Open Kitchen

So, I realize I'm about a bazillion posts behind, but, for the moment, rather than relive the ghosts of meals past, I thought we'd start with something current.

Tonight, P and I dined at Open Kitchen. It was on somewhat of a whim--Fridays are usually take-out-and-a-bottle of wine night, but P's been traveling a lot (so not exactly a lot of out-of-house QT) and I've seen the signs for Open Kitchen, which is theoretically just down route 7 from us and therefore closer than DC. We went in with pretty much no expectations, since it was on a whim and neither of us did any research. We left having decided that it will be our new neighborhood spot.

The ambiance: one hundred percent no-frills. The outdoor tables are diner-style brushed aluminum and the menus are paper...and not even the heavyweight kind. But the people are phenomenally friendly and the wine and food were more than solid enough for repeat performances.

Our waitress was able to nail down a red for us that was light enough for a spring evening, but both earthy and jammy (a total surprise in a CA zin!). We decided to share: mussels, veggie tart, and pork belly. The mussels were cooked well and the sauce was yummy without being overly buttery. I did get a couple gristly mollusks. Although the cheese in the veggie tart was a little stinky for my taste, overall the veggieness was generous and the flavoring good. I also very much appreciated the generous salad garnish, with two beautiful, meaty tomato slices. Best was the pork belly. Yumbos. The grits were creamy, the pork, tender and fatty without being gross, and holy crap that demi glace was good. It was the definition of umami, and so different we actually had to bring the chef over to ask what was in it!

Against our waitress' suggestions, we went with the chocolate torte, which was a bit too tootsie-rolly (in flavor and texture) for our taste, although it brought out some really interesting notes in the wine, and, let's be honest, we still completely finished. Next time, we plan to go for the cherry and white chocolate bread pudding that the waitress gushed about.

Open Kitchen also apparently has all sorts of fantastic food/wine/cooking-based events, so if anyone's ever down, let us know! We will be sure to be back. Regularly. We didn't even touch the entrees yet! (portions x-posted to yelp.com)