A SUPER Tuesday

MATTHEW0 COMMENTSFROM THE LUNCH BOX, REVIEWS, WINE FOR LUNCH

Mar 13

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Charcuterie Board with Slovenian White and French Cab Franc

It’s election time in Washington, so every day here is a super Tuesday. Come find out more from Haidar Karoum, Executive Chef, what it is to taste 10 different versions salumi, proscuitto, et al.

Proof

775 G Street, NW

Washington, DC 20001

(202)737-7663

The people behind Estadio and PROOF IN WASHINGTON, D.C. have got a certain something wonderful going on. I am completely in love with their Spanish-influenced cuisine and flair for standing appetizers, just like you are in Spain itself. At Proof in Chinatown, Lady O and Miss Kimmie said we just had to meet up. Kimmie’s Timmie had planned on being there, but crapped out at the last minute, leaving Kimmie on her own, looking elegant and eminently date-able at the bar, waiting for a man.

That man was me! Lucky me.

Smartened Up Versions of Dumbed Down Appetizers

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By the time Lady O arrived (FYI: don’t drive here, there’s no parking within a hundred miles of the place), Miss Kimmie and I had ordered that amazing charcuterie board you see at the top of this blogpost for $30. There was enough for three; there was too much for three. We were set. And the board consisted of such delicious treats. The terrine was a beef and veal mélange made to taste like a bowl of phở. I was duly impressed. It tasted exactly like phở, and it made me want a $25 block of it. The speck (spice-cured pork leg) was also outstanding. And as you can imagine, the finocchioana, a fennel scented pork salume was off the chain.

And before 7 p.m., their Slovenian white or French Cab Franc is only $5.00 a glass. It’s a hearty snack and the wine to boot! What a super Tuesday.

My gawd, the crowds this place gets on a Tuesday! And it’s still the middle of a deep, dark recession.Urgh.I thought early in the week would make a difference. No such luck. Oh, man, and the behavior of some of these people and their chair reserving! Enough to make you strangle puppies before their eyes.

You’ll see in the slideshow that there were some that raised my ire.

So as I guess you can imagine, I needed a drink. The first glass of Slovenian white went down swimmingly; nothing spectacular, but at $5 for a sizable pour, I didn’t feel ripped off. It was ’round about this time that I noticed a platter of three savory meatballs calling our name.

“What do you guys think? Three meatballs for us?” I asked.

“Three of us, three of them. Do the math!” said Lady O.

And so we did. Three little meaty treats and two of the most delicious cheese raviolis I’ve had in a very long time. You’d think it’d be so dull–meatballs and cheese ravies. But the chef here knows his business well. He’s a pro in the standing-room-only bar that is the front of house for Proof.