An Evening to Remember

So my wife and I celebrated the 10th anniversary of our meeting by going to Restaurant Eve in Alexandria VA. For those of you who dont know, the chef there is named Cathal Armstrong. A native born Irishman, he has been making news right and left here in DC. Restaurant Eve has a bistro, and "The Tasting Room". Probably needless to say; we had reservations for the tasting room.

Now, I am a firm believer the much "Haute" cuisine really relies as much on an air of exclusivity as anything else. There are precious few chefs who truly are doing something all the others aren't. Cathal Armstrong is definitely doing something different.

Starting with cocktails in the bar, (they have their own bar master in charge of developing their own drinks), the evening was just non-stop. One new thing after another. A gentle mix of good solid traditional technique with flair and style. Dont get me wrong there was a little "lets use the fancy name instead" going on, but this was truly a meal that was beyond the skill or imagination of 99.9% of the chefs out there.

There was pureed salted cod quinelles, yellow tail snapper tartar (yeah I know, not that special, but I like it), fresh water eel, skate wing with ox tongue and bone marrow, butter poached lobster (med. rare), blue foot mushrooms and grass fed steak, partridge with duck confit. It just went on and on. All of it beautifully prepared (partridge was a little dry, but hey life is hard). Taken separately the components of each dish were very good, but eaten together; it was a whole different experience. At one point my wife was laughing at me, apparently I had lost the ability to speak coherently.

Throughout the meal everything was at its appearance simple and straight forward, but the execution, the combinations and subtle flavor accent was truly masterful and unique. Most chefs charge ahead with big bold flavors, which is not a bad thing. I like big bold flavors. But in big and bold there is a whole other level that is simple to miss. Balance and subtly is often overlooked or forgotten. Last night was all about detail and subtly. It takes a light hand and immense patience to balance flavors like they did last night. Armstrong reminds us of why European and more specifically French cuisine is regarded as the mother cuisine.

It was an evening I wont soon forget. It was everything I expected and even more.

Thank You Mrs Culimerc, I love you.