On September 30, 2014 I had the pleasure of attending A Taste of Lettuce DC, a spectacular four course dinner featuring the different flavors of Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants, Wildfire, Joe’s, Big Bowl, Mon Ami and Community Canteen. The event was held at Wildfire, Tysons Galleria and included cocktail and wine pairings. The Executive Chefs from each restaurant provided a few words about their dishes, and I have paraphrased their comments in the descriptions below. It was a fantastic evening filled with delicious food and drinks. I will definitely be coming back to all of the Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants for more, and will be sure to attend other tasting menus with pairings. The Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants hold special events monthly.

Hors d’oeuvres by Mon Ami Gabi:

Chicken Liver Crostini with red wine mustard. This dish featured a crispy toast round with zingy mustard, creamy and light-as-air chicken liver, and was topped with a sliver of cornichon. The flavors were balanced well: a sour, salty, and slight sweetness from the chicken liver, and a slight warming spice from the mustard. The texture was very pleasant as the cornichon and crostini provided crunch while the chicken liver was soft in texture. The chicken liver and country pate Crostini are signature dishes of rustic French cooking, which is the essence of the cooking at Mon Ami Gabi.

Country Pate Crostini with grain mustard. This was very similar to the chicken liver crostini, in flavor, texture and appearance. The biggest difference was the pate was a little denser than the chicken liver, but was still very light.

Salmon Tartare on Gaufrette Chips. I really enjoyed the simplicity and playfulness of this dish. It was composed of raw chopped high quality and high fat content salmon atop a plain potato chip. The salmon had a wonderful soft buttery quality and this worked so well with the crunch and salt from the chip. I will have to take a visit to Mon Ami Gabi to eat more of this.

Mini Mushroom Quiche Tartlets. The tartlets were soft and fluffy. They were well balanced and did not have a strong mushroom flavor.

Wine pairing:

Ruffino Prosecco DOC: A sparkling dry white wine with delicate bubbles, soft notes of apple, pear, and citrus, with a fruity and floral bouquet. I found this to be a delightful pairing.

Second Course by Big Bowl:

Thai Crab & Corn Soup. This dish featured sweet lump crabmeat, local corn, coconut milk and Thai Chili. It was moderate in spice, complementing the sweetness from the corn and crabmeat and the richness of the coconut milk. A beautiful kefir lime flavor and aroma permeated the dish, adding a little sour flavor to make the dish sing. I was pleased when I saw some kernels of corn still together, letting me know that whole ears of corn were utilized for the dish. The chef informed us that the chicken stock that is the base for the soup is homemade. I was not at all surprised that this was the case because it was clear from the soups wonderful flavors that no shortcuts were taken. Now that fall is upon us, I’m looking forward to heading to Big Bowl on a crisp day to warm up with this soup and to try others.

Cocktail Paring:

Limoncello Tini: This drink was sweet and sour, featuring Limoncello flavor. The acidity of the drink was nice, but the sweetness was just a little overpowering paired with the soup. I would have personally preferred this drink on its own or with dessert.

Third Course by Wildfire:

Feta Crusted New York Strip Steak served with redskin mashed potatoes and oven roasted asparagus. The steak was an 8oz NY Strip from a farm in Nebraska. The meat had gorgeous marbling, and was cooked perfectly to medium rare. The meat was seasoned with salt and pepper, cooked, and then topped with a feta crust that features feta, butter, rosemary, thyme and panko crumbs. The meat was then put in a broiler for thirty seconds to crisp the crust. The result was a perfectly crunchy crust around juicy tender meat. The redskin mashed potatoes were delicious, creamy and buttery. The asparagus was perfectly cooked and served with a Balsamic Vinaigrette; the acidity of the balsamic was a nice contrast to the richness of the other components on the plate. I thought everything was perfectly executed, and I will be back again to eat more steak.

Wine Pairing:

Brassfield Erruption ‘12. This red wine was full bodied and had a very enjoyable feel. Tones of fruit cherry, cassis, vanilla and pepper were present. It had enough complexity to be interesting without being overpowering or too tannic. I thought this was a perfect pairing for the steak.

Dessert by Joe’s:

Joe’s is a seafood and steakhouse, but they are also a pie-house. Joe’s has nine different types of homemade pie available to choose from every day. Joe’s has a “Pie It Forward” program where for each slice of pie sold, $1.00 is donated to a different charity every month. I will definitely be heading to Joe’s because I’ve been dreaming about Havana Dream Pie ever since I ate it.

Key Lime Pie: A sweet and sour lime flavored custard in a delicate graham cracker crust. This had the perfect sweet to sour ratio for me. It felt nice and light in texture.

Havana Dream Pie: A tres leches pie. Fluffy yellow cake moderately sweetened with a little tres leches cream in the center, served with whipped cream and strawberries. This was the fluffiest, most ethereal take on tres leches that I’ve ever had ,and I’ve eaten a lot of tres leches cakes. This was my favorite of the three pies.

Chocolate Fudge Pie: A dark bittersweet chocolate fudge crust with a rich creamy filling, topped with chocolate cookie crumbs, all sitting atop a little fudge sauce. This was the densest of the desserts, and was a little too rich, with a little too much chocolate for my personal taste. If you cannot get enough chocolate, you will love this.

Wine Pairing:

Robert Mondavi d’Oro ’12: A sparkling Moscato that had notes of honey, oranges, lemon, and butter. I like sweet wine, so I found this enjoyable. If you like sweet wine, you will like this. I thought this pairing worked with the desserts.

-JHC (Jennifer)

Disclosure: From time to time, we are given free items, meals, or entry to events.