I Got Soul

The 2009 Jayhawk Bday/Mango-Jayhawk Anniversary Weekend was awesome. Part of it was due to the amazing opening-night showing of the play we saw on Friday night at the Rosslyn Spectrum: Synetic Theater's Dante's Divine Comedy. If you've never seen a Synetic show, you need to see this one. The physical and emotional energy levels were insane. Not to mention the cracked-out (in a good way) costumes and the biting political/religious statements. Talk about soul. I'll definitely go see it, again, if anyone's down.

The other part of our good weekend was due to the dinner we had on Saturday night at Art and Soul at The Liaison Capitol Hill. And here are my 2 cents of the experience:

Appetizers:
Virginia ham-wrapped shrimp on top of creamy grits and sprinkled with chow chow (to die for; the chow-chow was awesome, and the grits were perfect).
Spice-rubbed ahi tuna (very nice spicy kick that hits you in the back of the throat) on top of fried green tomatoes (a little too tart, but good) and sour pickle relish (yummy).

Second:
Two types of hoe cakes -
One with cured salmon, caviar, crème fraiche, dill, and caper berries (like Southern bagels and lox – my favorite of the two we had; pass on the caper berries if you don’t like that flavor).
The other with fried oysters, chow chow remoulade, and julienned romaine lettuce (I know the lettuce was there to lighten the dish, but it reminded me too much of a side salad smothered in bad ranch dressing at TGIFridays to care for it -- Sorry, Guy Fieri; you cant make me eat there even with your endorsement of their new Ultimate Recipe Showdown menu).

Entrees:
Medium-rare duck breast (it was so good and fresh; the steak of the water fowl) with duck sausage (which is supposed to be on the mushier side and not have that crisp outer bite of a chicken or pork sausage, so don’t be scared by the consistency because it was good), candied cabbage (amazingly savory and sweet and tart all at once), and goat cheese almond puree (nice and mellow; definite almond flavor).
Bourbon braised beef “short” rib (there was nothing short about it; the bone was the length of my forearm and slid right off the meat; the meat was so tender it disintegrated on the Jayhawk’s fork and melted in my mouth; amazing).

Side:
Macaroni casserole (which was baked mac & cheese that was maybe a bit heavy on the butter for me but really good and creamy and melty).

Dessert:
Homemade butterscotch banana pudding with 'nilla wafers (OMG! Set up in a tall flute kind of like a trifle, the wafers had soaked up all the banana and butterscotch and bourbon goodness; delicious).

And all that (including the Jayhawk’s drink and my 2 beers) was less than $130 pre-tip. We got the hoe cakes comped because the executive chef and the Jayahwk are friends, but it’s still a deal for everything we had even if we didn’t get anything gratis.

As for the actual space, it’s set up really oddly. The whole place is semi-compartmentalized into 3 dining areas, the bar, and then the lounge that actually bleeds into the hotel lobby, all separated by “walls” (either painted glass doors or metal curtains but not actual walls). Bad people flow, too, because you enter into the first main dining area and basically smack up against one of the tables, and the host stand is up against the wall to your left in the bar area with no real place to stand to the side. Then there are all the automatic doors lining the front that actually open if you bump up against them but that have tables right up against them, too. They should have turned all those doors into windows and made the only entrance through the hotel lobby, I think. The décor was nice but maybe a bit dark. We sat at a booth that I thought was cozy but that the Jayhawk thought had too harsh lighting that was hurting his eyes. And the male manager working that night needs a bit of an attitude adjustment; there are nicer ways of backing up your bartender and “correcting” a customer claiming that his Makers Mark on the rocks wasn’t Makers Mark (which it was not; even I could tell, and I’m not the brown likker expert).

All of the flaws are minor, though. It’s a new restaurant, and everyone’s still figuring out their roles and their flow. But the food and the overall experience more than make up for anything negative anyone can say. Mango say: Definitely go.