January 2016 – Eat Now Run Later

We have been to many Neapolitan pizzerias in the regions–It’s easily one of our favorite foods. In fact, this is the third one that we are writing about for this blog. In our opinion, 2Amys is the best all-around Neapolitan pizzeria in the DC area. Relaxed, friendly service, authentic , VPN-certified pizzas and an incredible selection of gourmet small plates.

2Amys is in Cathedral Heights, roughly between Tenleytown and Cleveland Park. The easiest metro station to access it from is Tenleytown. The downstairs dining room gets pretty crowded, so we ate in the more subdued and smaller upstairs dining room. The wine list looked solid and the beer list was short but well-curated. We abstained, as this was a late lunch for us and we were planning on drinking later with dinner. On the flip side is what makes 2Amys special; an extensive list of gourmet small plates.

We chose the salt cured sardines with bread and butter, prosciutto san Danielle and smoked salmon with goat cheese crostini. The salty sardines had no fishy taste at all and they went beautifully with the creamy butter and the crusty bread. The salmon was paired with very mild goat cheese on toast, the same bread as the sardines. The salmon was thicker than normal smoked salmon which gave it a nice chew.

The pizza was a quality Neapolitan pizza, although it was overshadowed by the small plates. That is more a comment on how good the small plates are than a knock on the pizzas. We ate the prosciutto with the pizza, at times together. The prosciutto is not housemade, but it was among the better that we’ve had.

The server gave us absolutely no pressure to order a certain amount of dishes. I wish 2Amys was a little closer, because I have a feeling we will be back very soon!

Best Bite
Paul: Salt cured sardines with bread and butter
Marnay: Smoked salmon and goat cheese crostini

Address
2Amys: 3715 Macomb St NW, Washington, DC 20016
Closest Metro: Cleveland Park

On Friday night, we met at Union Station after work and took the metro to Cleveland Park to go to Ripple. We were 30 minutes early for our 7:30 reservation, but the hostess immediately walked us through the long, narrow bar area to our seats in the small dining area. She even took our coats.

I noticed that the bar area had a grilled cheese station manned by a student from L’Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg (he was wearing an LADC chef’s hat), which I thought was a nice opportunity. The décor and concept of Ripple is very similar to Jackie’s; colorful dining area, couch-like seating, etc. The only difference is that the flannel-clad servers at Ripple are a bit more relaxed than the servers at Jackie’s. It’s hands-off service, which can be refreshing.

We knew that we wanted a bottle of wine and since Ripple’s wine list is huge, we asked our server for her recommendation. We let her know that we wanted a Pinot Noir or something similar for around $50. She recommended a 2013 St. Innocent Village Cuvee Pinot Noir from Oregon’s Willamette Valley. (Coincidentally, I had been reading an interesting article on 2013 Oregon Pinot Noir That afternoon) Since they also sold it by the glass, she let us try a little before we decided!

We were brought fresh, pillowy-soft rolls with what taste like everything bagel seasoning. I would buy these if they sold them, they were so good.

We had our first two courses brought out to us at the same time: Marinated endive with roasted baby beets, walnut butter and blood orange and then venison tartare with juniper scented yogurt, smoked egg yolk and sunchoke chips. The roasted beets went well with the walnut butter. While the endive was nice and bitter and good on its own, it did not go as well with the butter. The best part of the tartare was the smoked egg yolk. It brought so much richness as well as an intensely smoky flavor.

We shared a main course of hot smoked sablefish with horseradish crème fraiche, marble potatoes and dill. Sablefish, or black cod, is similar to Chilean Sea Bass. The fish was so smoky it reminded me of bacon, though it still had the consistency of a flaky white fish. The root vegetables went well with the fish, but there was a little too much crème fraiche on the potatoes. Ripple focuses on serving seasonal products, which is why there were a lot of hardy root vegetables on the menu.

We wanted to try a little bit of everything, so we had charcuterie with our main course. We ordered prosciutto di Parma, bresaola (air-dried beef) and house made duck prosciutto. The meats went well with the flatbread crackers they were served with.

We had eaten a lot at this point, but the dessert list was too good to pass up. Warm cranberry apple cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top served in a mini cast-iron skillet.

We were treated very well at Ripple. The food was good and I am pretty sure that we will go back and sit in the bar area. I can’t say that the food was that much different than other fine-dining restaurants throughout the region. The relaxed service may give Ripple an edge over the others, however.

Address
3417 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008
Closest Metro: Cleveland Park