A Meal Ten Years In The Making…
Well, not really, but it was a special evening that Mrs. TJ and I were celebrating – our tenth wedding anniversary. After deciding to discard plans of possibly going to NYC to dine at the likes of Daniel and spending a romantic weekend away (perhaps seeing a show or maybe a performance by one of our favorite soloists (Gil Shaham)) or even staying reasonably local and dining/staying at The Inn At Little Washington (site of our seventh anniversary), we opted for the stay at home approach to save our pennies for Italy (where will travel to in the Fall). So, where to go in Our Nation’s Capital? So many choices in the city, so many more on the fringes. We’ve been to a number of the finer establishments, but we wanted this meal to be special – something we’d remember. I was my usual ‘can’t make a decision’ self, and the day was drawing close. When I told Mrs. TJ what I’d set up, the look on her face was priceless (imagine a jaw dropping). So, what bubbled to the top was….
The Laboratorio del Galileo!
Roberto Donna’s pride & joy. This is where one of the finest chefs in the USA gets to ‘play’ every night. I think he had more fun cooking, kibitzing, and joking with all of the diners than all the diners had eating his wonderful food and watching this mater practice his craft. This was going to be fun, fun, fun. But I am getting ahead of myself, now, aren’t I?
Bracing for our expected TWELVE COURSE meal, Mrs. TJ and I tried our best to not eat much that day. With 7:30 turned 8:30 reservations ( a mix-up I discovered just a few days before since the hostess had forgotten a class was being held that evening, too), we soon showed up with stomachs growling. The inevitable delays of a class (hey, Roberto was autographing aprons for that evenings’ students) caused the Laboratorio diners to be delayed by about 15-20 minutes. Our stomachs growled a bit more loudly, but were calmed a bit when served what at first I thought was champagne, but later realized was prosecco. Seeing food wander by to diners within the ‘regular’ Galileo restaurant made our stomachs find new strength, but, a few moments later, we were shown in.
Practically starving at this point, we flowed into the Laboratorio and were greeted by Roberto himself, “Buena Sera!” We sat at our specially selected Table #7 (as advised by folks over on chowhound.com) and we now had up front and in wide screen stereo seats to watch the show. (Only one minor problem with this table was there was a door right behind this table where some worker-traffic flowed.)
As we got acquainted with the view and the surroundings, some wonderful salty fried dough appeared at our table and paired perfectly with what remained of our prosecco. We had a full and unadultered view of the kitchen, the plating area, everything. Roberto & his assistants (one of them is Michel Richards’ son, Denes (I think)) were already busily working away, but made time to make us feel welcome. A wonderful assortment of breads also appeared (including this great pumpernickel-like mini-bun with dill and, I think some bacon fat (?!) baked in it (wow).
As we soaked in the whole atmosphere, one of the wait staff popped over to check out our wine that we brought. We gladly partook of the very reasonable $15 corkage fee and decided to bring a stunning 2000 Kistler Durrell Vineyard Chardonnay and a delicious Saffredi 1998 Maremma Toscanna (Fattoria le Pupille). . He quickly got the Kistler over to the chilling bin at the edge of the plating area and placed the Saffredi at the center table. This was a little disconcerting for me, since my seat was faced away from both of these places, but in the end there was nothing to fear. After we suggested he and Roberto each have a taste of both wines, I think he knew we were wine-os and he took care of us and our wine impeccably for the rest of the evening.
At this point, all of the other diners had been seated and the hum of conversation was going and there was excitement in the air. There palpable suspense about what gastronomic delights were headed our way. All the while we got to hear the banter of the staff and Roberto, lots of Italian but plenty of English too. I am not sure who could NOT love listening to the spoken Italian word – it’s like a song to me. Ah, but I am keeping you in suspense myself at this point! On to the meal!
Course #1 -- Peekytoe Crab Salad with Orange Dressing
Formed into a circle, the crab salad was topped with watercress and drizzled with a citrus (I could have sworn it was more lemony, but who knows!), er, drizzle. Very refreshing, very subtly layered flavors. Delicious. We finished of the last swallow of the Prosecco with this as the Kistler chilled away. Nice match again.
Course #2 -- Duck Liver Custard Brulee topped with Rhubarb Marmalade
This was very artfully displayed in mini crème brulee type dishes. The consistency of the custard was perfection. The rhubarb concoction proved to be a perfect foil to the richness of the custard. And I thought I wouldn’t dig the rhubarb (nothing like using the freshest stuff of the moment). This dish was superb. If I wasn’t dining with others in the room, I’d have picked up the dish and licked it clean. It was lipsmacking good, it was. The Kistler matched well here (even though the first glass was not quite chilled enough) as well.
Course #3 -- Morel Mushroom Soup with Fonduta Timbale, Pancetta, Crispy Onions and Shallot Blossoms
I have to borrow Mrs. TJ’s descriptor here… “This course was transcendent. The absolute best of the evening.” Adding to this, the layers of flavor of this dish were many and they all worked so well with each other. The delicious earthiness of the morels, the creaminess of the cheese timbale, the chewiness of the pancetta, the slight crunch of the onions and the otherworldly flavor of the shallot blossoms – wow. One of the best dishes ever – period. The Kistler really started to sing herethrowing a nuttiness into my tastebuds to add yet another layer. It would have been interesting to see how a pinot would have paired here, too.
Course #4 -- Tortelloni of Ricotta and Peas with Parmesan Sauce
“This course and the previous one began my downfall.” is how Mrs. TJ described this dish due to the absolute REQUIREMENT of plate cleanings with bread. The peas perfomed their function of freshening up the perfect hand made tortelloni. The sauce was that of the Gods. What is really funny is that the waiters started ribbing us about how clean our plates were. It was fun watching them whisk, whisk, whisk this sauce for what seemed like an eternity, too. I was reveling in the tastes of this course and I was ‘doing a little in my chair dance and tossed my head about slightly – a fact that did not go unnoticed by Roberto who said ‘No, you don’t a like this too much, no.’ with a big fat grin on his face.
Course #5 -- Eliche with Lamb Ragout
Mrs. TJ described this as ‘…a type of pasta that looked like DNA strands…’, I prefer the word ‘chromosomal’. This was a really good dish, but it’d been outclassed by the prior courses. Still, it was quite delicious and the layers of flavor were there. We had our first sips of the Saffredi with this course as we paused from soaking up our Kistler – paired really nicely.
Course #6 -- Risotto with Langostino and Fava Beans
Perfect risotto with plenty of fava beans and lots of fresh black pepper – the pepper made this course difficult to work with any wine, so I mostly enjoyed this with water. I really enjoyed this dish, too. I had almost forgotten, but Mrs. TJ pointed out, over in her post on chowhound.com, that ‘…(the waiters) started teasing us again -- “Look, they are no cleaning their plates anymore!”’ Too funny!
Course #7 -- Steamed Diver Scallop with Zolfini White Beans and Black Truffle Sauce
This was another splendiferous course. After popping over to ask the assistants what the heck they were doing with this smoky spray they sprayed on the dishes and then promptly wiped off prior to plating (apparently to make the dishes look as shiny perfect as possible believe it or not), we soon saw the fruits of their creativity. With bits of pancetta in with the beans, the scallop had a tremendous carmelization from being seared that added to the flavor joy ride of this course. With the waning bits of the Kistler (not really – I kept a teensy bit almost til the end a la how jb would do), I was in heaven.
Course #8 -- Roasted Breast of Squab over Sicilian Couscous & Asparagus
Couscous has this bizarre texture, in my opinion, but it’s always been an interesting ride. This dish was made all the more better by the sauce concoction that Robert had come up with – a mixture of cinnamon, cumin, coriander, a bit of vinegar, three or four more spices and an aptly named ‘squab juice’ coined by Donna himself. The squab was nicely dense, and countered by the deliciously fresh asparagus. Mmmmm.
Course #9 -- Cheese from the Cheese Trolley
I have not had much experience with the Cheese Course, but this was an interesting and educational one. The Cheese Cart was huge – easily 30+ cheeses seemed to be available. But we unfortunately did not get to pick what we got – instead, we got a ‘flight’ of four cheeses. This flight consisted of Ricotta Infornata Di Bari (made with sheep’s milk and similar in texture to a swiss or gruyere – very mild), Asagio Pressato (faint sweetness with a little bite – and delicious), English Stilton (very decadent and rich – some nice graininess, too – love that), and this crazy weird stuff called Bruss, which was fermented cow, goat and something else cheese made with a hint of grappa – very loose and mushy. This stuff was FUNKED OIUT and had a way to cling (flavor-wise anyway) to the bottm sides of your tongue. Very strange. With a quick chew of some fine mini-bread with what, a whole nut, baked in to it and it was cleansed out of our mouths.
Course #10 -- Frappe Bicerin
This was a ‘liquid’ course made up of espresso, rum, and chocolate. For anyone who loves chocolate & coffee together, you will be in Nirvana. This was a perfect prelude to the next two and final courses. Nice.
Course #11 -- Roasted Apricot Tart with Apricot Sauce, Dried Apricots, and Apricot Ice Cream
Sweet & tart and deliciously yummy. You could not go wrong with this course.
Course #12 – Bombolini
All good things must end, and so our meal did here with these precious little nuggets of dough peppered with sugar and WARM. Nice finish.
It is hard to express how much fun an evening this was. The banter with the chef and assistants, and the wait staff, the hum of the room, the looks that only old lovers who are also the best of friends can give one another, the charting of our history together (when Mrs. TJ asked what I remembered most fondly of our life together, I whipped out my four page list I’d been adding to for the past few weeks (as an aside, I did this same thing to her on our wedding day during the ceremony as a surprise)), the wine, suspending the disbelief of your taste buds, the food itself and so much more. It was a fantabulous evening that was also one that was at the same time very personal and one I will cherish for a long, long, long time.
This rates up there in my Top Four. I have a difficult time figuring out which of the Top Four I enjoyed more – our 7th anniversary at The Inn At Little Washington, our 9th anniversary at Citronelle, our Babbo Experience last fall and now this. A great, great evening in a relaxed, casual environment with the woman I love – man o man I am one lucky, lucky guy.
I would highly recommend dining here. You will not be disappointed in the slightest. In fact, we’re going back there, this time, later this year, to take a hands on class with Roberto Donna and LUNCH (my gift to Mrs. TJ (aside from Italy of course). Mrs. TJ’s gift to me, you ask? Only the most amazing sounding individually guided wine and medieval town tour – very cool.
