Friday, June 08, 2007

Another night of culinary bliss...

I know I can't stop talking about Johnny Monis and his restaurant, Komi, by far my favorite place in DC, but we went there last night for Lauren's birthday. Top notch service to accompany this top notch meal:

- house cured olive
- french garden radishes with salmon roe and butter
- crudo of amberjack with chives
- roasted medjool date stuffed with mascarpone and yogurt
- liquid foie gras in a deep-fried shell
- thinly sliced avocado on a bed of beluga lentils, topped with a quail egg yolk and grilled octopus leg (this was amazing and beautiful)
- grilled little peppers (forget what they were called) with a muscato gazpacho (also incredible)
- little deep fried balls of corn and kefte with a paprika-saffron aioli
- braised oxtail gyro with yellow beet tzatziki
- watermelon with whipped feta and candied nuts
- fava bean ravioli with lamb's tongue and mint (again, out of this world)
- tagliatelle with blueberries, chanterelles and pork side
- whole bronzini for two in a salt crust, with local rapini
- little bite of rhubarb crisp (complimentary, with birthday plate)
- greek doughtnuts with chocolate mascarpone
- strawberry shortcake with cream cheese gelato
- glass of italian dessert wine (complimentary)

(they're not doing the cheese plate any more on the prix fixe, but now they have a $150 menu with a few more courses, cheese and wine pairings)

And the guy is only 27 YEARS OLD. I'm making it my goal to work for him someday. Now I just wished I was better at taking pictures so I could share the joy that is eating at Komi with you. To top it all off, the music playing softly in the restaurant included songs by Belle & Sebastian, Feist and the National.
Posted by JF at 10:01 AM
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you are guilty of talking to much about Komi, then I am your co-defendant. I doubt I ever recommended another restaurant more and will continue to pass the word on to those who will listen..

Is it possible you could describe the tagliatelle with blueberries, chanterelles and pork side?
Vetri in Philadelphia sometimes offers a dish with blueberries and porcini mushrooms that is very good.

There are a handful of chefs that I would love to do a stage with.
Pascal Barbot of L'Astrance, Quique Dacosta of El Poblet and here in the US David Kinch of Manresa. Yet like you I would without a doubt add Johnny Monis to that list.

Truly enjoy your blog and have book marked it in my favorites.

Robert R.

2:29 PM
JF said...

Robert, thanks for posting. I'm glad Komi enthusiasts (or rather, passionate followers) are representing. I would absolutely love to stage with Johnny Monis, and I'm currently writing him a letter asking just that (for when I'm done with culinary school, which is not soon...).

The dish sounds like the Vetri one (I wish I had eaten there when I was in Philly in college). It was really simply those ingredients served together in what appeared to be a veal demi-glace or something to that effect. The "pork side" actually had a greek name on the menu which I forgot. I think that it's the greek equivalent of Irish or Canadian bacon, but cut into small cubes. It was good, but the fava bean raviolis were out of this world. I can't wait to see what Monis will be like in five years. Can you believe he was 24 when he opened Komi?

Also, I would love to stage with David Kinch or Pascal Barbot. They, along with Monis, seem to have struck that perfect balance between innovation and tradition.

11:13 PM

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