Pork steak at The Partisan. Dish of the Week: Steaks of pork
Where: Harrimans, The Partisan
Filling out a questionnaire for a recent 2014 food blogger roundup, I named pork being served as steak as my top culinary trend for the year. As opposed the the more well known chop, steak cuts come from the shoulder part of the pig. That tough, muscular front end of the animal, also confusingly known as the butt, is a prime candidate for stewing and braising and is often seen pulled apart into barbecue sandwiches.
It can also be trimmed into steak cuts — “pork steak” — a popular way to eat meat in the Midwest. But there’s a chance you’ll see it there slathered in barbecue sauce.
I’ve been encountering some great pork steaks in and around Washington, the sticky, sweet glaze nowhere to be found. Meat-centric kitchens with an eye towards interesting cuts of meat are seeking out shoulder steaks you might almost confuse for a prime rib-eye or New York strip. Harrimans Virginia Piedmont Grill, the restaurant at Middleburg’s Salamander Resort, presents a steak-heavy menu with the usual cuts of beef. But jumping out is the Iberico pork collar steak. Chef Chris Edwards grills the presa cut of the acorn-fed pigs, a popular cut in Spain and Portugal from where the shoulder attaches to the loin. With a fine marble and medium rare grill job, the meat comes out a beautiful pink with a great texture, perhaps slightly firmer and leaner than a rib-eye might.
At a recent private lunch discussion about American food policy at The Partisan (709 D Street NW), Nate Anda featured pork shoulder as the main dish on the special menu. After getting through the charcuterie, I envisioned a tender braise that I would soon pull apart with my fork arriving at the table. Cue instead a platter of beautiful whitish-pink meat, crusted with a perfect char. It ate like the best prime rib except with a little more flavor. I barely needed my steak knife.
Small Bites
Rare Glasses of Champagne
With parties and toasts galore, December is the biggest month of the year for popping bottles of bubbly. On Tuesdays this month, Blue Duck Tavern (1201 24th Street NW) gets in on the spirit by pouring flutes of good stuff — sparkling wine that actually comes from the Champagne region of France. (A.k.a. champagne). The Park Hyatt Washington (1201 24th Street NW) restaurant will pour from rare magnums from their collection until the bottles are dry. This week was a Dom Ruinart 1998, and on December 30, Dom Perignon 2004 will be offered. The pours are priced at $30 each, which is a fair price considering what these bottles cost at their theoretical retail price if you could even find them.
$5 Cuba Libres
With Havana-Washington relations seemingly loosening this week, Cuba Libre DC (801 9th Street NW) is getting in on the action. They will offer $5 Cuba Libres cocktails made with Cuba Libre rum all day at the bar and at tables through December 22. To foster conversation, fact sheets about Cuba-U.S. relations will be on hand to get the conversation started, along with the rum and cokes.
Kidding Around in Logan Circle
The Pig (1320 14th Street NW) restaurant has a knack for clever meat events that go beyond swine. Earlier this year, it was their head to tail dinners. This didn’t mean the now popular concept of a chef serving parts from an entire animal. The play on words signaled that successive evenings would focus on the same body part among different types of beasts. The “kid” menu they’ll serve this weekend features not children’s meals but goat. There’s a smoked goat board with all sorts of kid parts like belly, rib, saddle, and bacon wrapped loin. Dishes with goat and veal sausage and smoked hocks and shanks will also be served. And for a taste of South Africa, there’s Bunny Chow. No, there’s no lettuce or rabbits involved. The dish — curry stuffed into a hollow roll — comes from the Indian community of Durban, South Africa. In The Pig’s case, kid curry.
More Gelato
Local company Dolci Gelati has been selling gelato their gelati truck at Nationals Park and from their Takoma Park location. Earlier this weekend they opened a storefront at CityMarket at O in Shaw (1402 8th Street NW). The shop sells gelato and sorbet, of course, along with house-made pastries, panini sandwiches, and other goodies. Neighbors can buy reusable three-pint to-go containers for $40, refillable for $25 upon each return to the shop.
Hot Cocktails Around Town
Winter has come, and with the cold weather comes restaurants adding warming winter cocktails to their menu. At nopa Kitchen + Bar (800 F Street NW), a hot toddy topped with an amaretto meringue has made its way onto the happy hour menu. It’s only a 20 percent discount, but did we mentioned it’s topped with amaretto meringue? Nage Bistro (1600 Rhode Island Avenue NW) is getting ahead of the promise of snow day specials, declaring they will offer their cafe l’orange and fire cider for $5 should the federal government be forced to shut down for inclement weather.
