Komi

Overall: 9.5
Food: 9.6
Service: 8.9
Atmosphere: 9.4


I have a ton of reviews to write, including Bistro Bis, Farrah Olivia, Bebo Trattoria, Heritage India and Eat Drink Shop, but I really have to write this Komi review while it's fresh in my mind.

I've long been touting Komi as the best restaurant in the city without having actually eaten there, and as I gave free publicity its prices shot up as quickly as its ratings. I made reservations there last week for Lauren's belated Christmas present, hoping to catch it before it blew up and getting a table there becomes impossible.

A few things about Komi: it is a diamond in the rough, the only good restaurant on the 17th St. corridor in Dupont that houses such slaughterhouses as the Dupont Italian Kitchen and Trio. It is run by 26-year old Johnny Monis, who is fast laying claim to being the best chef in DC, or at least a James Beard nomination for best newcomer. He is mainly influenced by Greek and Italian food. It follows the Obelisk format of a 5-course meal: antipasti/mezzethaki, pasta course, main course, cheese course, dessert. It is supposed to be run by an extremely attractive crew of waiters and sommeliers.

When we arrived, I guessed that about half of the 30 or so seats were filled. Our waitress was not attractive, contrary to what was promised. Looking around, it seemed that very few were, although the sommelier was an strapping young man with the physique of an NBA player and the charming voice of an enthusiastic connoisseur. We didn't order wine, unfortunately. The space itself is warm and minimalistic, looking very much like the dining room of someone who hasn't really moved in to their new home.

There were several choices on the menu, and the waitress was helpful in guiding us to her favorite choices. Whether she was correct, I'm not sure, but it was nice to get some opinion out of normally stuffy DC waiters. She explained to us that we'd be starting with 7 small mezzethakia, or small plates. I was already excited.

The first thing to come out were home-brined olives, which were sweet and fruity. Delicious. Then came one of the things I'd read about and was really looking forward to, roasted dates stuffed with mascarpone. The dates were not too sweet, of wonderful consistency, and Lauren and I strongly considered shedding our manners and asking for more. The creamy mascarpone made it taste like the most delicious twinkie ever made. Next came taramosalata balls. I'm normally wary of that pink weirdness, but this was home made taramasalata, and was absolutely fantastic. The balls were breaded and fried, and I'm going to serve something like that if I ever have a cocktail party, which I won't. Following that was another cod-based dish, a small crostini of salt cod, topped with a sliver of black truffle. I could have just eaten the truffle, and it was a little masked by the cod, but the whole thing together was once again quite delicious.

Up to that point, the dishes had been taste but very simple and classic. But Greek cuisine is extremely limited, and so the inspiration of Monis started coming with the next thing, a sunchoke panacotta. Sunchokes, or Jerusalem artichoke, are one of my favorite foods, and this was phenomenal. The panacotta was creamy and carried a heavy sunchoke flavor, and was filled with a delicious sunchoke gelee. As if this wasn't good enough, it was accompanied by a perfectly grilled piece of squid, and cubes on house-made mortadella. Now we were fine dining. All of the mezzes were perhaps a little slow to come out, but I guess that helped digest and not feel too full at the end of the meal.

Next up was a house-made sopresatta, very thinly sliced, with greens, avocado, and persimmon. The persimmon was perfectly ripe, and I can't describe how good the smoked meat was. The expensive piece of sopresatta in my fridge seemed very sad in comparison. The slices were almost translucent-thin, and once again accented by their amazing olive oil.

Finally, there was a perfect take on the sandwich that rivals the Philly cheesesteak as the most offensive piece of food ever created, the gyro. This was an oxtail gyro, and the oxtail had been cooked, and formed into a spicy patty and deep fried. The tzatziki was very fresh, which a nice change from the usual Greek deli slop that sits around all day begging for takers. It was accented by pieces of yellow squash, which were nice but didn't really add that much. And the whole thing was served in the most wondeful pita I've had this side of Jerusalem.

Well, I said finally too soon. Lauren and I were ready for the second course, but it seemed that the olives were just an amuse bouche. So, for the real last mezze, we got something the should be marketed in pudding cups so that I can take it for lunch everyday. A really expensive lunch. It was a foie gras caramello, which was basically a caramel foie gras pudding. It was topped with hazelnuts, which made it taste a little like Nutella, but the mixture of foie gras and sugar was really sublime. It was topped with some refreshing baby arugula, which lightened the whole dish. Amazing. So far, Johnny Monis = national hero.

Now, for the pasta course. I'd heard rave things about the pasta making skills of this young Greek chef, and I wasn't disappointed. I had wonderfully simple dish of tagliatelle with a wild boar ragu. The boar was cooked in wine, and yet the whole dish remained very light. Lauren's dish was even more sublime, I think. She agnolotti filled with foie gras, resting in brodo. The broth was delicious, and the little agnolottie were truly amazing. But you can't really go wrong with foie gras.

Onto the main course. Our waitress was recommending things all night long, and so we went along with her for the main course and ordered the baby goat for two, at a supplement. She said it was a very unique specialty, roasted over a mesquite fire. Sounded great. The goat came as a large piece of what I assumed was part of the leg, and had a variety of mushrooms hidden underneath and a bit of polenta on the side. This dish, though delicious, was the only disappointing part of the night. Although the goat was cooked to perfection, with tender meat and crispy skin, it lacked flavor, as did the polenta. The stewed mushrooms were wonderful, but couldn't add the right dimension of flavor to the dish. I don't think a sauce would have been a welcome addition, but perhaps a tastier spice rub for the goat would have been nice.

I passed on the cheese plate, but Lauren really enjoyed it.

Now, the true test for Komi: would they disappoint us on dessert like so many other restaurants have before? Not at all. I ordered the Greek doughnuts. I don't know what was Greek about them, but they were light and not oily, and came with an incredible chocolate mascarpone dipping cream. They had a slight honey taste but weren't overwhelmingly sweet. Lauren's apple pie kebab was also great. There were three apple squares covered with cinnamon sugar on a skewer, and they had been cooked to an almost apple sauce consistency. However, this was outshone by the accompanying cinnamon ice cream, which almost had the taste of creme fraiche.

I'm going to go ahead and say it. Komi is the best restaurant I have eaten at in DC. While Citronelle is clearly more advanced and presents haute cuisine on its typical stage, Komi is unpretentious, local, and best of all, is the work of someone only a few years older than me. Citronelle feels very national, but Komi is local in the best sense of the word, and thus it wins my affection for best restaurant.

Komi
1509 17th NW
Washington, DC 20036
202-332-9200