By DCist contributor Kim Vu
Drawn to Vienna, Virginia by Washingtonian’s Top 100 Very Best Restaurants list, we must have driven past Maple Ave at least twice before finally realizing, “hey, that place that looks like a 1950s hamburger shop? That’s it.” It was an odd construct to say the least—food of the caliber one might expect at some of the area’s more refined white-table restaurants served in one of the most quotidian dining rooms.
That was early 2013. In the intervening years, times have changed for Chef Tim Ma. For one, Maple Ave no longer exists under his aegis; it was sold to employees in 2015. But perhaps more importantly, in Kyirisan (1924 8th St NW)—his newly opened flagship in The Shay apartment building in Shaw—he has found a space befitting his bold flavors.
That is a tough task to say the least. For those bemoaning the looming closure of Petworth’s gone-before-its-time Crane and Turtle, myself included, Chef Ma’s emigration from Fairfax is a welcome replacement in delightful French-Asian fusion. To wit, he has brought along some of his greatest hits, like the crème fraiche-Korean chili wings or the lovingly-seared duck breast with Chinese five spice flavor.
But back to the room. I try not to get too worked up about décor these days, given that every hot new place seems to have decided to light its post-industrial exposed brick with dim pendant lighting. But where others have turned their tables into a game of dark shadows, Kyirisan is bright and energetic in its design, like a page ripped out of a mid-century modern catalog. Royal blues and golds and browns and slates meet each other in angular lines; even the wall sconces are geometric. As you sink into your tufted booth, you feel like you’re eating in someone’s well-appointed dining room.
This is exactly what Chef Ma and company are going for. And it’s easy to feel that homey quality in each of the soulful dishes that cross our table. The scallop and coconut risotto with basil ice cream, another Maple Ave transplant, is adventurous and playful—and one of the few dishes we insist on ordering again on a second visit. As Joey Ma, Chef Tim’s wife and front-of-house, puts it, “it’s weird but totally works.” Agreed.
If his previous stops hinted at the French-Asian fusion in Chef Ma’s arsenal, that dial is turned up to 11 here. A pickled quail and prawn combo with Chinese hot pot sauce brings memories of childhood jaunts to Chinese restaurants and dim sum meals past, as does deep fried tofu—especially when you let it really soak up the rich black pepper sauce it sits in. A pitch perfect bowl of coconut-saffron mussels is perfected by Asian chorizo and perfect crostini toasts. The epitome of this vision is also the brightest spot of the meal for me: a perfectly seared halibut filet that would have felt at home at Central or Le Diplomate—if not for the peanut and hoisin flavors that accompany it.
Other can’t miss dish? A raw fluke crudo that shows the kitchen’s light touch, drawing out the fish’s delicate flavors with pistachio and lime and fennel. A cauliflower tortellini on our second trip is so light that it melts as effortlessly on our tongue as the butter sauce and ricotta it comes with. And if you like crawfish, then the langoustine and cauliflower bowl is for you, a rich soy flavor punctuated by moments of pickled ginger clarity.
But leave room for dessert. Of the three of us at our first meal, we all picked a different favorite: mine is the custard cheesecake with hazelnut ganache, but it’s easy to see how the matcha pavlova with black sesame cream and a raspberry mint coulis, or the raspberry cobbler with mascarpone ice cream would be just as winning.
It’s not all perfect. A seared duck liver with stroopwafel leans a tad gummy, and feels a little discordant from the rest of the menu. A black forest cake that moved from special to menu dessert on our second trip is fairly pedestrian. Still, overall, this is the best addition to the U Street Corridor/Shaw restaurant scene in a long time.
