Mintwood Place, Huong Viet and the 99.5th Best Restaurant

I clearly haven't devoted as much time to the food blog that you'd expect a person trying to finish two lists would. If you could imagine anything about each of those three restaurants, though, you'd probably guess they have very little in common, except being on two very different lists sponsored by the same magazine.

Despite any other intuitively logical way to proceed, we'll go chronologically, and start with the most French. I signed up for a cooking class at Living Social, offered by the chef de cuisine at Citronelle, David Deshaies. Recall that Citronelle is the last restaurant on the top 100 I have yet to visit (I'm still catching up from writing up some others, but trust me: I'm one fancy dinner away from completion). Since Citronelle, and the hotel it's housed in in Georgetown, is currently closed because of extensive remodeling, I'm going to claim I only have half a restaurant left. Or maybe three fourths? Wait until you see the quality of my macarons.

We started by making a scallop, frisee, and jicama salad, topped with hollandaise. My yolk didn't run, but it looked like it could have if cooked a minute less!

 We whipped the macaron filling by hand (egg whites and sugar here) and baked our macaron tops and bottoms.

 

The best--and the Frenchest part (see the ingredients)--was making the boeuf bourgignon. Below, in my pan, are butter, onions, and bacon.

And the desserts. Bonjour, chef! (He thought I was French until he heard me speak more and butcher his language like the poached egg before that).

 

Sonia came in town soon after, so we went derivative-restauranting: instead of going to Citronelle (because it's closed) or David Deshaie's current restaurant (Central, where I'd already been), we went to Mintwood Place, where the chef used to be sous chef at Citronelle also. Got that?

My bourbon cocktail was delicious, as were the lentils (French, hearty, and flavorful).

  

 I also ordered the bacon and onion flammekueche, a specialty from Alsace (in northeastern France), which was as good as it looks. Sonia, before eating dinner.

 

 

Unfortunately, the rest of the bevy of plates on our table were disappointing: the greasy octopus, the limp broccoli, and the overfried kale salad. Zero pour trois--pas bon.

If you can scroll a bit further, we'll let the food-quality-pendulum swing back to the good, to a two-photo Vietnamese place in Eden Center, Huong Viet, on the top 100 Cheap eats. It was lovely, reasonable, and family-friendly, albeit smelling very potently of fish sauce back near the kitchen (where I sat). I had an avocado boba drink, which was tremendous: a smooth milk-based drink with a delicate undercurrent of avocado and tapioca balls at the bottom. For dinner, I had caramelized fish in a hot pot. Vive la difference.