Armed with a gift certificate to Hook for our 40th anniversary, Al and I ventured into Georgetown last night. Back in late 1960's we often gravitated here, on weekend road trips from college. Then, the stores and restaurants were all upscale and out of our reach. Now much of Georgetown has morphed into familiar mall standards, which do not make the grade as urban cool. Five Guys in the spot where Au Pied du Couchon used to be? Sacre Bleu!
After the requisite pilgrimage up and down M and Wisconsin Streets, with a side stroll along the C&O canal, we headed to Hook for dinner. This restaurant scores the foodie trifecta -- sleek decor, sustainable fish cred for its hook (I couldn't resist) and celebrity chef, Barton Seaver, actually featured in O magazine. But like many divos, he left in a huff a month or so ago. No matter, Hook has lured (sorry, again) the chef du cuisine from Oya, another amazing restaurant where we celebrated our daughter's birthday in May, and all is well.
Something about the decor in Hook reminded us of the restaurants in Barcelona, where we ate fabulously last summer, completely ignoring the pounding our dollar was taking. Our waitress at Hook had just returned from Spain, and eagerly shared her love of Barcelona, naming all the places we had been but couldn't pronounce. My first course at Hook was a trio of oysters. Good, but not the best I had ever tasted. That honor goes to a restaurant in Salthill near Galway. Sablefish for my entree last night -- a Harry and Sally moment of obscene oohs and aaahs. I'll have what she's having!
Just reading the dessert menu at Hook was pure pleasure, but there really was no choice when I saw the Nutella tart with Nutella ice cream. If you haven't tasted Nutella, there's no way you could understand. If you have, you are moaning now just thinking about a dessert like this. Scrolled on the plate in liquid chocolate was "Happy Anniversary." I took a picture with my cell phone and sent it to my sister-in-law Lois, who had arranged for the gift certificate to Hook.
On the walk back to the car, Al and I talked about how lucky we are to have experienced all these things -- oysters in Galway, chilled cucumber soup with basil ice cream in Barcelona and Nutella tart in Georgetown. Oh, and beer can chicken at our cabin in West Virginia, where the chef is also a diva.
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1 comment:
I figured out how to get the dessert photo from my cell phone to my blog, but it ain't easy. I sent the image to an online album at My T-Mobile, then emailed it from there to myself, and saved the JPG attachment to My Pictures. That way, I could grab it and insert it in my blog. I'm sure there's an easier way, but I just don't know it. P.S. The dessert really looked and tasted much better than it does in that picture, where it looks like a mussel or something.
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