One of my closest friends was coming to visit me and she coincidentally is one of the inspiration for this blog due to taking me to Komi years ago and showing me some of the joys of cooking. As we always do, we booked a table at a place we've never been to with the hopes of if being so good that we'll remember the meal when we talk about it years later. The choice for this particular adventure was Cityzen with head chef Eric Ziebold. Foodies will remember that Ziebold is a former James Beard regional winner and Cityzen was a Gayot top 40 restaurant in the US in 2008. As such, Cityzen has been on my radar for a while now as is housed in the gorgeous Mandarin Oriental Hotel in DC and is consistently featured in Washingtonian magazine as a top 10 pick. The Mandarin Oriental Hotel is very nice. Everyone you see inside is wearing a suit coat or a blazer. High end clientele, indeed. We arrived a bit early for our reservation so we ventured a few steps away to their live jazz bar. Not only was there a female jazz singer with an incredible voice, but I had one of the better cocktails I've had in the city. A strawberry basil mojito. 16 dollars for a cocktail though? If paying that much for a pre-dinner cocktail doesn't piss you off, I suggest hitting the jazz bar before dinner.
The only knock I can give the restaurant is what took place at the entrance. When we first came in to check in, there was no one there to greet us. Extremely strange for a very nice restaurant. We stood there for a couple of minutes before anyone came to the front. A woman looked us up on the reservation list and told us to come back in 15 minutes which was fine as we were 15 minutes early. Upon re-entering the restaurant later, the Matre' D was talking to three female patrons who were trying to score a last minute reservation. Even though our table was ready, we had to stand there for 5 minutes while he dealt with them. This may seem nitpicky but when you are about to drop over 100 a person on a meal, you expect them to be able to afford to staff the front entrance properly. You never want to mess up a person's first impression of anything in life and especially not FOOD.
Thankfully, that was just a solo blip on the service radar map the rest of the way. We had several staff help manage our table including the Matre 'D himself taking our drink order. I'd have to rate the service at Cityzen very high. If not for how they manage their guests upon entry, I'd rank it up there as one of the best. The ambience was great. The kitchen isn't totally open but it isn't hidden either. You can see inside and witness some of the action as the staff works diligently to get your food out to you in perfect condition. All of the courses came out in perfect symphony. Not too soon, not too long between servings. While we were eating, a table of bigshots next to us had the privilege of Chef Ziebold talking at their table for what seemed to be at least 10 minutes! Pretty cool.
On to the food! We both opted to do the four course menu instead of the Chef's menu for the day for serveral reasons but most important of which, the fois gras was on the four course list :) The first course was a tiny Amuse Bouche of scallop flan with Peruvian potato Salad. I love a tiny bite to start off a grand feast. The server then brought some bread out to us. I chose the foccaccia which also came with butter. Thank you, Cityzen for getting the butter right. I much prefer room temperature butter so it is spreadable and that is how it was served.
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| Pure Heaven - Fois Gras with Crawfish Fricassée |
And then my favorite course of the evening - Moulard Duck Foie Gras with Crawfish Fricassée served over roasted leeks. This dish was perfect. The crawfish tasted as if they had been poached just enough that they were tender without being soggy. The best I've ever had. This dish hit the spot for me and my friend both. A not so fun fact for you Foie lovers out there.... Many states are beginning to ban it from being served. California's ban begins this summer. Inhumane practices in raising the geese in some areas of the world are ruining it for the rest of us unfortunately. But if you want a final
Foie Gras experience, you can't go wrong with this one.
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| Blackfish. Excellent! |
The next course was seafood and we both opted for fish. I really enjoy a perfectly cooked piece of fresh fish. Hers was a Potato Crusted Halibut with an oyster scallop broth. This was actually my first choice but she stole it and we wanted to try different things. So I opted for the Sauteed Pave' of blackfish as I have never had blackfish before. Both dishes were cooked perfectly and while I liked how my fish was cooked, I liked the overall flavors of the Halibut and the oyster scallop broth a lot, too.
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| Potato Crusted Halibut |
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| Beautifully prepared rabbit. Just not my favorite. |
As seems to many times be the case when I "dine finely", the mains are never as good as everything else. I'm not sure if it is because I'm always trying new things instead of going for what I know I'm going to love or what it may be. In this case, I didn't love either main dish as much as the fish or the Foie Gras before it. I opted for the Rabbit with crushed potato over top some vegetables and a Pesto-Rosemary Jus. Hers was Roasted Shoat (which we determined was a young pig) with Apricot and Favre beans. Both were good but I just wasn't excited to talk about either one.
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| Look at the grill marks on that Shoat. |
This is no fault of the chef's. It's just that neither protein would be my first choice in the future. I prefer my pig meat cooked in any way that results in a crispy skin and some of the fat melted away. The rabbit was similar to chicken to me but not as good.
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| Bread in a box |
Amidst all these wonderful courses, the server came by with a box that contained 8 rolls in it. I was about to say, you've gotta be kidding me to fill me up on rolls with dessert still to come. But when my friend groaned with pleasure and said I had to try one, I did. Three, in fact :) They look so simple but they were a buttery, salty deliciousness that you should not skip if you go to Cityzen.
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| A Sour Cream Chiboust |
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| Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Meyer Lemon Mousse |
Desserts were really good. Even though the Rhubarb Dessert I wanted wasn't on the side of the menu I was supposed to be ordering from, the server said, not a problem. The formal description of the dish was this - Sour Cream Chiboust, Oatmeal Crunch, Mint and Rhubarb Sorbet. Sounds so intricate. Very delicious.
My friend ordered the Chess pie which was Buttermilk Panna Cotta, Meyer Lemon Mousse and Heirloom Cornmeal Tuile. I actually prefered hers over mine as the Meyer Lemon Mousse gave
me heart palpitations it was so good.
Kudos to the dessert chef at Cityzen.
While we drank our coffees and reminisced on the meal and our fat bellies, the server brought out our checks and some bonus desserts. Each one was a gourmet candy in itself and I only wish I had the room left in my belly to enjoy each one properly. It was a perfect way to end a fabulous meal. I look forward to returning to Cityzen one day soon.
If you are trying to get there, the hotel is in the southwest corner of DC, almost equi-distance from the 395 and route 66 entrances into the city. It's location is also prime for great water views of the Potomac River. I was able to secure a table for Cityzen for a Saturday night several weeks in advance but when I checked a few days before just to see, they were completely booked up. I highly recommend booking well in advance of a Friday or Saturday dinner.
Rating - 4.5 out of 5 stars
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