Palena

[tjaehnigen]

We dined at Palena again about a month and a half ago, and, well, it rocked again. Even my vegetarian brother was ecstatic about this place. And the service was fine.

Plus, we got to see this one couple dining across the room from us. I am not really sure, but it looked like a woman who was trying to look sort of like a guy (or maybe Androgynous Pat) and the other, uh, person, was quite obviously a guy in drag who was wearing this frou-frou white dress and the biggest damn tiara I have ever seen.

[Mark Sommelier]

We dined at Palena again about a month and a half ago, and, well, it rocked again. Even my vegetarian brother was ecstatic about this place. And the service was fine.

Plus, we got to see this one couple dining across the room from us. I am not really sure, but it looked like a woman who was trying to look sort of like a guy (or maybe Androgynous Pat) and the other, uh, person, was quite obviously a guy in drag who was wearing this frou-frou white dress and the biggest damn tiara I have ever seen.

tj,

That's called welcome to Washington. At least at Citronelle, they dress less obviously (right Tom?).

[tjaehnigen]

We dined at Palena again about a month and a half ago, and, well, it rocked again. Even my vegetarian brother was ecstatic about this place. And the service was fine.

Plus, we got to see this one couple dining across the room from us. I am not really sure, but it looked like a woman who was trying to look sort of like a guy (or maybe Androgynous Pat) and the other, uh, person, was quite obviously a guy in drag who was wearing this frou-frou white dress and the biggest damn tiara I have ever seen.

tj,

That's called welcome to Washington. At least at Citronelle, they dress less obviously (right Tom?).

Hey, I loved it. I've seen far worse examples, too. that couple certainly was a topic of conversation at our table, but the company was at center stage, followed extremely closely by the food, followed also extremely closely by the wine we BYOWed (a 95 BVGdL and a 00 Numanthia Toro).

[DonRocks]

I'm stuffed, tipsy, name your adjective. What I'm not is in the mood to write a tortured thought-out posting on Egullet, so I'm just going to wing it, and not delete it like I did the last time.

I find myself gravitating more-and-more towards Palena, and for good reason: it's one of the very best, tippy-top, pinnacle places in Washington to dine - and I'm talking about the undersung front room because I haven't even dined in the back in years, which is almost surely at an even higher level of service.

For starters, there's Kelly (Kelley?) and Derrick - and forgive me if I misspelled your names because I have never before seen them written. I think they must work 365 days a year, and they are inflappably nice, professional, efficient and just really good at what they do. About five minutes after I left this evening, I got a call on my cell phone: "Hi Don, this is Kelly ... you left your bag here." I'd have them both over at my house for dinner like I would extended family.

And then tonight there was Lauren, whom I've never seen before, and who was as kind and patient as could possibly be imagined. We were a difficult table - not ornery, but just strangely difficult, with people saying "this wine is too warm," "can we have such-and-such glass," etc. Lauren was in charge of the table this evening, and she handled everything with charm, grace and poise.

The food ... oh ... the food. On the front-room menu was a housemade blini with quarter-inch-cut porcinis. One friend commented, "there are nine dollars worth of mushrooms alone in this dish." Again this evening, there was the soup with black trumpet mushrooms and salsify, with coddled organic hen's egg et al. It's a Michelin two-star dish, really. I love that it's served warm, not piping hot, and tonight it was followed by its equal: housemade bacon that's as good as it gets. This is "pork belly in the form of bacon" as far as I'm concerned, and both these world-class dishes are available in the front room - they're on the back-room menu, but you can order them from the front room, and the prices that show up on the bill are about half what they should be. You could go and get these three dishes I just mentioned, which would have you dining as-well-or-better than anyone in the entire city (yes, I just said that), and the food cost would set you back less than $40.

The main course was veal cheeks with sweetbreads, and I'm going to talk about it probably more than I should. A couple months ago, I was at Tosca with one of the people I dined with this evening, and we ordered the foie gras, which I was going on-and-on about. She replied, 'I'm going to tell you why it isn't quite as good as you think it is,' and then proceeded to flip it over with her fork and point out, 'see this vein? It should have been removed.' And so-on and so-on. Tonight, I wasn't tight with the main course like I should have been: I pointed out that the veal cheeks seemed slightly overcooked, and the sweetbreads seemed like they could have been crispier. My friend said, 'Frank Ruta probably did this by design: he was aiming at basically the same texture and palate presence for both the veal cheeks and the sweetbreads.' As soon as she said that, I knew what she was talking about: I was looking for the veal cheeks to be basically mush, and the sweetbreads to be a crispy lardon-like counterpoint. On a scale of 0 (for long-cooked, mushy, fork-tender) to 10 (for crispy, burnt, crunchy), I was looking for about a 2 with the veal cheeks, and about an 8 with the sweetbreads, but as my friend so astutely pointed out - and this is my own analogy - Frank Ruta was aiming for 5+5, rather than 2+8.

I suppose I should write a summary here, but I'm too tired, so I'm going to leave it as is, and go to sleep knowing that I had dinner this evening at the hands of a major talent, at one of the very great restaurants in all of Washington.

Cheers,

Rocks.

[bilrus]

Don, you sure do eat out aften and at nice places. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I'm envious.

[Al_Dente]

Don, you sure do eat out aften and at nice places. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I'm envious.

Don doesn't actually exist. See the "Five Desserts" thread.

[cjsadler]

For starters, there's Kelly (Kelley?) and Derrick - and forgive me if I misspelled your names because I have never before seen them written. I think they must work 365 days a year, and they are inflappably nice, professional, efficient and just really good at what they do. About five minutes after I left this evening, I got a call on my cell phone: "Hi Don, this is Kelly ... you left your bag here." I'd have them both over at my house for dinner like I would extended family.

The staff at Palena is fantastic. I eat in the bar fairly regularly and I'd say it's consistently the warmest and best service I've experienced in DC (Derrick is the man).

Don-- what, roughly, are the prices for the different courses on the 'back' prix-fixe menu when ordered in the front room?

[Mark Sommelier]

Between Rocks and Tom, one would think that Washington is a tiny, tiny village and Palena its only restaurant.

[morela]

The staff at Palena is fantastic. I eat in the bar fairly regularly and I'd say it's consistently the warmest and best service I've experienced in DC (Derrick is the man).

Yeah,

I agree about the staff at Palena. There's no pretention there at all. Derrick and his staff make the place as friendly as any neighborhood joint, which is priceless in fine dining scene.

I need to go back there soon...

Cheese plate with Ruda's fruit/nut bread (can't remember all that was going on in there, but it was the best I've had of it's suit) made me especially happy, along with some of their wines by the glass.

I need to make more money so I can sit in nice dining room and order everything.

[DonRocks]

Don-- what, roughly, are the prices for the different courses on the 'back' prix-fixe menu when ordered in the front room?

I'm not quite sure, as I think it's on an item-by-item basis and may even change according to the whims of the day, but if I had to guess I'd say the first two pages of items would be $12-15 each, and the third page of main courses would be $25-30 each. All items on the bar menu are $9 each. Meaghan, note that the front room is your only option if you wish to have all the menus to choose from.

The black-trumpet/salsify soup and the pork belly (housemade bacon) with chestnut boudin blanc are worth the small premium over the standard front-room menu items, although you can certainly mix-and-match. As good as the hot dog may sound (and it is quite good), the leap into truly refined cuisine is only a few dollars extra.

Cheers,

Rocks.

P.S. Mark - considering I've had everything on your menu ninety times, I have to find other options for variety.

Edited December 11, 2003 by DonRocks (log)

[tjaehnigen]

DonRocks-- Thanks for the write-up. We were hoping to get to Palena for Christmas Eve, but they'll be closed. Ah well. I LOVE Palena. Mrs. TJ and I plan to go sample the front/bar menu soon.

As for the 'back room' they are prix fixe 3, 4 or 5 course priced, I think at $50, $57 and $64 respectively. Plus, while they do have the menu broken down into sections (appetizer/salad type stuff, main dish type stuff and dessert type stuff, I think), if you want what amounts to essentially 5 main courses, you can do that! For only 64 bucks!!! Unbelievable. Then again, you might have to call yourself Mr. Creaosoate to do 5 main courses justice.

heh heh heh

[CarrotStick]

Hi! Celebrating finishing my MBA and considering heading to the bar at Palena tonight- is Tuesday a good bet? Also- are there tables/chairs in the bar or do I have to sit on a stool?

Thanks!

[bilrus]

I know there are booths and I think a few tables as well.

Congrats.

[Tweaked]

You should be fine on a Tuesday...they have about 8 comfy chair stools (with backs) at the bar, as well as a number of tables around the front room...the bartenders (esp. Derrick) are very friendly so I would recommend sitting at the bar.

The roast chicken takes about 40 minutes to cook, but well worth the wait

[CarrotStick]

Well, the bar at Palena did not disappoint. We had the plate o' fries, noodles with duck and the roast chicken and shared a bottle of house red, which is a cabernet/merlot blend from France.

Now, I'm from the south and I thought I had consumed every possible fried food, including pickles and twinkies. But the fried lemons! They're so good! We asked if they did anything to the lemon slices before frying, and the waitress came back with "yes, but they won't tell what." So now my husband is planning on spending Christmas vacation in the kitchen trying to fry lemons. I think there's some salt and some oven-drying involved....

The noodles with duck were just ok. The noodles were nice and firm, but the duck ragout wasn't as good as the one I ate at a little trattoria in Tuscany.. oh well, it was fine for $9.

The chicken was the best chicken I have ever had and well worth the 40 minute wait (which, with a plate of fries and a bottle of wine did not seem that long)

All in all, very nice for my celebration. If I lived in that neighborhood, I would go often, and even driving in from Arlington, we'll be back!

We saw many hot dogs being consumed and they looked very yummy, as did the burger.

[cjsadler]

I tried the raved-about hot dog, but I doubt I'd ever order it again considering the other options on the menu. Definitely a quality sausage, which tastes like it has a bit of either nutmeg or mace in it, and as with the hamburger, the good fresh- baked bun makes a big difference. However, I've had many sausages and dogs better than this (not all of them in Chicago).

[John W.]

Something about Frank Ruta's cooking amazes me. It's total lack of pretension is so impressive. After a great meal last night, I'm trying to convey my thoughts, and I just can't. Nothing was breathtakingly beautiful, or whimsical, or pained. Just upfront, honest cooking at the highest of levels, devoid of any and all bullshit. I guess the best way to phrase it is to recall Bourdain's views on Scott Bryan and Veritas in Kitchen Confidential. That's how I felt when I was leaving.

For the record, we had;

Lobster pot au feu and pate of partridge etc.

House cured bacon and fennel sausage wrapped sea bass with clams etc

Black trumpet mushroom soup with coddled duck egg and pheasant ravioli with foie gras sauce (takes the cake for letting flavors speak for themselves)

Duck with Savoy cabbage and turnips and Snapper with avocado and shrimp.

Cookies, lemon curd tart

Drank a wonderful Barbaresco for $69

It was all about the food, but the absolute lack of pretension makes you forget exactly what it was you had. Never had that happen before.

Thanks to Frank Ruta and staff for a wonderful evening.

[tjaehnigen]

I have now been to Palena, home to chef Frank Ruta and pastry chef Ann Amernick, three times in about 7 months. I forgot to do write-ups for the first time in late July of last year and also again when Mrs. TJ and I took out my little brother and his partner there in October. I made it a point not to forget to do a write-up, any write-up, on this fantastic restaurant.

Frank Ruta excels at coming up with unique and fresh approaches to food that embraces seasonality, IMO. Some may call it 'Californian' or 'Noveau American' or whatever, but I call it just damn good food. Ann Amernick's creations are terrific and she can create light and delicate creations, heavier but very interesting creations (knowing exactly what last little thing or touch will make the dish) and some damn fine cookies and caramels.

Palena is in Woodley Park in NW DC, near the Uptown movie theatre and near other restaurant destinations such as Yanyu, Indique, Lavandou, and Ardeo. It sits oddly abutting an Exxon gas station, but you'd never know it once you get inside. We were always warmly greeted in our last two visits, and this time was no different. We'd made it there just a tad early and we hopped over to the bar (which has the MOST COMFORTABLE bar seats in DC) for a club soda and within a few minutes we were led to our table in the back dining room.

As an aside, the bar area is the 'front' part of the restaurant and has a medium sized bar with some additional tables and booths open for patrons to hang out in and drink, eat and be merry. They have a special bar menu where everything is $9 or similar, including a supposedly excellent hot dog that Mrs. TJ and I are dying to try one of these days.

When we were led back to our table, this time we got the corner table with a nice view of the whole room and we got to sit around the two closer sides together instead of across from each other which was nice.

We were greeted upon being seated by both the same wiater we had as last time (great guy, don't know his name) and Kelly (I think that is her name, and the manager?). The waiter made it a point to ask which one of us knew Mark, the sommelier from Citronelle (whom I know only really from here on eGullet), to chit chat about that a bit. Mind you, I made the reservations this time on Opentable and I don't think I'd even mentioned Mark to anyone there, so I'd imagine that somehow they remembered this or flagged this as a tidbit to remember somehow if we came back anytime soon -- nice touch.

The way you order in the main dining room is 3, 4 or 5 course prix fixe. They have three different course sections that you can choose from that one would typify with a first course, a second course, a main course and then a dessert menu for that. They also offer a cheese course for $9 extra. But, here's what is really cool, if you want to order say a 4 course dinner, and you want to eat four what are all essentially choices from the main course section, you can all for the same prix fixe price. You'd better be hungry though! We opted for the four course, with one choice from each section and then dessert.

Here's what we had--

Mrs. TJ had--

Trio of Fish-- Piquillo pepper stuffed with Maine crab and fennel slaw, Spanish Mackerel cured in house aged vinegar and yellowfin tuna tartar with citrus (I think blood orange)

Chick Pea and Lime Soup with baccala cakes and parsley (Mrs. TJ declared this course 'transcendant')

Wild Texas Boar Loin and Leg, pan roasted, with buckwheat polenta, braised red cabbage and a sauce made with Sicilian olives

Bread pudding of dried fruits

I had----

Scottish Salmon, lightly smoked with a salad of leeks, almonds and Bouchot mussels from Maine

Shrimp and Shrimp Boudin, wrapped in Eastern Shore chard leaves over a stew of Castellucio lentils with a Willakenzie verjus and bay leave emulsion

Pennsylvania Veal 'Parmentier' -- Veal cheeks, neck and breast in a leek and potato stew with carmelized salsify and black truffle sauce

Pumpkin Cheesecake with pumpkin seed brittle (the brittle made the dish!)

Mrs. TJ's mackerel in her first course was amazing. The tuna tartare was delcious and very inventive as the citrus (I think it was blood orange?) was interspersed with the tuna, but, because of the color differences, you could hardly tell it apart, so it was a surprise waiting to happen in your mouth! My Scottish salmon was divine. Nice light smokiness was complemented really well with the mussels and the leeks and almonds. Frank Ruta does this often, I believe, he makes not only the tastes excellent, but he makes the textural things wonderful too, trying to give you nice contrasting elements to excite your tastebuds.

Mrs. TJ's 2nd course, the Chick Pea and lime soup, was truly wonderful and transcendent. How and why it appeared to be so orange is still a mystery to me, but I am guessing there were some other spices and seasonings at play here that might have lended the color as well. The baccala was a great contrast to the soup as well. My shrimp concoction was wonderful. Served in a tiny cast iron pan inside of a larger dish, everything was still frothing and foaming with great abandon as it was presented to me. The Boudin was delicious and the chard wrapping was wafer-thing, but the sauce and froth and tiny veggies and the most tendy and tasty shrimp on the planet really, REALLY made this dish for me. It was excellent.

Mrs. TJ's next course, the Boar with the buckwheat polenta and braised red cabbage. Yum. While the loin was not quite as tasty as the legs (oh the legs!), the crispy and essence of being wild meat paired with the buckwheat polenta made for a great pairing . Mix in a little of the apparently carefully cut tiny wedges of cabbage, then braised (they looked like tiny jewel slices) to cut things up, man that was good. I had the veal dish which was really not a stew at all. The veal was fall apart perfectly juicy good. The potatoes and the salsify were cut the same and almost looked the same in the preparation, giving you a chance for a surprise in your mouth again depending on which thing you actually stabbed with your fork and then ate. The black truffle sauce was a really good, light, but very depth of flavor tasty kind of sauce that pulled everything together. Nice.

Mrs. TJ's bread pudding was delicious, but only a slight disappointment compared with previous tasties we'd consumed here. I got the pumpkin cheesecake, which won out over the pear tart I'd been eyeing. I was hoping for something different than an orange slab of cake, and my wish came true. There was a bit of cheesecake suspended between two layers of pumpkin poofi-creaminess and sprinkled lightly with tiny pumpkin seed brittle. The brittle and the separation of pumpkin and cheesecake make this dish for me. The combinations you could make allowed for different flavors and textures to be combined to your satisfaction. Yum.

Palena is pretty small, maybe 40 seats in the dining room and other 30 or so capacity in the front at the bar and tables, so it was no surprise that Kelly, the manager, was there ready with our coats as we eheaded out after a bit of raving of the dishes. I love three hour leisurely excellent meals. Palena is one of my favorite current dining destinations and it is highly recommended.

PS: with the first and second course selections, we opted to pop the 2000 Kistler McCrae Vineyard Chardonnay we'd brough (we'd had a Dehlinger Pinot as our red option). Since we had to drive back, two bottles was not really an option. Perhaps one day we'll metro it and then bring and drink two.

Oh well, TTFN.

[maureen]

"Palena is in Woodley Park in NW DC"

uh, no, it's in Cleveland Park - Woodley Park is the next stop south.

[tjaehnigen]

"Palena is in Woodley Park in NW DC"

uh, no, it's in Cleveland Park - Woodley Park is the next stop south.

D'oh! Oopsie

[silentbob]

Random question -- is the roast chicken on the bar menu meant to serve one or two people?

[littlechinagirl]

One. As an average-sized young woman, and I have no problem scarfing down half of the wonderful Palena fries, every bit of the whole succulent, crisp-skinned roast chicken, and a dessert. Man, that pumpkin cheesecake is amazing!!

[littlechinagirl]

The whole order of the half chicken, that is.

[John W.]

Had a wonderful dinner at Palena last night (twice this week). Although I felt guilty about a restaurant person dining on a Friday night, I quickly got over it when the food started arriving. Potato gnocchi with pancetta and fava beans is a perfect example of how good of a cook chef Ruta is...simple flavors and simple presentations hide the fact that a whole lot of effort and technique goes into each dish. The flavors were clean, pure and balanced. Dish after dish was spot on.

We were looked after so well it made me forget (in addition to some wonderful juice) we were feet away from a busy Connecticut Ave, and also exact menu items; suffice it to say everything that hit our table was perfect. Service was right on, but not obtrusive. The coup de grace though was this - I ordered a dish that had mushrooms in it (pretty bad allergy) but they weren't listed on the menu. Someone knew (I've never brought it up there that I'm aware of), the dish was altered. That simple act is what makes good places great.

Thanks again to the staff of Palena for a wonderful (the second this week) evening.

[bilrus]

The coup de grace though was this - I ordered a dish that had mushrooms in it (pretty bad allergy)

Just curious, does that cause problems in preparing muxhrooms in addition to eating them?