Last weekend, I attended a surprise birthday dinner for one of my coworker friends. His wife made all the arrangements, and it almost worked, except that another co-worker, not even involved in the event, told him ‘happy birthday’ on Friday, tipping him off (with the help of a number of suspicious phone calls) that something was up. Oh well. He was still surprised to see us all waiting for him at Panache.
I’d never even heard of this place, rather new and tucked away as it is on DeSales Street, behind the Mayflower. The dining room is lovely, bar to the right and a comfy looking booths (clad in gorgeous bright red, against cream, almost caramel, walls). Our large party sat in the back, right in front of a rather prominent DJ booth, containing a DJ who kept a nice loungy-house thing going the whole evening. As the hours passed, the music got louder and the lighting dimmer; the music was good, but a bit much sitting so close to the speakers. At about 10:30, they started clearing empty tables to create a dance floor.
Time to order drinks. The waiter apologizes that they are out of my first choice, the Estancia PInot Noir, and my second, the Innominato Toscano. So I order a vodka tonic, which he has. He is also out of all the red wines except two, a Fruilvini Merlot and the house Cabernet Sauvignon. At $6 a glass for house and $9 for select, I’d have hoped they would have more selection in stock. Perhaps there was a snowstorm I didn’t notice.
Then, one of our party noticed something strange at the bar behind us. I turned, and at first wondered why such a messy drag queen was in such a nice place. Upon closer inspection, the big hat and hoop earring were those of a pirate costume, not a female impersonator. So, said member of our party got up, and asked the pirate to be in a picture with the Birthday Boy. The pirate agreed, and also told us why he was so attired: he told his friend that, if his friend found him a pirate costume, he would wear it out on the friend’s birthday. The friend found him a pirate costume, and it was his birthday.

We decided to order a selection of Tapas/Meza/Petits Plats; by “we” I of course mean our hostess, with consultation of the Guest of Honor and those clever enough to sit at her end of the table (like me!). Since picking three is even harder than picking one, we ordered a few cold plates as appetizers: the Queso Manchego; the Escalivada Mediterra’nea; the Hummus. Spain, Italy, Turkey. The cheese was lovely though a bit mild to my taste, as Manchego should be I suppose. The Escalivada was grilled thin sliced veggies, beautifully presented and tasty, but nothing special or unique. The hummus, on the other hand, was excellent. Really outstanding hummus, with a strong lemony flavor and light, fluffy pita. I then had two ‘main’ dishes, and tried a few more, all were very good. The portions were actually perfect, about two per person was just right.
Lapin a l’ail. Rabbit braised in a sherry garlic sauce over polenta. Really smooth, rich-but-not-overwhelming flavors, and brilliantly tender meat.
Carpaccio di Samone Fumicato. Excellent smoked salmon – one of my favorite things in the world – with a goat-cheese spread, capers and cocktail onions, which I spread over the ample supply of French bread.
For dessert, we all split a tiramisu (not a big dessert crowd, and plus the birthday boy didn’t seem to want it). Which may have been the best tiramisu I’ve had. Ever. It was really, really good.
The tab came to about $40 a person, including tax, tip and drinks, which I regard a pretty good deal for such a fancy-ish place. We stayed and danced a while after dinner, which was fun.
The pirate also danced, although if this was the only example to go on, one might conclude that pirates move like a white band on Soul Train. Luckily, we know better than that.
Pirates are stylish and sexy, after all.
All in all, I’m not sure how I feel. The food was really good, and not too pricey, though ordering an entree would have been more expensive than a couple tapas. But, I don’t think the tapas menu really fit the setting. The dishes felt like they wanted to be more than they could be in such small portions. I plan on going back to Panache, if only to try the Basil Encrusted Double Lamb Chop, which looked spectacular and others (who didn’t share!) loved.
Panache
1725 Desales St Nw
Washington, DC 20036