PHOTOGRAPH BY SCOTT SUCHMAN
(Continued from Page 31)
6 King St., Alexandria 703.548.0600
Authentic Thai Cuisine
www.maithai.us
FINE LEBA
1200 19th St. NW 202.452.6870
FINE LEBANESE CUISINE
in Arlington” – Tom Sietsema
“A Welcome Addition
2300 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22201 703.465.4440
www.me-jana.com Free Parking
salad in favor of, say, the fried sambusas served with fiery red and green dips. Potatoes, lentils, chickpeas and faraway spices gush with each bite of the edible packets. Dávila-Boldin’s plump roast
“A Modern Home for Classic Thai” The Washington Post
ThaiPavilionRestaurant.com
29 Maryland Ave • Rockville, MD 301-545-0244
Rockville Town Square
chicken, framed with crisp haricots verts and chestnuts flavored with duck fat, goes down like Thanksgiving. Every component is appealing, but the moist, oregano-scented stuffing is first among equals, enriched as it is with — veal sweetbreads? They weren’t selling as a special, Dávila-Boldin explains in a subsequent telephone interview, so she slipped the organ meat into the accompaniment because “everybody loves stuffing.” This isn’t Dávila-Boldin’s first time
Yechon Restaurant Fine Korean and Japanese Cuisine
(703)914-4646 • (703)914-0100 OPEN 24 HOURS
4121 Hummer Rd., Annandale, VA 22003
running a kitchen. Back in her native Chicago, and when she was only 21 years old, her restaurateur parents put her at the helm of one of their establishments, Hacienda Jalapeños. Knowing that, you should check out her tacos stuffed with crisp-edged pork, offered on a TV dinner-style tray with mellow charro beans in one hollow and whipped avocado sprinkled with sea salt in another. Lean and rosy sliced venison is another nod to Mexico. Artfully arranged with diced sweet potatoes and marble-size parisienne potatoes, the entree gets zigzags of a mole that’s made from scratch using several kinds of dried peppers, nuts, cloves, star anise, nutmeg, chocolate: a veritable spice cabinet of amplifiers. Dávila-Boldin’s sauce is dusky and nuanced, as good as any I’ve had in Oaxaca. There are few constants in life.
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One of them is the mini Elvis burger at Jackie’s. Make that burgers, since they’re served two to an order. No matter the season or who’s in the kitchen, the sandwiches are always on the menu. Unlike so many of the contenders out there, they compete not via brioche buns or designer beef but rather with crusty surfaces, juicy interiors and dabs of pimento cheese. Tucked into a soft roll with a ruffle of lettuce, the burger is impressive for its straightforwardness. Monday typically is a slow night
for restaurants. Jackie’s gives diners 12 or so reasons to leave home with a concise “cafe menu.” The roster includes those mini burgers, some scaled-down
Tacos come with charro beans, Spanish rice and a whip of avocado.
versions of regular entrees and very good fried chicken whose big white plate comes with a thick row of potato salad atop which sit golden and juicy pieces of breast, drumstick and thigh. “Amazing Grace,” rather than something from the Talking Heads, should accompany what suggests a church supper. Chicken makes more of a cameo appearance in a small potpie with a creamy filling and a flaky cap of pastry. Desserts pale in comparison with
what precedes them. Concord grapes, I discovered, are not the best way to sweeten a souffle; to me, the warm fluff tastes like Welch’s jelly. Profiteroles stuffed with multiple flavors of ice cream might be better if the pastry shells weren’t so tough. Close your eyes and bite into the heavily frosted apple cake, and you’d swear you were eating a Pillsbury cinnamon roll. A drink is more my speed, and
some dynamite ones are just steps away, in the separate (and moodier) Sidebar, accessed through the rear of the restaurant. Nine dollars gets you a well-made classic, but you can also upgrade. A Jack Rose made with applejack, pomegranate grenadine and fresh lime juice is a good thing. But finer still is the “Super Duper Uber Ultimate Pretentious Cocky” version crafted with Boulard X.O. Calvados. Its elegance is best shared: The cocktail costs $22.
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