We had our anniversary dinner at Fiola Mare in DC.
It was our first visit to the Italian seafood restaurant, which was open last year as the third DC restaurant by James Beard award-winning chef Fabio Trabocchi. Before getting our table, we had a drink at the bar. My "mock"tail was Marco Polo - rhubarb syrup, lemon, ginger beer. It was very refreshing.
J ordered Spring Garden - Russian standard vodka, ginger syrup, lime juice, cucumber granita. He got a little cute flower.
At our table, bread and a pond of olive oil. Bread was ok, nothing fancy.
J and I both started our dinner with Ahi Tuna Carpaccio with Meyer lemon, San Marzano tomatoes, Taggiasche olives, yuzu, sorrel cream, trout roe.
It looked colorful and pretty. It tasted a typical Italian tomato and basil flavor after all. It was a little confusing which piece was tuna and tomatoes, which could be only my problem.
My pasta was Bucatini with Alaskan king crab, espelette, Catalina island sea urchin. Unexpectedly it had a little spicy pepper kick! The "Uni" sauce was rich and tasty, but I didn't taste Uni itself. Although I understand this was a half portion, I won't mind a little bit more...
J had Rigatoni with spicy ‘Nduja, mussels, poached cod cheeks, Calabrese chile, capers, basil, pane fritto. It was spicy and had a smoky flavor.
My main dish was Olive oil-poached Maine halibut fillet - braised artichokes, swiss chard, chanterelle mushrooms, Taggiasche olive, Australian black truffle jus. I enjoyed it.
J's main dish was Under The Sea - Branzino, Maine lobster, langoustine, scallop, mussels, foie gras, quinoa, Maitake mushrooms, Parmigiano Dashi. It came with bubbles and "Dashi" soup.
Desserts! My favorite time of a dinner. Italian ricotta donuts “Bomboloni” with vanilla ice cream and butterscotch sauce. The donuts must have freshly fried. They were still very hot!
They brought us a complementary dessert, Passion fruit mousse, too. It was very tasty.
We also received two glasses of complementary champagne and a card with happy anniversary wishes. It was a thoughtful presentation.
At that time, almost of all the tables were filled and the restaurant was lively. Well, it got a little noisy, but our table was cozy.
The service was nice and attentive, a kind of textbook type, though. The atmosphere was more casual that I thought. Definitely non dress-up required. Food looked and tasted fine by featuring various Italian ingredients here and there, I should say something was missing. It was personality according to J. Yes, that's it!
