We had dinner therelast night before a Smithsonian lecture and it was so good. Not cheap by any means, but a real delight. Expect to pay at least $30pp for food. We got 4 appetizers to split for our meal. (Since they were all fairly heavy, it was enough food.)
Here's the menu for those interested. We got:
FRIED CHICKEN WITH CATSUP
Deep-fried foods, first introduced by Spanish and Portugese slave-traders, are the living history that links the South and the Mediterranean. During the civil war, women sold fried chicken from trays balanced on their heads to soldiers along the C&O railroad in Gordonsville.
These were little panko breaded pieces of dark meat. Holy cow, so freaking tasty. The catsup was (tomato-less) blueberry. Odd, but still good on the chicken.
SHRIMP ?N? ANSON MILLS GRITS
Native Americans first taught the colonists to hull corn into hominy, creating one of the first truly American foods. Here we use creamy Anson Mills grits, carefully milled from rediscovered heirloom corn.
Nothing special, but good nevertheless.
SHRIMP REMOULADE & FRIED GREEN TOMATOES
Tanty was chef to Napoleon III and the Russian Czar before he came to America, and this dish is inspired by both worlds. Remoulade was a classic French sauce, which was transformed with Creole spices, as chefs like Tanty adapted it to American requirements.
Spicy and good!
VERMICELLI PREPARED LIKE PUDDING
The grandfather of today?s mac ?n? cheese was first written down by Lewis Fresnaye, a refugee from the French Revolution. One of America?s first commercial pasta-makers, Fresnaye handed out this recipe with the coiled pasta he sold.
Um, yeah. Drool.
And we got the key Lime "pie" which was good, but too far from actual pie for my taste. I like crust, dang it, not a small pile of graham crumbs next to the filling squirted all pretty. The lime "air" was interesting. This is Jose Andres after all! (He was there last night, too-- working with some staff on recipe research at one of the tables.)
Re: America Eats-- Jose Andres' pop up
I will miss Cafe Atlantico though, especially the dim sum brunch.
I just made reservations for my bday. Sounds fun and delish.
And I think it's only for six months - will Cafe Atlantico be back after that?
THanks for review. I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised. I wasn't that excited about the menu when I looked at it a few weeks ago. I'll have to try it.
Litasail - Cafe Atlantico is going to reopen in a yet to be determined location - at least yet to be the last time I checked. The old space is going to turn into an expanded Mini Bar. Maybe I'll finally get to eat there!