Dinner at Scutra
Tonight, in honor of both jason237 and my eldest sister's partner, George, who have birthdays in the next week, my parents treated us to dinner at Scutra, here in Arlington.
They've expanded significantly since we were last there, more than doubling the size of their dining room. We were still seated in the older section, however, where the seating is a mite cramped with a baby to accommodate. I think the next time I go, I will make a special request to be in the other section. On the other hand, they did refrain from seating anyone immediately next to us, which was really helpful. The other problem was that a very loud party was just around the corner from my father, making it hard for him to hear the conversation or the details of the night's specials. But she was very happy to repeat those for him and the party left when we'd been there a very short time.
The specials are actually a major hassle. In addition to the regular menu, tonight they had three special starters, two special mains, plus a completely separate prix fixe menu ($21.99 for three courses)--none of which were printed. So she had to give us the details of eleven dishes and we had to try to hold those in our minds, while looking at the regular offerings.
In the end, Dad chose one of the specials: pistachio-encrusted swordfish on a salad of couscous and diced artichoke hearts, with a tomato salsa. He would have been happier if the couscous had been warm, but seemed to enjoy his fish.
Jason started with one of the special starters--spinach salad with prosciutto, mushrooms and goat cheese in a vinaigrette that was reported to be raspberry, but lacked any berry flavor. He thought it was too heavily tilted toward the vinegar, but I enjoyed the bite he gave me. His main was the other entree special, peppercorn-crusted breast of duck in a dijon-burgundy sauce with steamed new potatoes and broccolini. The duck and sauce were fantastic, but the potatoes were boring compared with the sides on the other plates and atop the broccolini were what looked like shavings of carrot, but were actually candied orange peel--a very jarring note with the other strongly savory flavors. He paired it with a glass of Full Moon--knowing it was his birthday, our server kindly overpoured him a very full glass--which was a very interesting medium-bodied red that went well with the duck.
Anne took the tamale of duck, corn and wild mushroom with a cranberry sauce and found that very interesting and tasty. Judging from the sigh of satisfaction when she first tasted her fennel pollen-crusted sea scallops wrapped in proscuitto with spinach couscous salad and tomato beurre blanc, that seems to have been as delicious as it sounds.
Mom and George both chose the yellow tomato gazpacho with balsamic vinegar from the prix fixe menu, which was refreshing and tangy, while I picked the chicken noodle soup. That was more standard than I expected from this chef, but an excellent exemplar of the dish. We all chose the breaded veal scallopini over wild mushroom risotto with broccolini, which we all agreed was delicious. The flavors managed to be intense, without any heaviness, and all balanced beautifully. I had a glass of non-oaked Chardonnay from Frei Brothers that was a really good match to my food and something I should seek out in the future.
The prix fixe menu came with a dessert of tuxedo cake--layers of chocolate cake interspersed with a very creamy white cake, covered in buttercream frosting and drizzled with chocolate sauce. Anne very considerately ate mine, while I had one of the most amazing cheesecakes of my life--creamy yet light as a cloud--served in a pool of butterscotch and topped with a fresh strawberry. Dad and Jason took the peach tarte tatin which was tasty except at the thickest part of the puff pastry crust, which was sufficiently undercooked to taste doughy. The server forgot Anne's coffee, but brought it on the house when it was pointed out, which made up for the oversight quite nicely.
Michelle was very sweet to us and provided service above and beyond the call of duty. Alice was overtired from too long and exciting a day (yoga, plus an afternoon at grandma's, plus dinner out was just too much for the poor dear) and fussing at us through most of the meal. At one point, Michelle, who has a two year old at home, swooped in and scooped up Alice (with permission) and took her for a walk around the dining room, which was a fun treat and kept her entertained for a bit. So we made it through dinner, but had to leave pretty hastily once it was done.
Overall, the service is friendly and the food is inventive and quite good, although slightly uneven. Most of all, they really need to start printing out daily menus!
They've expanded significantly since we were last there, more than doubling the size of their dining room. We were still seated in the older section, however, where the seating is a mite cramped with a baby to accommodate. I think the next time I go, I will make a special request to be in the other section. On the other hand, they did refrain from seating anyone immediately next to us, which was really helpful. The other problem was that a very loud party was just around the corner from my father, making it hard for him to hear the conversation or the details of the night's specials. But she was very happy to repeat those for him and the party left when we'd been there a very short time.
The specials are actually a major hassle. In addition to the regular menu, tonight they had three special starters, two special mains, plus a completely separate prix fixe menu ($21.99 for three courses)--none of which were printed. So she had to give us the details of eleven dishes and we had to try to hold those in our minds, while looking at the regular offerings.
In the end, Dad chose one of the specials: pistachio-encrusted swordfish on a salad of couscous and diced artichoke hearts, with a tomato salsa. He would have been happier if the couscous had been warm, but seemed to enjoy his fish.
Jason started with one of the special starters--spinach salad with prosciutto, mushrooms and goat cheese in a vinaigrette that was reported to be raspberry, but lacked any berry flavor. He thought it was too heavily tilted toward the vinegar, but I enjoyed the bite he gave me. His main was the other entree special, peppercorn-crusted breast of duck in a dijon-burgundy sauce with steamed new potatoes and broccolini. The duck and sauce were fantastic, but the potatoes were boring compared with the sides on the other plates and atop the broccolini were what looked like shavings of carrot, but were actually candied orange peel--a very jarring note with the other strongly savory flavors. He paired it with a glass of Full Moon--knowing it was his birthday, our server kindly overpoured him a very full glass--which was a very interesting medium-bodied red that went well with the duck.
Anne took the tamale of duck, corn and wild mushroom with a cranberry sauce and found that very interesting and tasty. Judging from the sigh of satisfaction when she first tasted her fennel pollen-crusted sea scallops wrapped in proscuitto with spinach couscous salad and tomato beurre blanc, that seems to have been as delicious as it sounds.
Mom and George both chose the yellow tomato gazpacho with balsamic vinegar from the prix fixe menu, which was refreshing and tangy, while I picked the chicken noodle soup. That was more standard than I expected from this chef, but an excellent exemplar of the dish. We all chose the breaded veal scallopini over wild mushroom risotto with broccolini, which we all agreed was delicious. The flavors managed to be intense, without any heaviness, and all balanced beautifully. I had a glass of non-oaked Chardonnay from Frei Brothers that was a really good match to my food and something I should seek out in the future.
The prix fixe menu came with a dessert of tuxedo cake--layers of chocolate cake interspersed with a very creamy white cake, covered in buttercream frosting and drizzled with chocolate sauce. Anne very considerately ate mine, while I had one of the most amazing cheesecakes of my life--creamy yet light as a cloud--served in a pool of butterscotch and topped with a fresh strawberry. Dad and Jason took the peach tarte tatin which was tasty except at the thickest part of the puff pastry crust, which was sufficiently undercooked to taste doughy. The server forgot Anne's coffee, but brought it on the house when it was pointed out, which made up for the oversight quite nicely.
Michelle was very sweet to us and provided service above and beyond the call of duty. Alice was overtired from too long and exciting a day (yoga, plus an afternoon at grandma's, plus dinner out was just too much for the poor dear) and fussing at us through most of the meal. At one point, Michelle, who has a two year old at home, swooped in and scooped up Alice (with permission) and took her for a walk around the dining room, which was a fun treat and kept her entertained for a bit. So we made it through dinner, but had to leave pretty hastily once it was done.
Overall, the service is friendly and the food is inventive and quite good, although slightly uneven. Most of all, they really need to start printing out daily menus!