Dish of the Week: Seafood carpaccio

Where: Corduroy, Alba Osteria

The secret to chef Tom Power’s signature poached carpaccio of lobster at Corduroy? The kid glove treatment. The crustacean’s tail is poached in advance for a brief 30 seconds to keep a delicate texture. When an order comes in, paper thin slices of the meat are placed under the kitchen’s heat lamp, taking advantage of the warming station as low temperature cooking device. The effect is “like an Easy Bake Oven,” my dapperly dressed server explains as he steers me to this specialty of the house. The plate is finished with a drawn butter and fish roe sauce. Describing a protein as melting at the touch of a fork is one of those food clichés. But this stuff is so delicate, the sweet lobster does practically dissolve on the tongue. Now if only actual children’s cooking toys could churn this stuff out. It would sure beat mini cupcakes.

At Alba Osteria, chef Amy Brandewein has been known to thinly slice octopus as an occasional special. The acidity and strong flavors or lemon, garlic, and capers sauce an octopus salumi platter that jolts the taste buds into alertness. The octopus is laid out in a neat, clean rectangle, unrecognizable from the slimy, tentacle laden blob it started its journey as. Techniques such as rolling in plastic wrap or stuffing into a mold of boiled lobster are the integral steps in setting up an octopus carpaccio dish. Once the gelatin in the cooked octopus congeals, the cephalopod can be thinly cut and shaped as the chef pleases.

Small Bites

Foraged Food for a Night at Firefly
Firefly’s Todd Wiss is an avid gardener and has lately been exploring the world of foraging, combing the local landscape for edible ingredients. He’ll be cooking up what he’s found in the great outdoors on Wednesday, October 22 for a foraging dinner at his restaurant. Cauliflower custard will be served with wood sorrel, a locally found herb. Preserves made from paw paw fruits will accentuate appetizers and ice cream will be accentuated by sassafras. The dinner is $75 excluding tax and tip, including cocktails. The dinner has been canceled.

Foraged Food Coming to Shaw
While Todd Wiss may have a burgeoning interest in foraging, it’s a signature for Jeremiah Langhorne. He made his bones cooking in Copenhagen under René Redzepi, the master of the craft. The Washington Post’s Tim Carman has been following the District native as he’s explored returning to D.C. to open his own restaurant. Carman reported this week that he’s inked his name to new construction in Shaw’s Blagden Alley. Langhorne hopes to open a restaurant by the name of the Dabney in the space by late Spring.

Intimate Chef’s Table at Fishnook
The Turkish-inspired by way of College Park seafood shack Fishnet has been serving up fresh fish on 7th Street since summer, with casual digs and simple fare. Next week the ‘net begins seating for their Fishnook, a four-person chef’s table, which will include a six-course set seafood menu for $55 on Monday and Tuesday evenings. Reservations can be sought by e-mailing rsvpfishnook@gmail.com. But at eight seats available per week, good luck!

Tapping Pumpkins
For a pumpkin smash beer event they’re hosting on Monday, October 20, City Tap House isn’t stopping at merely having lots of pumpkin beer on tap. The restaurant is partnering with Seattle’s Elysian Brewing Company to put six pumpkin beers on tap. Pumpkin spice latte fans may need to sample the Punkuccino Coffee Ale and there’s one called The Lost Abbey Sardonic Pumpkin Dark Wit. More importantly, they’ve bought a 250 pound pumpkin that they’re planning to hollow out, stick a tap into, and pour pumpkin beer out of. Find more places to drink pumpkin beer here.