So while in DC we weren't exactly the most prolific of posters. But today we move to Geneva for three years, and thought this might be the occasion to try a reboot. I'll be posting about food and wine in Geneva, France, Italy and wherever else we may travel over the next three years. And Miss Persnick will be posting about, well, whatever strikes her fancy.
But it's not just time to start over, but also to say goodbye to DC. And so, one final comment on DC dining -- our last dinner in DC, at Cork, our favorite (former) neighborhood restaurant. While Cork doesn't take reservations, you can call ahead and ask them to put your name on the list--and this is our usual technique for avoiding the 30-45 minute wait that's more often than not a feature of the Cork dining experience.
Nevertheless, we still got there about 15 minutes before our table would be ready, and so had a drink at the bar. Miss Persnick ordered a gin & tonic with our favorite Gin. I asked for whatever Rose the bartender recommended that was sweet but not overpoweringly so, and was offered an Irouleguy -- Domaine Brana. I can't say that I know much about Irouleguy, but the Rose itself was reasonably tasty, on the darker side, although not as intense as say a Tavel. About what I had requested -- not too fruity, but certainly not dry either. The G&T on the other hand came out way too strong, so Miss Persnick and I ended up swapping beverages.
After about half a glass (literally, not in some metaphorical hourglass sense), our table was ready. We ordered the house olives, the avocado toasts, the sea bream, grilled asparagus, and duck confit. All were excellent, although it was a little too hot outside for the richness of the confit to be ideal.
First a quick word about the olives -- I've never learned to tell the different varieties apart (well, except for kalamatas and other easy ones) -- so my descriptions tend toward the inexact. But the hulk olives (i.e., big and green) are not ones I usually like. Here, however, they had a very appealing fleshiness.
I can't say enough about the avocado toast. A wonderful combination of sea salt, olive oil, avocado and pistachio, this is definitely something to try at home. It tasted to me like the chef had recently shifted from toasting the bread to grilling the bread -- and I liked the light char flavor.
The bream was excellent: nicely cooked with crispy skin, rich thin potatoes, and garlic chips on top. One pet peave -- colorful sprays of not too flavorful decor underneath your dish, too thin to be a sauce and going only for presentation points. Here, I couldn't quite make out the flavor of what I think was a parsley-based green streak under the fish. And another small quibble -- the garlic flavor was wonderful with the fish, but because the garlic chips were easily lost on the plate, some bites were over garlicky and others lacked any garlic punch at all.
The asparagus was also excellent. It was almost a steak-like presentation, with dill creme fresh and onion slivers. But with the meatiness of the asparagus, it worked.
Finally, the duck confit -- for once, not my favorite, although not by any fault of its own. It was just too hot outside. I also wanted more of the berry compote and less of the mysterious not-quite-slaw.
In terms of wine, with dinner I had a glass of a red from Domaine Bouysse in Languedoc, which is a region I'm interested to learn more about. The wine was slow to develop but when it did was nice with food -- spicy, fruity, not dissimilar from a Rhone.
Anyway, it was a wonderful way to say goodbye to DC and hello to Geneva. Next stop, the Paquis, where we'll be staying!
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