Han Dynasty Dinner and Darts With Friends

About a week or so back I met up with a few high school buddies for dinner at Han Dynasty. We had cumin lamb.

And garlic eggplant.

And twice fried scallops. Not pictured, but consumed, included green beans, pea shoots, cold noodles with sesame and spicy cucumbers. All very good.

Then we went to Buffalo Billiards where some non-high school folks joined us for dart times. I could have sworn that more photos were taken of me with people, but this is the only proof I have: E., me and  Mr. Ass. An evening that went quite well and allowed me the chance to see a few dart folks one last time as well as just other people I like. A successful night on the whole.

Birthday Dinner c/o Le Diplomate

When we established that we were going to spend the holidays in the Maryland/D.C. area there was the matter of a birthday dinner. Dad and I talked a bit about it at K. and A.'s wedding and then I began my research stage to consider the options. At first I was limiting myself only to the Silver Spring/Wheaton/Rockville area, but the conversation with Dad made me broaden it somewhat. I considered this Top Chef guy's place, but honestly the reviews were a bit mixed on Yelp. And I don't take Yelp very seriously, but if the overall message is 'some of the food was really good, but it was kind of weird and service wasn't awesome,' you still need to ask yourself if it's worth the hassle. I did think that a French meal of some kind would please me and also be in Dad's comfort zone, so I began honing in on French restaurants in the D.C/MD/VA vicinity. In the end, and not without at least a little Facebook input, I suggested we try a reservation at Le Diplomate. This is a relatively new restaurant in D.C. and is actually part of the Stephen Starr umbrella. Stephen Starr has a definite stake and reputation in the Philly area as one of the 'big-time' restauranteurs. I have not been to all his establishments, but I have been to a hand full. And whatever the formula is, they generally seem to work. Le Diplomate certainly did. Due to not planning many more weeks in advance, the only available times were either around 5 or 10 PM. Dad went with the earlier of the options, which I think was a very good idea. I started off the meal with a pamplemousse cocktail, which I can't find on the website to more fully tell you about. From my own recollection it did the balance between sweet and tart quite excellently. Refreshing but not cloying, with just a little effervescence in the mix.

I will admit that the lighting in the restaurant was better for the actual moode and place than for the photographs I tried to take. They also had very neat/old school tiled bathrooms with sinks that one child I encountered called "really cool." So please forgive the photographs, is really what I'm saying. So the Starr restaurants, I think the thing that really is down to a science is how to put together a relatively effective and professional team. Our server never got flustered by our delays in actually making a decision about the meal, laughed at our jokes, asked the right questions and knew most of the answers to ours. Basically I have zero complaints about the service. Though I will say that we pretty much stumped one newer employee when we asked for more detail about some of the accompaniments to our first round of dishes. But when he didn't know the answer he made the effort to go find out and come back, so that was nice.

I debated on what exactly I would order quite a lot in the days and hours leading up to this meal. I had a few concrete ideas but didn't know what combination would make the most sense. In the end I showed very little restraint. Here is the foie gras parfait...this was the fluffiest, spreadiest, heaven-on-earthiest of foies that I've had in quite some time. The thick toast and fennel aigre doux were the perfect texture and flavor to accompany this rich piece of manna. Seriously good stuff.

I also couldn't resist the frissee salad with duck confit, poached egg and potatoes. Variations of this salad have been my favorite for quite a number of years. The way the yolk mixes in with the existing dressing just makes a magic meal, especially if you add duck into the equation.

Then there was the deliberation of what to actually eat. Ultimately I chose to go with the roasted scallops with red wine salsify, truffle sabayon and black trumpet mushrooms...as well as what I recall as being some kind of legume or potato? I kind of forget that detail. I thought the scallops were well prepared and executed though I thought they were perhaps just a tad salty...that might actually be a reaction to my father's dissatisfaction with the grilled loup de mer he ordered, which he found too salty. His dish did come with tapenade, so perhaps it should have been expected. Meanwhile when I tried his dish I thought it wasn't that salty and, in fact, though my own dish was moreso. Dad didn't agree on his own comparison testing. In the end I wasn't too bummed about the salt level and was pleased with the tenderness of the scallop and the savory elements of its rich butter sauce magic topping.

We had this wine with our entrees.

Above, the photoshopped version. Below, the original. It's bascially like I did nothing, except I spent 15 minutes trying to do something. Alas. The main change is that Dad's country terrine and lettuce accompaniment turned a very different set of colors. Blue lettuce is de rigeur, don't ya know?

We opted for coffee and Armagnanac instead of dessert, in large part because we did have a secondary appointment for the evening and I felt that we were going to be too late if we had any additional courses. When we exited the restaurant we both took a moment before looking around for cabs, and during those moments I noticed a guy standing a few feet away that looked vaguely familiar. After a few surreptitious glances, we met eyes and I finally just asked him if his name was H., which it was, and he asked me if I was me, which I am. H. and I went to high school together! I was quite amused by this random run-in and asked whether we could have a photograph taken in order to prove that it ever happened. Dad and I were both a little punchy, so this is actually the photograph that he took for us. H. is pretty tall and clearly Dad's main goal was getting the sign in the photo. Still, a funny ending to a great meal. 

Big thanks goes out to Dad for the birthday dinner!

Birthday Fun Times c/o Buffalo Billiards, Han Dynasty and Yakitori Boy

My birthday fell on a Tuesday this year, which isn't really ideal for a night of celebration given the propensity for the people I know to have jobs that require them to use their brains effectively on weekday mornings. So I sent out a call to birthday arms for the Saturday preceding the actual day of my birth. It was sort of a two-pronged call. To a slightly  more select group I suggested dinner and to a broader, more dart-loving group I suggested darts before that dinner. This was all a bit more last minute than might have been ideal, but I was still really pleased and grateful for the turn out...nothing worse than inviting folks to your own birthday celebrations and finding yourself totally alone. L. and Fat T. came down from Brooklyn a bit before our first scheduled activity. I made a little cheese plate and L. and I drank champagne while Fatty and A. drank beer. We all threw some darts. Then it was on to Buffalo Billiards, where our numbers soon allowed us to take control over all three boards.

Mr. Ass couldn't make dinner, but we did play a game of darts. It was a funny mix between the true blue darters and some of my less dart savvy friends. The majority of darters are legitimately better than me, and usually when I played them I lost. Meanwhile the friends who aren't throwing darts on a daily or weekly basis were quite impressed by my prowess. My dart ability: a sliding scale of awesome based solely on others' own abilities.

After a good amount of time playing the darts, it was time for our rather late dinner reservation at Han Dynasty's new Old City location, just down the block from its old one. I basically ordered for all of us after hearing certain suggestions or desires from the crowd. So our meal ultimately included dumplings in hot chili oil.

Cucumbers in hot chili oil...these suckers are sooo good .

Dan Dan Noodles. Not everyone ordered a sazerac, but I did and I loved it.

This was the cumin lamb.

This was L. reacting to her imminent turn getting the cumin lamb as A. scoops some on his own plate.

I think this is Fatty and LW with the eggplant.

Yep. Succulent, savory eggplant. Love it.

This was either the kung pao chicken or the garlic chicken,

I think this was the twice fried fish maybe?

String bean magic.

Pepper scallops if I recall correctly. SO GOOD.

The dinner was quite lovely and I was so pleased to share my birthday with such fun and funny folks. After that C. and R. went home while Fatty, L., LW, A. and I decided that we would try to do some karaoke at Yakitori Boy, which we did. I sang a Tom Petty song. We also just sang along with all the other people singing. A.'s gf G. joined us and the night went late.

Sake bombs did happen.

I don't really know what's happening in this photo except that LW and I both look quite taken aback, but from different things.

I'm a homebody for much of my daily, weekly or monthly existence, and the older I get the more okay I am about it...that said, every once and a while it's good to have an evening full of folks and fun, and this was certainly such an evening. A hearty thank you goes out to all who partook in my pre-birthday fun times!

Dinner c/o Paper Canoe in Duck, NC

At one point the idea was had that all 20 of us might find a way to go out to dinner as a group. This was a lovely theoretical plan, but it did have a few glitches. The largest glitch was simply that there weren't many restaurants that could cater to such a large party, and those that did could only seat us at a time that would conflict with a desire to get all the kids in sleep mode before 11:30. But the idea of going out - sans kids - still appealed to one and all, which led to a plan of shifts between the parents and grandparents of the youth. Dad and I weren't really on kid duty, but I think we ended up in the 'late shift.' We went to the Paper Canoe. We were a little early so we sat at the bar for a second for a warm up cocktail. I went with a dirty martini with three olives.

We were then seated with a lovely view of the sound/bay enhanced by a not-yet-set sun, the rays of which delightfully played across the olive oil we were served along with bread. We

Dad also ordered a bottle of wine with crab in its name and though I took a number of photographs of the bottle, I took none with the label facing entirely towards me. The laughing crab? The hesitant crab? The happy crab? One might never know.

We also ordered one of the specials of the night a mushroom, duck and brie puff pastry served with a bit of pesto and red pepper coulis. I think it was coulis. It was coulis like in any case.

It was definitely above average. The mushrooms were perfectly seasoned, the pastry flaky and not so doughy or heavy, and just the right amount of brie to pull it all together.

I leaned towards the crab stuffed shrimp for my main dish. And they were not bad. The crab meat itself was a little too shredded overseasoned for my lump loving purist self.

Dad had the scallops with an Asian-ish bent to it, with sesame soba noodles and a rich broth. The scallops were tender and perfectly seared. Nice work.

It was a nice meal and much quieter than the many shared with such a rag tag group of folks. Both are good experiences, but very different from one another.

Birthday Magic Times c/o Modo Mio

Ever since my first Modo Mio experience with LB back in 2009, I have always thought that celebrating a birthday at the establishment would be a whole heck of a lot of fun. Even when just a guest with no particular reason for celebration, the meal is in itself just that. I also heartily enjoy the how the bustling space's patrons will all come together and sing happy birthday to a total stranger in a way far more authentic than you might come across at, say, TGIFridays. So when I started thinking about how I might want to mark my 31st year on earth, I decided enough was enough: Modo Mio it would be. I am so happy that a great group of folks were all able to make it and celebrate with me; I really just had the most delightful dinner and overall birthday night. So. To start. We were a table of 9, so there were plenty of opportunities to try other plates than my own. For example, this was the chicken liver creme caramelle with fennel apple jam, gorgonzola and crostini, which CP ordered. The liver remained a revelation free of that extra bite that can make liver go so wrong for some, but we both commented that we were surprised by the temperature of the overall dish, which was cold. Definitely on-purpose-cold, but I believe we thought it might have been better at room temperature. I wonder if the coldness had to do with keeping the liver in shape?

BC tried the beet dish, which seemed pretty satisfying in a more straightforward way than many of Modo Mio's options.

I believe this was a fried cheese concoction that LB enjoyed?

I had this delightful seared scallop, which was served with a potato torta, fontina, and a cherry vinaigrette. Perfectly cooked and tender. And that torta, which you can't see at all, was not your run of the mill potato accoutrement. Truly added its own signature mark on the overall dish. Pleased, was I.

I believe this is CP's goat cheese ravioli, which was really just so very good I don't have words.

R.'s lasagna?

BC's gnocchi.

My bucatini. Oh man. I love this simple pasta with its pancetta, pecorino and bit of spiced up tomato sauce/dressing. While one of the great things about Modo Mio is its oft rotating menu, I am always a bit relieved to find some version of this plate in their pasta section.

CP tried veal for the first time.

And I went with the grilled ribeye steak with aged goat cheese, chickpea crepe, boquerones and jus. By this point I was intoxicated on a combination of wonderful company, fantastic food, and BYO wine, but I still found the energy to make a marked dent in this element of the meal. So good. So very, very, good. The cheese. The chickpea. The jus! Golly oh molly.

Also offered were complimentary sambuca shots.

I think it was around this point, while drinking espresso, that I managed to get coffee on my nose, which lingered there for the majority of the rest of my evening. Literal brown nose.

And then there was dessert. We just ended up getting two sample plates of everything. And man oh man was everything just a wonderful show of how sweet can be mellow and how sweet can be neat. Why yes, it was a wonderful show.

Seriously. Thanks to BC, CM, LB, AS, BM, LW, CP and R for all coming out and making this such a truly special evening!