Dish of the Week: Salmon Tartare
Where to Get It: J&G Steakhouse
Delmarva beach-goers may be familiar with the Shrimp Boat on the road between Ocean City and Assateague Island. There’s no better way to enjoy their sea scallops than right off of the ice they’re sitting on, perhaps with a spritz of lemon and a dash of seasoning. Several weeks ago at a green market, I snatched up the last lonely medallion of tuna from the fishmonger to eat on the spot. The resulting snack was a perfect street food and, at $3, a similar price to any empanada or chocolate croissant I might have grabbed, but a heck of a lot more nutritious.
As summer unofficially descends on D.C. this Memorial Day weekend, with temperatures hovering around 90 degrees, no food to me is as refreshing, simple, and healthy as a good piece of fish in its most basic form: raw as the day it was plucked from the water. It’s protein in its purest form, the essence of an animal, without the adding cooking oil or butter or the risk of overcooking its delicate flesh.
That’s not to say that raw fish doesn’t need any help to elevate its flavors. Raw salmon doesn’t get better than J&G Steakhouse’s salmon tartare, a puck of the packed in orange stuff molded over avocado, sitting on a ginger marinade and adorned with an exploding flower of spicy radishes. Though steak is in its name, the restaurant is equally if not more so lauded for its seafood. Here, the quality of the fish is complemented with the tartness of the marinade and the creamy yet subtle avocado. The dish goes down even easier when taken on a summer evening on the Pennsylvania Avenue patio.
Small Bites
BandolerOpen
After popping up at the LivingSocial event space, Cleveland Park’s Tackle Box and tasting events across the District, Mike Isabella’s Bandolero is finally now fully open for business in Georgetown. The concept echoes what worked for Isabella with Graffiato, which is small-plates Italian—here Mexican—with modern twists. A press release dubs a “fish stick taco,” lamb sopes and a Mayan pumpkin seed dip as dishes not to be missed. Margarita and other tequila and mezcal cocktails—think Añejo Manhattans and Mexican Slings—abound. We intend to have a more complete first look at Bandolero coming up next week.
Sand With Those Sandwiches
There is nothing really small about the opening of the New York Avenue Beach Bar, which will open its sands to the masses today at 5 p.m. This place could be more urban summer-cool than the Capitol Skyline Hotel Pool if that’s even possible. Sundevich, the small sandwich shop operating out of a Shaw garage, will operate a food truck at the Mt. Vernon space, offering “beach-goers” smaller versions of their sandwiches, peel-and-eat shrimp, and Mexican-style corn on the cob as reported by Eater D.C.
Beer-Beer Floats
Et Voila in the Palisades neighborhood of D.C. has a new Belgian Beer Float menu for the summer featuring scoops of their housemade ice creams and sorbets in mugs of Belgian ales. There’s a spicy peach-on-peach action that combines peach lambic and ice cream with a touch of Sichuan peppercorns. Kasteel Rouge beer goes with Hoegaarden beer ice cream, or you can get Hoegaarden beer with a citrusy calamansi sorbet. The floats are all $10. If Pallisades seems too far away for your booze and ice cream fix, Ted’s Bulletin has been blending their boozy milkshakes on Barracks Row since 2010—and they plan on opening up on 14th Street NW in 2013.
Apertivo on the Hill
Last week Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar kicked off a new Italian Happy Hour for the summer—and they’ll even let you drink their drinks out on their patio. Selected wines, a craft beer, and their bellini can be had for $5 a glass, as can an aperol spritzer to get you in the apertivo mood. Small plates like cheese fritters with strawberry jam, buttermilk fried chicken with rhubarb mostarda and grilled sirloin beef spiedini can be ordered at three for $9, with the deal getting cheaper the more you get.