Jose and I had lunch at another wonderful restaurant which I don’t recall the name of (it began with a Z?) and I have no idea where I was. Jose picked me up at the Library of Congress & drove me there. So Jose, I’ll pass the details back to you.
ZAYTINYAIt's a
mezze restaurant. Lots of little dishes from the Eastern Mediterranean: Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, etc. They also some worthwhile main dishes, but the
mezze are the way to go, and they're perfect for sharing. Just order a couple for the table, along with some wine if you so desire, and you're all set for a wonderful meal. It can get quite busy and hectic in there, so I usually suggest going there in the mid-afternoon between the lunch and after-work rush. However, at night, with all the candles lit up, it's quite a nice room to dine in.
Zaytinya is one of the sister restaurant's to chef, Jose Andres, first restaurant,
JALEO,
which is a
tapas restaurant. Another "small plates" affair, this time focusing on the food of Spain. *And I highly recommend splurging on the White Sangria there with your meal.
And if you want to try out the small plates of Mexico, he has another restaurant
OYAMEL.
Alas, it's currently closed - he's moving it from one location to a new one, but it should be open by the time you make your trip to DC.
Then there's also his South American restaurant,
CAFE ATLANTICO,
which is also the home of
MINIBAR.
Cafe Atlantico is more of a formal sit-down restaurant, while miniBar is a chance to experience quite the culinary odyssey. -It's a bit hard to explain, so check out the website for details. However, I do have to say, that they do some amazing and delicious things there with crushed Altoids, various foams, syringes, cotton candy, vaporizers and foie gras. -Among other things.
