Big things come from Texas, including prime chops and wine collections.
The Dallas-area based Del Frisco’s invited DCist over last week to see the grandeur of their newly opened Double Eagle Steakhouse, an upscale concept opened in the glitzy CityCenter development in mid-September and the restaurant’s eleventh location nationwide.
High-octane lawyers, like the ones from a firm that just relocated to the complex and other K Street types that fill the space, are the prime demographic targets. A lot of suits occupy the bars and the two split-level dining rooms with floor to ceiling windows that transition the space from sunny to moody as the sun sets. Later on in the evening, women in cocktail dresses round things out. “It’s a busy bar scene at any time of night,” General Manager Ann Thibert said. “They come here after the fundraisers.”
But a man in a t-shirt and trucker hat on a bar stool feels right at home, and the bustling staff is as likely to call you “buddy” as “sir.” You might expect a hand written thank you note from your server in your mailbox a few days after your meal.
Executives used knowledge garnered from operating their more casual Del Frisco’s Grill on Pennsylvania Avenue and research from dining around town to sync their latest opening with the city. One lesson learned was the importance of lunch, and time constraints, in Washington. The afternoon hours unsurprisingly are a great time to try Double Eagle while not taking too big of a hit in the wallet. A two-course meal of salad and an entrée of filet medallions or salmon is $25 at that time, $16 for a shaved filet mignon cheesesteak or wild mushroom gnocchi with smoked chicken. In their research they also learned that apparently D.C. diners really love mushrooms.
And octopus.
Menus at the Double Eagle locations are similar, but not identical. Here, Chef Scott Kroener serves a chilled octopus starter that’s just for Washington. Forget a few tentacles arranged over a plate. From the looks of it you might fear the cephalopod — well, half of a fairly large one — was about to suction up the bowl of gigante beans it sits on, save for the lemon emulsion squirts on top that cuts it down to size. The white meat of a broiled crab cake is just barely bound together, lumps ready to topple into a rich, Creole lobster sauce. A Shanghai-style fried calamari is thoroughly coated and crispy, though not greasy, with a pleasing sweet chili glaze and cherry peppers, making it sort of Rhode Island style, too. Paper thin, seared Wagyu beef carpaccio fans out across a plate as if the plate were a ceiling fan. Other than that, the appetizer menu is all about treasures from the ocean. If you’re on an expense account, there’s caviar and shellfish towers, and I haven’t found better king crab legs anywhere with the large specimens kindly cracked lengthwise to allow for easy pulling of the meat.
The 12-, 16- and 20-plus ounce prime chops, which sell for around $40 to $60, seem to punch above their weight grade. This steakhouse uses wet-aging—no drying beef sides hanging in the window here—so the cuts retain their moisture and don’t develop that depth of flavor that can come from dry-aging. My porterhouse was prepared to a perfectly cooked chef’s choice medium rare, with some red on the strip side and the filet portion melting apart with the touch of my knife. The kitchen could take it a little bit easier with the salt shaker; I enjoyed the chop much more after scraping my knife over its top to run off some of the seasoning. Less would be more, especially when followed by bites of the bacon-laden steakhouse sides. Shaved Brussels sprouts are a stand out.
On a budget? Ask for some extra bread, a delightfully tearable, soft sesame loaf and wrap up the rest of your ribeye for tomorrow. Expense account? Add a lobster tail which can shoot up towards three pounds and is carved tableside for you like it’s a Thanksgiving turkey.
If you’ve had a drink at Del Frisco’s Grill, you may be familiar with the signature VIP cocktail, where a fresh pineapple infused with clementine vodka is squeezed into a glass. The bar has feta stuffed black olives for martinis and a breakfast-sweet Manhattan — maple bourbon is infused with pecans, dashed with bitters, and garnished with a stick of praline bacon.
But the pride of the restaurant’s beverage program is its wine collection. There’s a $1 million wine collection in the walls with 1,200 bottles and counting to choose from. Budget? One of the three full time sommeliers would lead you to some very drinkable bottles in the $40 to $50 range. Expense account? Yeah, they’ll find something for you.
