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.

:-)

Beating the January chills with some Latin inspired restaurants (part 2)

Who doesn't like trying out new places to eat? Especially when you can get a three course meal for only $35! The hardest thing about Restaurant week is choosing a place to go among the 200+ participating restaurants (and making reservations early enough for your party).

Well, at first I wasn't sure if the hubs and I would be able to make it this round for a handful of reasons. However, we were able to pick a few places that had open reservations that were not at 10pm. Of the choices, we decided to go with Zengo in Penn Quarter.

Another chilly night!

Zengo is a Latin-Asian fusion restaurant that is part of Richard Sandoval's restaurant group that has been around in the DC area since at least 2005. One thing to be aware of (as pointed out in the linked article) is the food doesn't come out as set appetizers or main course, the kitchen is rolling - so when chefs are done with the food it comes out.  

I had heard of Latin-Asian fusion restaurants before, but didn't have the opportunity to try them until now. I enjoyed the way elements of the two types of cuisine complemented each other in the dishes. I think the pleasant surprise for me was the incorporation of calamansi - a citrus fruit that my grandma and aunties used in Filipino cooking whenever they had some around.

Calamansi Old Fashion

We started off with a cocktail each while we were trying to figure out what to order. With my current liquor of choice being whiskey, I decided to try the Calamansi Old Fashion. The whiskey used did not have as much bite as other old fashions that I have tried and it had more citrus and sweet flavors that seems to contribute to the mellowed alcohol.

Tuna Tacos

Since we had gone with the Restaurant Week Special, I ordered the Spicy Crab Guacamole, the Tagalog-style Churrasco, and the Avocado panna cotta. Hubs got the Charred Tuna Wonton Tacos, the Scallop Special, and the Churros with dark chocolate dipping sauce.

Crab Guacamole

I decided to get the guacamole since I had the expectation that it would be fresh and hoped that I could continue the hubs new found appreciation for this tasty dip.

While I am a self-admitted spice wimp, I didn't find this dish to be very spicy at all. There was some spice that was drizzled on the dish, but overall the spice was really mild.

Tagalog-style steak

Hub's appetizer were the tuna tacos, that were cooked and season perfectly. The mango salsa was a very nice complement to the mild spice in each little taco.

 The special main course for the night was scallops on top of a citrus rice. The scallops were cooked really well - though there was no additional seasoning placed on them. The citrus rice did a really good job of complementing the buttery sweetness of the scallops.

Scallop Special

The Tagalog-style steak was also very tasty. With the exception of a couple pieces of gristle (hey not every piece of meat can be perfect), it was a wonderfully tender piece steak. The charred onions were a very nice balance to the herby chimichurri. The unexpected piece of deliciousness was actually the the sweet potatoes - the lemony sauce had a bright sour note that I really enjoyed.

Churros and Pannacota

Dessert is always a fun way to end the meal and since we each couldn't decide between the two desserts, we just got both. The panna cotta was really well done, creamy and smooth that had a little bit of crumbled chocolate cookie to give it an added crunch. The churros were well seasoned and were only enhanced by the chocolate sauce.

Overall, it was a fun outing and we found another reason why it's good that I don't have a job near the Penn Quarter. It's definitely on the try again list - especially since we didn't have any of the ceviches.