It isn’t often that we get to eat at a national-award-winning only a week or so after it’s been honored, but it happened at Central Michel Richard in Washington, D.C., named Best New Restaurant of 2008 by the James Beard Society less than a fortnight earlier. We were there because we had eaten Richard’s food at Citronelle, his restaurant in Washington’s Georgetown neighborhood, and were blown away by it. When we heard he was opening downtown, near the theater complexes in the Penn Quarter neighborhood where we had theater to attend, it was an automatic call for a reservation. Learning of the Beard Award was a bonus. We’re not much on awards and things, but it often tips a scale when we’re in city where we don’t have much experience.
Our experience ranged from excellent to slightly above ho-hum, but at Central’s prices, compared to the $75 per person tab at Citronelle, we’ll give it some leeway, especially since the great preponderance of what we ate was delicious.
Central is essentially bistro food in a subdued modern setting. The bar is large and comfortable, and because of its location across from the Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service, it gets plenty of the mover-and-shaker business. Fortunately, the restaurant’s service seems to be A-1; we can’t imagine what making those folks wait for their grilled salmon with lentils would be like. (We do hear they’re pretty patient when it comes to the house’s fried chicken, though.)
We began with a half-dozen oysters, fresh and briny, and went on to some wonderful mussel chowder, full of cream and flavor. What the menu terms faux gras and rillettes was a winner, chicken livers treated like foie gras in a smooth, delicately seasoned pate and duck gently cooked in its own fat, seasoned and shredded, all a carnivore’s delight.
An evening special was soft-shell crab, which arrived cut in half and emerging from creamed fresh corn. All nicely cooked, but somehow the dish lacked excitement. The corn was missing flavor and seasoning, and the single crab was nothing more than adequate. On the other hand, a dish of scallops and linguini rewarded us with perfect scallops and a fine pesto sauce on the fresh pasta. In addition, the pasta itself was neatly wrapped in a flattened cylinder, a presentation we’ve never come across before.
On the dessert front, again, it was one hit and one near miss. Pear sorbet and a pear tart were pleasant, but good examples of why some people feel that a pear’s flavor is too delicate to capture anywhere but the fruit itself when perfectly ripe. Technically excellent pastry and sorbet in terms of their texture, but all quite wan when it came to taste. On the other hand, there was the chocolate mousse. Ah, that mousse…rich, fluffy rather than dense, fine chocolate flavor, and the giggly touch of being topped with some artfully placed crunchy pieces of chocolate-covered somethings. Seems silly? Yes, but the contrasting crunch really added a new dimension to things. And finding raspberry coulis underneath was a nice reward.
A good wine list, including the by-the-glass choices, and a serious cocktail menu a well. And be sure and watch for the piles of dishes as part of the decor.
Central Michel Richard
1001 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC
Metro: Federal Triangle, Metro Center
1-202-626-0015
Lunch Mon.-Fri., Dinner nightly
Credit cards: All major
Wheelchair access: Good
Smoking: No
Entrees: $17-$29
