Vidalia
As part of Washington, D.C. Restaurant Week, we had dinner at Vidalia last night. Now, I’m no restaurant critic, so this is going to sound inelegant: it was damn good.
Let me explain the schtick of the DC Restaurant Week: a whole lot of restaurants participate (including quite a few of the very best ones), offering up a three-course, prix fixe meal for $30.05, $20.05 at lunch. (Next year it will be $20.06 and $30.06, to tie into the year.) Reservations are generally required, a good time is had by all, etc., etc.
Back to the restaurant—Vidalia is one of the half dozen or so restaurants in town that rates four stars from Washingtonian magazine. Zagat gives it 26 points (out of 30). In short, one of the top restaurants around. And here’s the real kicker: they offered their full menu (although some items required an extra fee, it still worked out as being much less expensive than a regular evening there).
We all had the five onion soup. Andrea had a butternut squash rissoto followed by lemon chess pie. Zero had shrimp and grits (one of their signature dishes) followed by ice cream. I had a pork cassoulet followed by their Georgia pecan tart. Everything was excellent—I can’t even really describe it.
Tonight, we’re going to TenPenh, another highly regarded restaurant in town.
For those of you who live in the DC area, there is still time to make reservations for this weekend. Some restaurants are full, but others (including Bistro Bis, a sister restaurant to Vidalia) have space on Saturday. Sunday is the last night.