Maestro

The buzz abounds on internet mailing lists and forums. Many people consider Maestro to be among the top two or three restaurants in the greater DC area.

After dinner last night, I’m inclined to agree.

I wasn’t terribly fond of the setting, which has a certain richness of fabric that I find aesthetically displeasing, but that’s just my taste. But the cute animal sculptures made partially from old cutlery, adorning each table, take the edge off somewhat. And Maestro is remarkably unpretentious and accessible given the decor. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt so relaxed in such an upscale setting. The dining room is visually divided into several sections; some are more private, but most have a view of the open kitchen. The various staff work with the precision and silence of ballet dancers. They are wonderful to watch.

The menu was divided into several parts: chef’s tasting (all dishes come as a surprise, though you can inform waiters of allergies or dislikes); “evolution”, “creation”, vegetarian; and dessert or cheese. There is no a la carte; you order either a five or seven course dinner. And to further confuse things (not to mention making decisions more difficult), you don’t have to order all five or seven from the same section. You can mix and match as you please.

I’m not sure I got the difference between the styles of dishes considered evolution or creation, but I was so intrigued by the vegetarian dishes that I stuck to those (although of course I tasted Steve’s dishes).

My menu for the night: salad of fennel, orange, olive oil; asparagus and mushrooms in some sort of broth and foam; endive and goat cheese in (I think) honey/red wine reduction; tagliolini with nine herbs and Parmesan; caramel souffle with candied orange rind and orange sorbet.

Steve’s menu: buffalo mozzarella and tapenade with red pepper soup; Pipe Dreams Farm fromage ravioli with arugola and 100 year old balsamico; halibut with onions (confit?!) in red wine reduction; the same tagliolini; coffee mousse for dessert.

Before any of the ordered dishes arrived, we received two amuse bouche: the first was three slivers of raw fish (tono was one; I’ve forgotten the others) tucked inside a crisp fried spring-roll type shell and topped with black olive tapenade; the second was a test tube of intense fennel broth served with a paper thin crisp of bread, topped with micro greens. Before dessert, a raspberry-filled white chocolate thing came out as a treat (they knew we were celebrating an occasion). Then there was... I guess you’d call it another amuse: lychee panna cotta with grappa. And after dessert we had some petits fours that seemed like miniature molten-center chocolate cakes.

All this was for $120 per person, which considering the quality of food, the perfection of preparation, and the magic of presentation, was an absolute bargain.

I’d read elsewhere that Maestro’s sommelier is considered the best in the region, so I decided to try to verify that. Steve never drinks, so I don’t order wine unless a restaurant has the right half-bottle for all my courses, or an extensive by-the-glass listing. Maestro didn’t have the latter, yet I asked the sommelier to put together a flight to go with my four savory courses.

I can’t honestly say he’s the best, as I’ve never conducted an exhaustive review, but I will say this: the man’s a genius. I had a Friulian Sauvignon Blanc with the first dish. The second dish was almost impossible to match (“how you say...? asparagus is the enemy of wine, like artichoke”), but the Alsatian Riesling was decent with it. That same wine was outstanding with the endives. And for the pasta course he chose a valpolicella from Verona; it was perfect, the food and wine each blossoming into something better as the taste of the former lingered in the mouth.

Two of these wines were Italian. I don’t usually like Italian wines. Genius.

Chef Fabbio Trabocchi is likewise a genius. Used to be whenever I dined in such a place I’d order the oddest things on the menu. Last night I went with vegetables, and I must say, I’ve never seen plant material treated with the respect and creativity other chefs show for flesh. This is the first place I can unconditionally recommend to a vegetarian out for a special night.

There were a few little oddities of service that in a less expensive place I wouldn’t have noticed, though I will say that the pacing was perfect. Steve and I usually eat too fast, and frequently are ready to skidaddle after forty five minutes, and get downright irritable after an hour and a half. But this meal lasted two and a half hours and we enjoyed every moment of it.