Zaytinya

[JennyUptown]

I *finally* had the Zaytinya experience that makes everyone (but me - up til this point) rave. The difference? Going in armed with suggested dishes. I had eaten at Zaytinya twice previously, with groups both times. I am by no means a shrinking violet, however as I was not being very familiar with this type of cuisine, I didn't feel comfortable chiming in over the "votes" of my more opinionated fellow diners. Big mistake!

After a lemonos maximus (great drink and Jorge is a cool dude), we ate (in order of loved to just liked):

- Hunkar Begendi

This seems to be the accepted winner of the huge menu. This dish of wonderfully tender lamb with eggplant and cheese took was perfect and when the meat was gone, we used the wonderful warm bread to sop up the rest of the eggplant and cheese.

- Shish Taouk

Incredibly flavorful chicken. So moist and tasty. I wish we had ordered two so I didn't have to share.

- Patates Tiganites

These potatoes reminded me of a dish at Jaleo. Different shapes and seasonings, but the concept struck me as familiar. Enjoyable and the fried potatoes were not at all greasy. As we ate them, I thought "these would be great at 3 am after a night of drinking."

- Adana Kebab "Tike"

If you like seek kebab at an Indian spot, you'll probably go for this. It's was enjoyably spicy, but the meat was quite dry. The accompanying sauce was delicious.

- Puff Boregi

If there was a klunker in the bunch (IMHO), this was it. I think part of the problem was our expectations - we envisioned smaller pastries, perhaps like a traditional spanikopita, filled with cheese. Instead, the puff boregi were long-ish fried tubes...of air. The cheese was in the pastry shell itself and although the flavor was OK, this selection was nowhere near as wonderful as the other dishes.

For dessert, how could we say no to the Turkish coffee chocolate? If I had eaten it without reviewing eGullet message boards, I would have left it at a simple "awesome cake!" Instead, I knew to pay attention to the various elements...candied orange peel, fleur de sel, cardamom espuma. AMAZING.

Thanks to all of you eGulleteers for sharing your experiences and helping me enjoy a fantastic meal.

[Tweaked]

The first time I ordered the patates taganites, I was disappointed when they arrived, french fries with yogurt, but they quickly became very addictive!

mmm, now I have a serious craving!

[Comfort Me]

One of these days I'll be doing a dessert with sumac, it's very very intriguing.

I recently used sumac as a garnish on a Ravani -- a greek syrup-soaked cake made with farina. (I'm currently collecting recipes for different syrup-soaked cakes.) The syrup was lemon scented. For some odd reason, the cake was cooked through before it browned on top -- and since I had a guest with a nut allergy coming, I couldn't hide the pallor with my usual toasted almond garnish.

I plated in the kitchen, piped a bit of whipped cream / sour cream on top, then dusted the cake and dessert plate with a bit of sumac. The taste was great. It added a zing, but didn't come across as savory, which had been my fear.

Next time, though, I'm going to put it through a clean spice grinder, grind it some more, then tap it through a sieve. It didn't sprinkle as delicately as I would like -- which I attribute to the grind. What is perfect for something rustic like grilled meat or hummos b'tahina isn't always perfect for dessert!

[Curlz]

Steve, would you please settle something once and for all? What is the correct way to pronounce Zaytinya? Is it zay-tin-ya, zah-teen-ya, or something else? Thanks mucho!

[JennyUptown]

The first time I ordered the patates taganites, I was disappointed when they arrived, french fries with yogurt, but they quickly became very addictive!

Lucky me, lucky me! I'm heading to Zaytinya in about an hour. Will skip the Adana Kebab "Tike" (I'm going with two people who are not lamb fans; of the two lamb dishes described in my most recent Z post, the hunkar begendi wins by a landslide) and Puff Boregi. One friend is a vegetarian so I'll probably explore that aspect of the menu more than I have in past trips. The other will hear me pushing the shish taouk for sure.

Lemonos Maximus for me. Maybe two...

[reesek]

home for new years - absolutely had to go to zaytinya. we got there at 11:30 on friday, and were the second table seated. i live in seattle and i *wish* we had a restaurant that had it together even 1/3 as much. ambiance? gorgeous - my bf and i were totally enamored of the space. and noted the recurring shapes throughout the settings, decor, bread - we loved that. even the hot tea was amazingly good.

3 of us had:

fava puree with capers, & red onions. i loved the texture of this - almost like a yellow split pea i've had at ethiopian restaurants. the mildness of the capers was a nice surprise - lovely.

olives - i know, kind of a throwaway - unless you're into olives. i love them - these were exquisite.

carrot & apricot fritters - ethereal. my sister had advised these - before we were even done, my friend was suggesting we get more. very light, sweet from carrot and apricot, but still savory. the coating is so light they're hardly even fritters - greaseless

sauteed squid with spinach - delicious! tender squid and spinach, simple, garlicky and devoured quickly

scallops with dill - insane. so good - best thing we had. perfectly seared scallops, lovely creamy dill yogurt sauce - not complex, not especially turkish - definitely more fusion, but unquestionably delicious.

salmon with sesame & pomegranate - not exciting. maybe it was atlantic salmon which can't compare to pacific salmon, but i thought this was underseasoned and bland

borek - my friend is quite a fan of turkish restaurants and was excited to have the borek. she said it wasn't nearly as good as others she's had - i thought this wasn't good either - is the cheese supposed to melt entirely? it was kind of like a cheese straw. i envisioned something more substantive

mushrooms with shallots and cheese - i skimmed off the heavy and unnecessary layer of cheese to reveal a dish of juicy, tender, and very flavorful shiitakes and oyster mushrooms. yum!

dessert was macerated medjool dates, olive oil ice cream, and what i think was pistachio custard and crumbled orange semolina cake - easily one of the best desserts i've ever had - i will dream about it.

one question - the pomegranate that's served with the olive oil - my friend insisted that it was also oil, but i'm convinced it was reduced juice...are either of us right?

[edemuth]

one question - the pomegranate that's served with the olive oil - my friend insisted that it was also oil, but i'm convinced it was reduced juice...are either of us right?

You're right; it's a pomegranate reduction.

[hannnah]

Ok, we *finally* made it to Zaytinya last night - it's nicely convenient to the new E Street Theater as well as all the MCI stuff. And we'll definitely be going back - everything we had was good, and we still have about 2/3 of the menu to get through!

Highlights:

The hunkar begendi is as good as everyone said it was - and I don't even like eggplant. I didn't really pick up on the cheese, but I certainly could taste the nutmeg. And the pita bread was good for making sure we got every last bit of it.

One of the specials was crab spanakopita. It's pretty unusual to come across spanakopita where there's still some texture to the spinach - more like a nice soft saute than the usual boiled-until-dead version. And the crab was a worthy addition.

We did one random selection from the menu ("close your eyes and point") and ended up with braised rabbit and lentils. I'd definitely get it again, as much for the lentils as the rabbit. The meat was falling off the bone, and the lentils were wonderfully savory.

For dessert, we got the ravani and the olive oil ice cream. A couple of questions - are there any pomegranate seeds in the ravani? I didn't think there were, but Dave swore he got a couple. The fleur de sel in the cake was a particularly nice touch, though. Also, is there any extra citrus in the olive oil ice cream? There was a nice lemony undertone which could have been extra citrus or could just have been the olive oil itself.

I'm already wondering how difficult it would be to pop down there for lunch on a regular basis - do they do takeout?

[bilrus]

We did one random selection from the menu ("close your eyes and point") and ended up with braised rabbit and lentils. I'd definitely get it again, as much for the lentils as the rabbit. The meat was falling off the bone, and the lentils were wonderfully savory.

We had the rabbit and lentils for the first time last weekend and you're right about the lentils. So flavorful that they more thanhold their own against the rabbit.

[Curlz]

NJ gal here...and this past week, I finally made it to Zaytinya. I've emailed Steve with my own praises of the Roasted dates/pistachio cream/OO ice cream, but let me say it again publicly--it's spectacular! It's interesting to read Steve's comments about there being more sugar than he would have preferred, esp since I'm not a big sugar fan--but I loved it.

I do want to put a couple of service-related comments out to eG readers/Zaytinya fans, though...having heard about mixed experiences with service, I was really pleased with the folks we encountered from the hosts to barkeeps, to our waitress. She, btw, was very accommodating when we asked her to bring us one of her favorites as we ordered our second batch of mezzes--and that dish, the shrimp in dill and lemon turned out to be one of our favorites of the night!

The biggest "HUH?" that I experienced was when I ordered my 2nd () Orange Blossom martini (not the official name--sorry!) at the bar. I was just taken aback when the bartender made it and proceeded to pour it into the same glass I had just used. It was early in the evening (not yet 6pm) and the place wasn't packed (I think there may have been a total of 6-7 people at the bar), so it wasn't that he was so busy he didn't have time to pull (and chill) a fresh glass. Am I nuts, or was that odd? Is this a regular practice in the business? I don't think I've ever encountered it before. I'd love to hear feedback on this one and promise I'll let it drop--esp because I WILL go back!!

[tan319]

Steve,

I loved reading about how you and Jose tweaked your dessert menu.

Really cool how he understood about sugar and it's appeal.

Got to get to your places!

Edited to include...

even more impressive is the fact, which I think we've discussed before, that your desserts are priced at 5.95, such a bargain to taste the kind of work you're doing.

I have a feeling that Paco-jet was paid for a looooonnnnnnnggggg time ago!

Congrats to you! And Jose!

Edited March 23, 2004 by tan319 (log)

[Steve Klc]

Ted--I think the main thing is Jose intuitively understood his customer base here--he'd been cooking and creating and serving them for 10 years and he "knew" what they'd want and what would sell. When he brought me on I merely benefited from that intuition. And yes, my bringing the PacoJet to the project was key to the success of certain things there, like the olive oil ice cream, the pistachio ice cream, etc. and I do think the dessert program (with PacoJet) played some small role in the restaurant getting nominated for the Beard Best New Restaurant award last year.

But, as a consultant, I wouldn't necessarily put a PacoJet just anywhere because it requires a certain, different, way of approaching things--it's more technologically advanced, it's less forgiving, it requires better freezers and a different way of working, and most of all a pastry chef or consultant aware of the vast differences between batch freezer and Paco methods--all of which came together at Z. Every restaurant is different--in some it might be better to outsource frozen items, in others one Paco might be fine for a dessert program--that is if the chef doesn't become too attracted to what he can do with the Paco--and in that case one Paco might not be enough! And in a high volume place, the Paco is going to require more maintenance over the long term than a batch freezer would--so those costs have to be factored in. (Jose felt--and the perception in the industry is still--that Pacos will not hold up as well as batch freezers and will end up being more expensive. We'll see how that plays out when more data is in.)

It also takes an executive chef onsite equally committed to the Paco system, which Z. has in Jorge Chicas--he is consummate and attentive and cares about freezer management, going so far as supporting the purchase of a separate freezer just to store the Pacojet beakers properly. But even here, over time, we brought in a tabletop batch freezer for ice cream (and moved one of the two PacoJets to another restaurant) to better keep up with the volume. The things that "need" the Paco are still done in the Paco; I developed other, more standard, recipes to shift some of load to the batch freezer.

The challenge of any consulting chef or pastry chef is to implement a system which works over time--and the right system for each venue, each unique set of circumstances, is different. I'm happy Tom Sietsema, our lead local restaurant critic, mentions this dessert program often in his chats and that little notes, like from Curlz or Ted, arrive like little gifts out of nowhere to validate the good work and thought behind it. It speaks well of the system and of the team behind it as well.

[JPW]

BUMP

I was lucky enough to have a friend take Mrs JPW and I out to the big Z on Saturday.

Although still not a big fan of the design, it is starting to grow on me. I find sitting on the kitchen side much more pleasant than the big open space on the 9th St. side. Our server was great. The lemonades that Mrs. JPW and our "recovering from a post-divorce bender so now tea tottling" friend had were nice and tart. I enjoyed the Retsina by the glass.

Featured were recipes from a cookbook (the author I presume was somewhere around the kitchen) that I just tried to track down online but couldn't find, largely due to some technical problems with the web site. (A little help?)

In any case, we tried the crab cake (kavourakeftedes), stuffed squash blossom, blackeyed peas, and something I'm forgetting from the specials side.

Regular menu items were more along the familiar favorites side including the kafta, labneh, and kibbeh.

Everything was up to standard, except perhaps for the crabcakes (the filler/crab balance was a little off for my palate). There was one Abso-fuckin-lutely brilliant dish.

Run, do NOT walk down to try the Stuffed squash blossoms. Words actually fail me as I attempt to describe their taste, texture and balance. All I can say is that it's as if someone opened up a big ol' can of Spring in your mouth that makes you want to take your shoes and socks off and run barefoot through the grass.

[mktye]

No matter how food-obsessed and focused you are, it's impossible to avoid letting the energy level at Zaytinya affect your meal. This place is absolutely slamming -- it's as energetic a restaurant as you're likely to find short of one of those night clubs that isn't really a restaurant.

I am curious as to the loudness of the "energy". My husband and I are thinking of going to Zaytinya this coming Tuesday for our wedding anniversary, but I am a concerned about the above comment.

We will have been married for 13 years, so we're a pretty much past the sappy-romantic-gazing-into-each-other's-eyes type of anniversary dinner. However, after a day at work, very loud is not terribly appealing.

If anyone has been there recently on a weeknight, is it a bit calmer and less busy?

This also leads me to another question -- any opinions on if it is worth it to hustle over there for an early reservation or to take a chance on a wait and arrive around 7 or 7:30?

Thanks!

[bilrus]

I have never been there when it is any louder than the typical busy restaurant. Its not cathedral quiet by any stretch, but it isn't a night club either.

Edited May 8, 2004 by bilrus (log)

[Curlz]

Having been there (within the last month) on a Monday night, I can tell you that by 7pm, the place was definitely full--I suspect you'll have to wait a bit around that time, but the lines certainly weren't out the door. I'd call to ask about a reservation now and see what kind of feedback you get. And if you HAVE to wait a bit and have a drink at the bar, it's a lovely space!

Fwiw, it appears that in addition to the upstairs space, Z often uses the long stretch of tables for large parties downstairs, but we sat within 8' of one the night we were there (basically in the area behind the hostess' stand), and conversation between us wasn't a problem. I doubt that's the case on a Saturday night.

[mktye]

Thank you for the input bilrus and Curlz. We decided on a 6:30 reservation for tonight. I am very much looking forward to this evening, especially Steve Klc's desserts!

[mktye]

Oh my, we made total piggies of ourselves last night at Zaytinya. A big “thank you” to all those who recommended this restaurant. My opinion on the quality of D.C. food might finally be changed for the better (when we lived here before I would usually leave restaurants grumbling about paying $$$$ for food that I could make better at home).

Hustling over for a 6:30 reservation turned out to be the right decision since there were two large parties there last night and a definite wait for people arriving around 7:00. I had studied (yes, very type-A of me) the online menu beforehand, but we still spent a good deal of time attempting to decide on what to eat. In fact, we ended up holding on to a menu and ordering more dishes about 2/3 of the way through dinner.

We did not imbibe of any alcohol – it would have just put my husband to sleep and I wanted to save every bit of room in my stomach for food. However, my husband did partake of their Lemonada. He pronounced it as good as the lemonade I make at home with lemons grown on his parents' farm. Very high praise.

We ended up with ten(!) dishes between the two of us. Not the most balanced of selections, but we decided to just order what sounded intriguing. Our favorites:

Pita. This made the meal for me. I am a total bread-fiend and this was the best pita I’ve tasted. Ever. Even out of my own oven. I must have eaten five or six of them. The taste was nicely yeasty (I suspect a long fermentation somewhere in the process) and the texture was that elusive chewy/crunchy. I am now inspired to toss my formerly-favorite pita recipe and work on re-creating these delicious pillows at home.

Kasarli Ali Nazik. This was braised lamb shank topped with onions and served over an eggplant/yogurt puree. My husband actually moaned this one was so good (he is an engineer in the military, so showing much of any type of emotion in public is quite an anomaly for him). The lamb was extremely flavorful and tender. They kept trying to remove the dish after we'd finished the lamb, but I growled at them until I’d sopped up every remaining molecule of the eggplant sauce. We should have ordered two of this one, because, anniversary or not, my husband was not happy to share.

Kolokithokeftedes. (Impossible for me to pronounce even with my part-Greek tongue) Fried zucchini/cheese pancakes with a yogurt/caper sauce. A perfect balance of flavors with fresh zucchini being predominant (and rightly so!).

JPW’s highly recommended Stuffed Squash Blossoms. These were excellent. The cinnamon-y (?) tomato sauce really set off the veggie-ness of the blossoms and the tartness of the cheese stuffing.

Also very good were the previously mentioned Falafel, Calamari & Spinach (absolutely perfect), Baba Gannoush (although I also thought it was served too cold), Havuc Koftesi (carrot/apricot/pinenut fritters) and Spanakopita (my husband liked this better than I did – I thought it had a bit too much dill, but anything other then my family recipe for spanakopita does not taste right to me).

My husband did not particularly care for the Kafta Harra -- ground lamb patties in a tomato sauce very similar to that with the squash blossoms (at least to my palate). He did not like the consistency of the ground lamb, but it reminded me of the lamb patties my mother used to make.

The Cerkez Tavugu (chicken salad with walnut sauce) was also a dish we most likely will not order again. The chicken was cooked perfectly, but it was lacking in flavor in comparison to the other plates. Maybe it would have been better earlier on in the meal.

I had planned on saving enough room so we could order three desserts, but, alas, the pita won out and we only could stomach two. We got the Medjool Dates and the Ravani (the Turkish Delight has to remain untasted until our next visit). The dates were everything I expected and the EVOO ice cream really tied it all together. But the Ravani was to die for – forget the fruit compote and give me more of that warm cake, cardamom sauce and yogurt sorbet!

Throughout it all, we found the service to be excellent. Attentive without hovering. Helpful, but not patronizing. From a logistical standpoint, it is quite incredible the timing and accuracy of all those little dishes. Just when we were ready for another plate, someone (we must have had a half dozen different people attend to our table) would suddenly appear with one of our ordered dishes.

A very nice anniversary dinner.

[Curlz]

Mktye, you're making me drool up here in NJ...that braised lamb shank was AWESOME!! We did the same thing with the eggplant and those wonderful pitas; I'm guessing that the dishwashers thought the plate was already clean when it came back to them. So glad you enjoyed your visit--I know I can't wait to get back there. Happy Anniversary!

[sara]

I finally got to Zaytinya for the 1st time today...I know, it took me forever.

We stopped in this afternoon for a late lunch around 2:30. Very quiet, nice Sunday afternoon, I love restaurants this way, without all the noise/buzz/hype etc.

I had a Retsina cocktail, which I found surprisingly good-- it's Retsina, vodka, apricot and appe juices, very refreshing. Liam had the lemonos maximus, a good version of a vodka lemonade.

We shared five dishes. Two were wonderful--the taramosalata (tangy cod roe in a creamy dip) and the Turkish Delight (Steve you simply Rock!). One was better than average--a special of fresh prawns, grilled, heads on--but overpriced--$12.50 for 2 prawns? One was very average--rabbit lagos, b/c the rabbit was overcooked and very dry, tho the lentils accompanying it were good. And one, IMO, was just terrible--the baby octopus. Couldn't really cut them couldn't really chew them, I think they were undercooked--not tender at all, and I love octopus and order it everywhere.

Overall, a nice joint for some mezze, but I was reminded of the several other mezze places in Arlington that are less expensive and less showy, i.e. Layalina on Lee Hwy (am I getting that right--I think that's the place I mean). And Lebanese Taverna...why by the way do they do a dish at Zaytinya and call it "Lebanese Taverna-style"? Does that make sense to anyone??

[FunJohnny]

why by the way do they do a dish at Zaytinya and call it "Lebanese Taverna-style"? Does that make sense to anyone??

I seem to recall on a thread somewhere (maybe this one, but I'm too tired to go research) that the phyllo at Zaytinya comes from the chef at Lebanese Taverna.

Edited June 28, 2004 by FunJohnny (log)

[chicagowench]

We're vacationing in DC in a few weeks (hrm, I should search for a thread on 'I have 4 days where should I eat), and we definitely want to go to Zaytinya. We'll have our very adventurous eater of a 15 month old with us for the first day, before his grandparents claim him. There's no way we'd inflict him on other diners at dinner, but what about lunchtime- is it really busy? Or do we say to hell with it and go there and make drunken pigs of ourselves when he's off our hands?

[hjshorter]

We're vacationing in DC in a few weeks (hrm, I should search for a thread on 'I have 4 days where should I eat), and we definitely want to go to Zaytinya. We'll have our very adventurous eater of a 15 month old with us for the first day, before his grandparents claim him. There's no way we'd inflict him on other diners at dinner, but what about lunchtime- is it really busy? Or do we say to hell with it and go there and make drunken pigs of ourselves when he's off our hands?

We've taken our kids (age 4 and almost 2 at the time) there for lunch and it was fine. Both of them loved the food.

[hillvalley]

I had a wonderful lunch with my mother there this week. If you avoid the lunch hour rush and go a little later you should have no problem. By about 3 the place was empty.

Make sure you get the french fries. They will keep your little one happy for hours.

Be careful with some of the seafood though. We ordered the scallops and had to send the first plate back. They smelled awful and one was red. The second order was perfect though.

There are a number of seasonal specials that looked wonderful. We tried the squashblossoms stuffed with feta cheese. They were delicious but garnished with canned tomatoes, which took away from the dish.

When you go, keep in mind that the pompous attitude of the staff is not 'cause you brought a little one. They are that way with everyone. It's worth putting up with the staff though, if for nothing else than those fries!

[AmyH]

Just to add my two cents as a visitor from Boulder. We went the night we arrived in DC. The "we" is myself and 9 yr old daughter and 11 year old son. Thursday night, around 8:30 pm. The place was packed, we were told the wait would be about 30 minutes. No problem, I headed over to the bar to try and flag down a bartender. My daughter decided to go over to the hostess stand to grab a menu to take a look at. She came back five minutes later and told me to come quick because they had a table for us. I was suspect that she was either a) mistaken or b) we were going to be placed in Siberia. Neither choice was correct. The hipster ponytailed host (not hostess) said he was impressed by the kid's poise and that a table was opening up by thr fornt window. So, I'm liking this place already. I can't do the names justice like many other posters, but we had the zuchini blossoms, spanikopita, baby quail in a molasses glaze that was excellent, fresh octopus (sorry, Sara that you did not have a good octopus experience), saganaki and the mantu nejla -- beef stuffed baby pasta shells with garlic yogurt, paprika butter and sumac (OK, I got unlazy and went to the website). We had the Turkish Coffee Chocolate and the Turkish Delight. for desserts. I enjoyed a glass of desert wine from Cyprus that went very well with the desserts. We had a very, very nice meal. As Sara said, some of the dishes were better than others, the quail and the beef really standout. We had good luck with the level of service ant attentiveness.

Following other egullet suggestions, we also hit Zola for lunch after a morning at the Spy Museum. Great food, great service, a breakfast spot in Dupont Circle whose name escapes me that was OK, the Tune Inn for a patty melt, because I had to show my kids where Mom and Dad spent many an evening drinking pitchers of Natty Bo and arguing politics with our law school friends, and Bistro du Coin, for a late night after the monuments dinner, for very disappointing bistro food. It was not that the service was bad, as some here warned it could be eating at 11:00 near closing time, the food was just not that interesting or well flavored. Filomena's in Georgetown for lunch.

Anyway, it was great to be back, if only for a weekend.