Cedar

*Post by Angela.

Dining out (or in!) with fellow food bloggers is fast becoming one of our favorite activities. Last week after the monthly Food Blogger Happy Hour at TenPenh, we headed to Cedar in Penn Quarter with Kim of DC-Wrapped Dates. Cedar's kitchen is headed by Chef Andy Kitko, who has cooked in top restaurants  (Aqua, Gary Danko, Café Boulud) on both coasts.

We took the stairs down into the basement dining area and found the restaurant's mission to combine classical French technique with an ingredient-driven approach to "remind [diners] of the bounty of the great outdoors"  reflected in the decor - very dim-lighting and wooden furniture finds itself surrounded by panels adorned with photos of giant cedars. Having grown up in the Pacific Northwest, I liked the concept, but think that in execution, the "forest" fell a little closer to the tacky side of things. However, our friendly and enthusiastic server more than made up for any failings in decor.

To start us off, Kim ordered the butter lettuce salad, with duck bacon, muscat grapes, and hazelnut vinaigrette (below). We had all been intrigued by the idea of duck bacon, but it was a minimized element of the salad. Furthermore, it seemed to be fairly overcooked, hard and tough, which begs the question why use duck in the first place if not to utilize the greatest attribute of a bird known for its fatty tenderness? As a result, the hazelnuts became the most exciting part of a salad that had originally enticed us with the promise of something as awesome as duck bacon.

 

  

Mark got the crispy pork belly with watermelon, jalapeno jelly and chermoula (below). Maybe it's because we've had so many pieces of pork belly during our many dining adventures, but Mark thought the execution again fell a little flat here (I didn't have any because of my watermelon allergy) - he was  a bit underwhelmed by the pork belly, finding it and the accompaniments bland and unexciting.

 

 

I managed to order the winner of the appetizer round, the Virginia oyster pan roast, with braised leeks, salsify (a type of vegetable), and a slice of grilled bread (below). When the dish came to the table, I was unsure it was the right one, as it was basically a soup (I'm not sure what I was expecting). After our server assured me that not only was it the pan roast, but that it was delicious, I dug in. She was right. The  liquid was rich, luscious, and buttery, and was the perfect serving medium for the creamy oysters nestled within. Mark and Kim agreed that it was the most successful of the appetizers.

Onto the entrees! Kim got the herb-crusted pork tenderloin, with goat cheese grits, applewood bacon, and roasted cherries (below). The flavors of the dish all worked together pretty well (the cherries, in particular, added a pleasant tartness and sweetness), and the pork was nicely cooked. I think Mark may have enjoyed the dish more than Kim, who seemed to feel it was lacking something. 

 

Here, Mark was the big winner, having ordered the beef tenderloin with truffled zucchini-corn risotto and garlic-parsley butter. Every aspect of the dish worked, from the bright, sweet flavors of the risotto, to the tender, well-seasoned beef.

 

As it turns out, karma was in full effect for this meal, as my grilled big-eye tuna, with cherry tomato confit, corn, beans and greens (below) was probably the least successful of the entrees. As with all the proteins offered, the tuna had an ideal sear on it, and all the ingredients on the plate were obviously high quality, but there was virtually no seasoning and very little sauce, leaving nothing to tie those elements together. Still, each individual component was good enough that we managed to polish off the entire dish.

 

I chose to opt out of ordering dessert, but that was simply not an option for the guys.  First, we got the carrot layer cake with bourbon sauce and caramel pecan ice cream (below). The carrot cake was nice, but very light - it tasted almost...healthy. That just seemed wrong to me. 

 

We also shared the chocolate praline crunch bar, with candied orange and gianduja (chocolate made with hazelnut paste) ice cream (below). The small, rich dessert was a little more successful than the carrot cake at our table, but neither of them was screaming out to any of us. 

All in all, the meal was good, but inconsistent - there were definite highs (hello, oyster pan roast and zucchini-corn risotto!) and lows (I'm looking at you, duck bacon and tuna). Most of our issues stemmed from seasoning problems. But Cedar is a baby, having just opened in May of last year - while there's room for improvement, the restaurant has the potential to grow into something great.