 - Another small plate, an entree and a little street food (round #3)

Ceviche Nikkei

Lomo Saltado

For the next course, I wanted to get a ceviche since I love the flavor of fish and citrus.  Hubs is a bit more apprehensive about these because he often feels like the citrus/lime flavor overpowers any other flavor present in a ceviche. In the Nikkei, I really didn't get a huge citrus flavor. I felt like it was more like a poke (fish salad) rather than a ceviche. But, the flavors were worked really well together and the saltiness of the soy sauce was balanced with the avocado and citrus flavors. The only entree we ordered was the Lomo Saltado, which we shared. The steak was cooked perfectly - nice and tender - and the peppers and shoestring fries provided an excellent textural complement to the steak. We also ordered chicken on a stick and duck tongue on a stick (not pictured). I loved the little roasted potatoes that came with each "meat on a stick" and were covered in a nice paprika sauce.

Spiral cookie, chocolate cream, and molasses-like ice cream

Decision #3 - Dessert? 

Even though Hubs and I split each item we ordered, we both were starting to get pretty full and I have an obnoxious sweet tooth. We decided to split dessert and went with the Ponderaciones de Kiwicha. It had such a cute presentation! 

In addition to dessert, we got a chilcano, a pisco based drink that reminded me of a lighter margarita, and decided to be a little bit more adventurous by getting the piscos that had been mixed with another flavor. I got the cinnamon and star anise one, and Hubs got a spicy pepper one. The drinks themselves were refreshing - the spicy pepper one had a slow to build kick of spice - but I'll admit that I wish I would have gone for the traditional chilcano as I thought the anise over powered any other flavor in my drink. 

At the end of it all, we were presented with a glass of bubbly to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary. Hubs was happy surprised and a we bit confused - until I told him I let the restaurant know about when I made the reservation.

Overall, we had an excellent meal at China Chilcano and I can definitely see us going there in the future with friends or family. 

Catoctin Creek Distillery Dinner at Trummer's on Main

Catoctin Creek Tasting Photo Credit - Rebecca Goodman

Last fall, my friend Becca organized a VA beer and whisky tasting trip. The highlight of the trip was visiting the Catoctin Creek Distillery in Purcellville for a tasting and tour. I had such a fantastic time, that I signed up for their email news letters to stay up to date on their events and news. Unfortunately, Hubs was out of town for business, so he wasn't able to join us for the trip.

One of the awesome things Catoctin Creek does is pair with local restaurants to have a tasting dinner that feature its gins, whiskeys, and brandies. Hubs surprised me with one of these dinners that was at Trummer's on Main early in March. Since these are prix fixe meal, I didn't have to worry about making decision, just enjoying the meal.


Round 1: Appetizer Blue crab salad roulade and Cucumber Gin Cocktail.

Gin is not one of my go to hard liquors, however this drink I really enjoyed! The cucumber and Granny Smith apple balanced well with the juniper flavors of the gin. And the appetizer itself was fun. But then again I love blue crab. And the use of the gin in the appetizer tied the pairing very well.



Round 2: Entree #1 Pork belly and Smoked Manhattan

If you like smokey flavor, this course would have more than satisfied your smokey desires. The smoke flavor was pervasive in the Manhattan, to the point it was almost too smokey. However, when you paired it with the pork belly - which just melted in your mouth - you felt like you were eating some of the fanciest pork barbecue ever.





Round #3: Entree #2 VA Black Angus beef and bone marrow

So this course was fun because after you finished the marrow, you had to use to bone as a luge to take in your whiskey. And the Roundstone Rey 92 had a great warming quality. The fun thing to note about this experience is that you don't have to attend a tasting dinner to experience a whiskey luge, Trummer's has it on the menu.

(Video of me doing the whiskey luge at that bottom... the video is a bit dark)

Round #4: Dessert Smoked chocolate puffed pastry and cream.

In case we didn't get enough smoke from the second course, there was some more smoke in the dessert. There was smoke in the cream inside of the puff pastry and the cherries that garnished the plate. Delicious! This was paired with the Catoctin Creek 1757 Brandy, which went really well together.


All in all, it was a great dinner and a fun way to learn more about the Cactoctin Creek liquors from the owners themselves!

Hubs and I had a lovely dinner, but we weren't quite ready to leave. So we stayed for an additional round at the bar. I got this awesome chocolate espresso cocktail.

We'll definitely have to go back to Trummer's on Main for a non-event meal. The food was fabulous for this evet and I'm sure their regular fare will not disappoint.

Hubs is back and it's time to check out Copperwood Tavern!

Hubs and I noticed Cooperwood Tavern last fall (2013). While I want to say that I can't believe it took over a year to get to dine there, he was gone for a bit for an overseas deployment. 

Not that we needed more incentive to visit Copperwood Tavern - it has an awesome looking dining area with its bare and reclaimed wood-lined walls, while touting the farm to table concept that we are fans of - it has also been given Northern Virginia Magazine's 50 best restaurants list.

Pre-dinner selfie

On the Friday after Thanksgiving - when you would think we would be munching on Turkey day leftovers (fail on my part for not getting any), we headed out to Shirlington to finally try Cooperwood Tavern.

Bacon + Bourbon = YUM!

Decision #1 What to drink...
I'm not sure when I became a bourbon/whiskey cocktail girl, but I'm sure glad that I am. When looking through the drink menu, my eyes immediately gravitated to the Bacon Rebellion - bacon and bourbon in one drink! It definitely is a must try. I enjoyed the smokiness of the bacon mixed with the maple-orange syrup (made one site) in addition to the Wild Turkey 101.

Aside from the good number of cocktails available, the bourbon-whiskey, moonshine, wine, and beer lists are some of many reasons to being planning a return trip to Copperwood Tavern.




Decision #2 Small plates or big plates? If big plates, should we get a small plate as an appetizer?
I love the idea of small plates. However, the descriptions of the protein options were just too good to not try. So instead, we decided to go with a small plate as an appetizer instead. The scallops and foie gras came highly recommend, and it did not disappoint. The corn puree complemented the two proteins, while the balsamic reduction gave a nice tart balance to the sweetness of the scallop and the fattiness of the foie.



Decision #3 What protein and sides?
All of the descriptions of the meats sounded great! I decided to go with the duck since it's not one I see or get often. This main dish definitely made me part of the clean plate club. While I often pull off the fatty pieces on meat, every part of this duck breast was too yummy not to eat. Hubs had the pork chop (not pictured), which was also very very tasty.

Sides are served a la carte, which is great for sharing. While all the sides sounded great to me, we went with some go-to's for him: mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts. The sprouts were perfectly fried. I enjoyed the fried shallots and bacon-mustard dressing, which perfectly complimented the sprouts. The mashed potatoes weren't just ol' mashed taters, they were Gouda mashed potatoes. Yum!! We had some of the sides left over, which came home with us and were awesome addition to a homemade Saturday night dinner!




Decision #4: Dessert? If so, what should we get?
Hubs and I have a weakness for anything that has Nutella in it. And the brownie with Nutella ice cream was a no brainer for us. The brownie was so dense and so rich. The only thing that could have made dessert a little more perfect would have been a class of milk.

I'm really glad that we finally got to try Cooperwood Tavern. Beyond the really good food and the awesome decor, service was also really good. With the reservations, we were seated, provided water, and given cornbread in like 10 minutes after entering the restaurant. Now, I'll admit that it wasn't a typical Friday night, so that is not going to always be a guaranteed service.

Price: a meal could be $20-35 (protein and sides) before you include appetizers, drinks, and desserts.

Go back again? Of course! Hands down yes! I want to do a small plates dinner as well as brunch in the near future.

:-)