José can you see...

Washington, D.C. is a strange melange of would-be (and most unfortunately-are) politicians, tourists, government workers, along with a large number of hipsters and other kindly folks.  It is in this place of eternal filibusters that the José Andrés empire of restaurants begins its stretch across the globe. Following a job at Castleton Festival we took a little trip to our nation's capitol for a little fun in the sun (104 degree heat), some touristy outings, and of course good meals.

We were slated to go to Jaleo upon the night of our arrival. My parents had eaten there before, and it was a favorite of my sister when she was working at the American Galleries. In the middle of the afternoon, however, we got a call that a city inspection at Jaleo was going long and there were some things that would not be take care of by our 6pm res. Scandal of all scandals, though in that town who knows what their qualm would be. No matter, they moved us to the newer restaurant Zaytinya. One that we had been recommended by my host family in Rappahannock County.


Specializing in Greek, Tukish, Lebanese, and variants on other middle Eastern cuisines, Zaytinya features mezze style small plates, the counterpoint to pichos and tapas. Seated in their light airy dining room accented with blues and yellows, we ordered a caraffe of one of their house cocktails, the Clean Monday. My father (as he is wont to do) a beer. The cocktail though was a bright refresher to the heat we had been dealing with all afternoon. We ordered 8 plates for the four of us including a soft shell crab special, a beet salad, zucchini and cheese fritters (amazing) with a yogurt caper dipping sauce, sauteed shrimp in a gorgeous lemon-mustard broth, Adana Kababs (which my father had to have because of an old army grudge developed while he was serving in Turkey--more on that maybe later), and a watermelon salad. While all of these were excellent my favorites were the Kibbeh Nayeh, similar to a beef tartar but mixed with bulgur wheat and spices, and--shock--their dolmades.


Now, I should preface by saying that my Czech mother is a huge fan of stuffed grape leaves (as well as my Irish-English father). These dolmades were ordered with some grumbling on my part, though through my great trust in the chef I had to try them. Maybe it was the variation in ingredients, but these were fantastic. The Zaytinya dolmades include fennel and raisins, which give a sweetness to an otherwise very tangy dish. And the extreme "TANG" of the dolmades I grew up with give me pause. I don't like pausing. 


The Husband, my father, and I split the rice pudding for dessert, which is accompanied by rose overtones. Quite a lovely finisher to a heck of a hot day. 


Due to Jaleo's pause in service and prior plans, we didn't get to experience any of the other J.A. restaurants in town, but he also has a beautiful restaurant in the National Galleries which we debated. In the end we passed his $20/per person buffet up. There should be some other word for buffet. Something more classy. Maybe they'd have more takers.