Matisse, Tenleytown, Washington, DC – John Tanner’s Barbecue Blog
After another orbit around the sun, another birthday snuck up on me. We’d hosted Ella and Lily the night before as Michael and Liza’s 10th anniversary two days had before earned them a weekend away sans kids. The girls’ presence was a present for me, especially since they both slept late. While I got ready they turned our dining room into a fort — or was it a house? — while eating breakfast and getting ready for church. Michael and Liza retrieved them after church (Georgetown Presbyterian) and Nancy and I headed off on our own.
Plan A was to go to the Armenian Festival at St. Mary Armenian Apostolic, so we parked and walked over, looked around and got in line for food. I spent a solid minute watching people trying to select foods as completely unfamiliar to them as they are to me. I looked at the length of the line slowly snaking around the common room, looked at Nancy, and left to devise Plan B, which didn’t take long We looked across Wisconsin Avenue and right there at 4934 Wisconsin was Matisse. Why not?
We walked over and sat at an outside table, which on a gorgeous day was a little bit of heaven. Our server hurried over and I decided that it would be nice to have a glass of Côtes du Rhône breathing while I drank water for a while.
Meanwhile, slices of very fragrant baguettes arrived along with some very fragrant, very flavorful olive oil.
Just look at those air holes! I wonder where they source it. The bread was hot and crusty and embraced the olive oil with open arms. I don’t blame it. I rarely perk up at the olive oil quality, but this really caught my attention.
Meanwhile we had ordered, for Nancy, the “Grilled Mediterranean Jumbo Shrimp Salad, organic greens, feta cheese, tomatoes, cucumber, and artichoke,” as the menu describes the dish, and for me, the “Duck Confit Hash, two eggs over easy with duck confit and shredded Yukon gold potatoes.”
It took a while to prepare our orders and the server came by to apologize and volunteer that the “kitchen is a little slow this morning.” I took that to mean that someone didn’t show up. The apology wasn’t really necessary because it was such beautiful day, and I was content to sit, talk, and watch the world pass me by.
The food arrived and I took a sip of my wine with great pleasure. Here’s Nancy’s salad.
As you may have noticed, the salad contained, in addition to the ingredients listed on the menu, those pretty watermelon radish slices and Kalamata olives. Nancy loved it all, except for the olives, which she passed to me (score!). She also said that the shrimp had been somewhat overcooked.
And here’s a look at my duck confit plate.
I expected the eggs and the potato cake hiding under the duck leg, but the leg itself was a compete surprise. It made me assume that they’d deconstructed the dish, and that the potato cake would be all potato. Nope. More duck was mixed in among the shredded potatoes. Heavenly! And the duck leg, which had been crisped — delicious! Oh, the eggs. They were sunny side up rather than over easy. That’s not inherently an issue, but I have found that it’s really, really hard to cook eggs sunny side up without solidifying a bit of the yolk, which is why I order them over easy or ”over very easy.” It’s especially hard when someone didn’t show up for work. I’m not very fussy about my eggs as long as there’s sufficient yolk to spread around — and also pretty forgiving for those who have to do two people’s jobs at once. And that duck leg forgives a lot of sins.
After we finished Nancy and I strolled over to the St. Louis de France Catholic Church at 41st and Garrison. You probably walked and/or drove past it and never noticed the much-enlarged house. They hold daily Masses and other functions and religious education in French, and on that day they were in the midst of a French festival. And the festival was much like other festivals — things to buy, games for children — except that they offer boeuf bourguignon rather than hot dogs. I think I’ll go next year. Ella and Lily will love it.
And I’ll go back to Matisse, perhaps for dinner or to give the duck confit another go. And check and see if thee kitchen is fully staffed. I’ve had some wonderful food there in the past, the servers are excellent, and it’s as pleasant inside as out. I hope you’ll go and let me know about your experience.
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