Jon and Nancy Breul, part of the Murch Elementary diasapora, now live in Maine. We were on the way to dinner with them once and Nancy T mentioned that her parents were celebrating their 65th anniversary. Jon blurted out in a deeply pained tone, “Sixty-five years! Oh, my God!” That was probably not the best thing to say.
At that time we were headed to the Boat House, a favorite of Jon’s at the time, before the place closed. Its former spot at 5441 Macarthur Boulevard at Cathedral Avenue now contains Claudio’s Table. Nancy had been there for lunch with her buddies and gave it a strong review, so we decided to go for lunch and invited Liza, who works nearby at Sibley, and we got lucky as Michael could come. It’s been rare that we four get together without the two angels.
Claudio’s table is a sleek space with lots of blond wood and some darker shades to soften the atmosphere.
Our server arrived, took our orders, and brought the bread service. You see three of the four pieces of bread.
Those are bell peppers cooked into the bread, and quite a good bread it was. Just look at those air holes! And the caramelization. The bread came with a fragrant olive oil, and it was a fine introduction to Claudio’s.
Liza chose the Ricotta Salad, a mixture of sheep ricotta, puntarella, arugula, candied almonds, and aged balsamic vinegar.
She enjoyed the salad’s mixture of the flavors of the sweet, intense cheese, the sharp puntarella, peppery arugula, all tied together by balsamic, at once sweet and sharp.
Michael chose a Caesar salad with chicken .
You can’t see, but it came with a yogurt herb dressing that pleased Michael. The remarkable thing about the dish is that the chicken breast remained so moist, something rarely achieved with the white meat. Nicely done, Claudio’s!
While the young people were on their good behavior, Nancy and I took the road more traveled, and that’s made all the difference, at least for me. Nancy ordered a special, Fusilli with Pesto.
Nancy is a pesto fan, and this was a particularly easy one to like. She didn’t eat all of it, of course, so I can confirm that the combination of the brightness and freshness of the basil, the pungency of the parmesan, the nutty flavor of the pinoli, and the olive oil graced the fresh pasta for a heavenly dish.
Having seen the word guanciali on the menu, I ordered the Paccherie a la Carbonara, which allowed me not only to have a fine plate of food, but also to learn what type of pasta paccherie is.
And a very fine plate it was. The egg yolk had been blended superbly with the house-made pasta, and the pecorino added a sharp flavor and brightness to balance the sauce. The guanciali had been crisped and scattered over the dish, and added that wonderful flavor. I would have preferred the guanciali more of a lardon size with just the outer edges crisped, but that’s really picking a nit. This was a wonderful dish, one I expect to order again. For that matter I may urge Nancy to ordered the pasta with pesto again if it’s on the menu.
It was a delicious meal. Dining with three of my favorite people in the world is always good, and the food at Claudio’s table added so much. The appealing combinations of flavors in the dishes was remarkable. You should try it, if you haven’t already.
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