Results tagged “mio”

    

Last winter, four co-workers canceled on me for Restaurant Week lunch in the course of one morning. Instead of moping and microwaving some soup, I headed to TenPenh’s bar, just steps from my office, for lunch on my own. This Restaurant Week, I’ve reveled in the art of solo midday meals. Reservations, coordination, and flaky friends are not needed. Free seats at the bar are almost always plentiful, though last week, I could have also had my pick of tables. I found several empty seats at most every dining room I visited—perhaps a function of the stumbling economy—regardless of what OpenTable had to say. Show up after 1 or 1:30, especially at a larger dining room, and you’ll likely never have a problem getting seated anywhere you'd like.

             

For those of you who bemoan D.C.'s lack of authentic Mexican food, this week is your chance to break the cycle of bad Tex Mex and sugary margaritas. The Mexican Embassy and Mexican Cultural Institute are hosting "A Taste of Mexico in DC", a week-long tribute to Mexican food and culture.

While there's been plenty of accolades for the food at the nearly one-year-old Mío restaurant on Vermont Avenue in McPherson Square — Tom Sietsema gave his meal there a generous two and a half stars, and Washingtonian’s food critic called Executive Chef Stefano Frigerio’s swordfish a “knockout” — it’s gone almost completely under the radar for something else it does remarkably well: happy hour. Mío's combination of inventive, well-made cocktails and ever-changing menu of delicious, small plates is complemented by a relaxed modern atmosphere that suits both business folks, wheeling and dealing over martinis, and lowly reporters and admins, desperate for a reason to branch out of their usual $3-beer haunts (no offense, Post Pub).

Most restaurants can't afford a pastry chef - a 1 percent profit on desserts is considered successful. So many restaurants outsource the making of their desserts. Luckily Mio bucks the trend with its own pastry chef, churning out a varying collection of desserts, from crazily deconstructed items to multiple-sauced creations, each more adventurous than the typical cake or pie.

It has been about six weeks since Chef Stefano Frigerio, the former sous chef from Maestro, joined Mio and called in fellow Maestro alum Nick Fragelli Stefanelli. As has been noted, the restaurant has had many staff changes in its short history and gone through a lot of turmoil. And because of that, most food writers, including myself, have abstained from making much comment about the restaurant. There's no question that it is a charming space, though perhaps not in the easiest of locations. And I am sure many a person may have wandered into Il Mulino mistakenly due to the slight similarity between the names.