From our friends at Knightsbridge Restaurant Group...
Beginning July 1, Ashok Bajaj, founder of Knightsbridge Restaurant Group, will embrace the arrival of summer and the return of its most popular fruit/vegetable, the vine-ripe tomato. He will be offering special dishes at his collection of popular restaurants which showcase the mighty gem. The tomato belongs to the nightshade family, Solanum lycopersicum, and the species originated in the South American Andes. While it is botanically a fruit, it is considered a vegetable for culinary purposes and is rich in lycopene, which may have beneficial health effects.
Five of Bajaj’s restaurants, 701, Ardeo + Bardeo, nopa Kitchen + Bar, Bibiana Osteria-Enoteca, and The Oval Room are rolling out tomato-centric, three-course menus with tempting choices of appetizers, entrees and desserts. The special menus presented at these five restaurants will be available during both lunch and dinner service from July 1st through 31st. All are priced at $39 dollars person (tax and gratuity not included.)
Located steps from Capitol Hill and the White House, 701 Restaurant’s Executive Chef Benjamin Lambert will be featuring appetizers such as a Bibb Lettuce Salad with cherry tomatoes, pecorino, pistachio and green goddess dressing; Chilled Cucumber Soup with tzatziki sorbet, tomatoes, lamb sausage and pita crumble, and Heirloom Tomato Salad with burrata puree, dried black olives, fried focaccia, micro basil and pickled red onion. For the entrée course, guests will enjoy Crispy Skate Wing Filet with quinoa, green curry, cherry tomatoes, asparagus and pineapple raisin sauce; Braised Chicken Leg with green tomato salsa verde, sunchokes, snap peas and aji amarillo mayonnaise, or the Bucatini all’Amatriciana with slivered red onions, guanciale, heirloom tomato sauce and pecorino. Dessert at 701 will feature Tomato Sundae, vanilla ice cream, tomato honey, lemon pound cake and basil; Clafoutis with Sun Gold tomatoes, fig balsamic and mascarpone ice cream, as well as Seasonal Sorbets. 701 Restaurant is located at 701 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, 20004. For reservations or more information, please call (202) 393-0701 or visit http://www.701restaurant.com.
In Cleveland Park, Ardeo + Bardeo will be showcasing appetizers such as an Heirloom Tomato Carpaccio with Marcona almond brittle, mâche and gazpacho vinaigrette; Flat Rice Crusted Burrata with pickled “rooftop” cherry tomato, yellow watermelon and garlic chips, as well as Tomato and Piquillo Gazpacho with smoked corn pico, raspberry-yuzu sorbet and cucumber flower. Second course choices include Cumin Roasted Red Snapper with lollipop kale succotash, grilled apriums (cross between an apricot and a plum), basil bud and gremolata, or Joyce Farms Peruvian Spiced Chicken with purple sweet potato, green tomato curtido and cilantro crema. For dessert, guests can enjoy Summer Berry Panna Cotta with golden raspberry, lemongrass and yellow tomato coconut consommé, and Olive Oil Cake with green tomato granola, lemon basil, taleggio and saba. Ardeo+ Bardeo is located at 3311 Connecticut Ave, NW, 20008. For reservations or additional information, please call (202) 244-6750 or visit http://ardeobardeo.com/.
Those who visit nopa Kitchen + Bar, Ashok Bajaj’s American brasserie located in the heart of Penn Quarter, can looked forward to a three-course menu created by newly appointed Executive Chef Matt Kuhn. Featured starters include Wagyu Beef Carpaccio with smoked tomato mustard, Sottocenere, wild arugula and caper berries, and a Burrata Salad with Steve’s heirloom tomatoes, strawberry-tomato jam, basil breadcrumbs and Spanish balsamic. The second course includes choices of Tomato-Infused Spaghetti with Maine lobster, Calabrian chili, garlic scapes and bottarga; Pan Roasted Scallops with baby corn, patty pan squash, Sun Gold tomatoes, basil and nasturtium emulsion, and Roseda Farms Dry Aged New York Strip with bûcheron-yellow tomato fondue, roasted porcini mushrooms and charred rapini. Dessert is a choice of Brandywine Tomato & Anson Mills Cornmeal Tart with fig vincotto and basil ice cream, or Warm Black Cherry Tomato & Plum Pain Perdu with Challah and lemon thyme sabayon. Nopa Kitchen + Bar is located at 800 F Street, NW, 20004. For reservations and additional information, please call (202) 347- 4667, or visit http://nopadc.com/.
Those seeking authentic northern Italian fare, will want to visit Bibiana Osteria-Enoteca, where Executive Chef Jake Addeo will be offering a three-course menu starting with Pappa al Pomodoro, warm Tuscan tomato & bread soup, served with parmigiano focaccia crostini; Carpaccio with thinly sliced path valley farms tomatoes, peekytoe crab, arugula pesto and sherry vinaigrette, and Ricotta, whipped sheep’s milk ricotta with green tomato mostarda di frutta, watermelon “prosciutto” and sliced baby radish. For the second course, guests can look forward to Cappellacci, tomato butter stuffed ravioli with creamy mozzarella and tomato broth; Risotto, Acquerello Carnaroli risotto with marinated cherry tomatoes, duck confit and ricotta salata infornata, or the Rana Pescatrice, slow braised monkfish osso buco with roasted San Marzano tomatoes and summer squash. For the dessert course, guests can enjoy the Insalata di Melone, summer melon, sweet cherry tomato, vanilla mint sorbet and tomato water syrup, and Pomodori Verdi with fizzy green tomatoes, almond crumble, green tomato gelato and a strawberry lemon sauce. Bibiana Osteria-Enoteca is located at 1100 New York Ave. NW, 20005. For reservations or more information, please call (202) 216-9550 or visit http://www.bibianadc.com.
At Ashok Bajaj’s three-star restaurant, The Oval Room, Executive Chef John Melfi will be featuring appetizers such as Chilled Tomato Gazpacho with jumbo lump crab, watermelon and jalapeño, and the Heirloom Tomato Salad with house-made mozzarella, balsamic and basil. For entrées, guests can look forward to Acquerello Carnaroli Risotto with goat cheese, toasted pine nuts and roasted tomato compote; House-Made Linguini with roasted San Marzano tomatoes, crab, sea urchin and chilies, or Chorizo Stuffed Calamari with avocado puree, pickled green tomatoes and Meyer lemon vinaigrette. For a sweet ending, guests can choose from Tomato Tiramisu, tomato ladyfinger, basil mascarpone and tomato-basil ice cream, and Tomato Panna Cotta with bittersweet sorbet and chocolate balsamic reduction. Oval Room is located a block from the White House at 800 Connecticut Avenue, NW, 20006. For reservations or more information please call (202) 463-8700 or visit www.ovalroom.com.
