Fahrenheit

Nothing on my conference schedule until later in the morning, so time enough for me to blog a little of my DC dining. I'll save the big dinner on Saturday night for when I have more time/energy. For now, a smaller, simpler post on the Friday night dinner.

Despite a delay, Conrad and I made it in to DC well in time to get settled at the hotel, shower, get dressed, and head over to Georgetown. We had dinner booked at the Ritz-Carlton there. It's an interesting complex, using an old incinerator as its shell. The resultant interior is a handsome layout of huge space and brick walls. Kind of like we'd fantasize about living in!

Fahrenheit is the dining room there. A subtle pun on the building's past, though it's misleading in that it hints at hot and spicy food. Not so. A simple menu, in fact, though a number of good seafood choices. The room was almost empty when we arrived for 7:30, and never got more than 1/3 full, I'd say. A shame - it's a terrific space.

Our waiter was especially friendly. It seemed jarringly familiar for a fine hotel restaurant, but the dining room isn't so white tablecloth fine as somewhere like Seasons or Avenues in Chicago. Ultimately, we greatly enjoyed chatting about the food and wine with Mark, so compliments to him.

Small glasses of asparagus vichysoisse were set down for us as we consulted the menu.
Conrad had dined at the restaurant earlier this spring (gah, it's now officially summer, innit?), so he pointed us to an appetizer to share called Fire and Ice. Three seviches (scallop, tuna, and bass) and some pickled watermelon slices. I especially liked the bass. A good choice.


We continued with seafood for our main courses. Conrad opted simply for the fire grilled tuna steak served with a spring pea ragout and a trio of sauces.
I was going to do the same thing (there are 6 fire grill options, all served similarly) and asked for scallops. What arrived, however, was the scallops preparation from the other part of the menu. I made no fuss, and certainly had no reason to complain on tasting the dish. Topped with garlicky potato sticks and settled on a tomato relish scented lightly with curry (I believe), the scallops were of exceptional texture.

We had a dish of asparagus to share as well, but we agreed that Conrad's pea ragout was fantastic.

Of course we had wine. Their list had some good choices, but we were intirgued by the handful of Virginia wines listed. Eat/drink local, right? We inquired. Mark hedged. A lot. He was really reluctant to sell us the wine because he didn't have confidence in it. Apologetically, he brought us the Whitehall Viognier. Surprise! It was entirely drinkable, and had a nice whiff of peach to it. The bottle had the additional good manners to be among the lowest-priced on the list. So, good and a bargain!

We didn't really want dessert. Conrad wanted another glass of wine, and I wanted some coffee. I asked if we might have a cookie or two. Yes we could, we were told. And then this plate of several shows up. And, of course, we ate them all. Greedy us.

Back to the hotel after that for a night of horridly uncomfortable sleep on a smaller-than-queen bed that was too too soft for my liking. The balance to yet another fine dinner? No matter. I'd be glad to head back there another night for another meal on another visit!