feigning foodie.

this past week was one of my favorites of the year....along with the rest of dc. everybody loves restaurant week! a tradition i fell heart over stomach for back when i poor college student in philadelphia. your biannual chance to get an AMAZING meal for a steal of a deal - well, relatively. with a prix fix 3-course lunch/dinner menu for $20/$30 you at least know how much that gourmet cuisine is going to set you back. in fact most cities do some version of this restaurant promotion - after all, it's great way to attract new customers and bring in some hearty revenue. but for the dining consumers, well, there are a 3 simple rules that any dc foodie will tell you...

1) pick the most expensive restaurant out there and one that has a reputation to uphold (get your money's worth and skip the lackadaisical service)

2) make sure the restaurant doesn't have a "special" (ie. limited) menu for the week (trust me, you will want the signature dish)

3) book your reservation far, far in advance unless you want to eat an exquisite meal at 4:30pm on a tuesday...or after 10 (why bother?)

all this to say, i did pretty well this summer - i scored a great lunch and a fabulous dinner this past week. the first, i just got lucky. spending half of wednesday morning introducing my cubemate to the ingenious concept of open table (where has he been??), enough RW buzz was generated to spur a last minute lunch booking at one of hottest restaurants in dc...for a party of 8! we were able to snag that noon time slot at kinkead's. i don't know how it was done, but i was sure glad - i was STARVING. and with it just being 5 blocks away from the office how much better could it get - especially in the 100 degree weather we've been having! so i stuffed myself full with a salad of soft lettuces with gruyere and dijon vinaigrette (and i normally hate salad?), pistachio crusted salmon medallions with garlic mashed potatoes, crispy fennel, arugula with tomato butter (i cleaned the plate) and lastly, bittersweet molten chocolate cake with caramel ice cream. after such a feast, we were all but ready to head back to "work". eh, it's restaurant week - you gotta indulge.

but last night rounded out the epicurean adventure in totale. i booked 7pm dinner reservations for 2 at zola almost 6 weeks ago, and it was sooooo worth it. associated with the international spy museum, this restaurant combines the sleek style of espionage prowess with some serious eats. and unlike most, zola offers their entire menu, with no upcharges, plus their presentation and service is beyond commending. i got the grilled asparagus with crispy mushroom and brie stick, orange hollandaise and black walnuts (a-mazing), pan roasted sea scallops with tomato stuffed zucchini, crisp blossoms and maiitake mushrooms with chenin blanc glaze (omg, i should have take a picture of this plate - just beautiful) and ended with 3 sculpted scoops of raspberry sorbet. ohhhhhh yummmm. and of course our $50 open table dining rewards cheque definitely came in handy - hooray for 1000 point restaurants!

but the best part was the end of dinner.... stephen, being the sophisticated diner he is, decided it was definitely more fun to play with fine food than to eat it. i mean, who past the age of 9 sticks raspberries with cream on their nose and leaves it for a full minute? right, my husband :P maybe he'll learn some better table manners in time for january or maybe i'll need to find another dinner date. na...