Lavandou

We have arrived at the south of France. Having traveled there, we really just needed a reminder of the the flavors. We had read mixed reviews of Lavandou but it is the only restaurant that semed to have an emphasis solely on Provencal cuisine so we decided to give it a try. I got a good vibe when I called to make a reservation and the host said "Lavandou bonjour".
We arrived a bit late for our reservation which was no problem because the place wasn't very crowded. I ordered a Kir and Julian had a Pastis. As appetizers we had Escargots (even though they are not really Provencal) and some croustade with rilletes de canard (pate) and ratatouille. Everything was very well prepared and delicious. I thought the ratatouille could have used more eggplant. The pate was very smooth and declared yummy by the meat eaters. The parsley butter with the escargots was a vibrant green and delicious. We soaked up every drop with the bread.



Our main dishes reminded us what we had tasted in France. The portions were also European sized but that is OK with us it gave us room for dessert. We had Daube Provencal, Cassoulette de fruits de mer, Baudroie, and Agneau suce miel. The Daube is a typical provencal stew; dark brown and rich yet not as heavy as Bouef Bourguignon. Julian chose veggies instead of noodles with it and they were delicious: lightly steamed with tons of garlic. I think I stole most of the veggies. John's Cassoulette was really a light version of boulliabaisse. There was a good amount of seafood and the broth had a delicious flavor of tomato and a bit of anise. The aioli was heavy on the garlic and smooth. You just can't go wrong with garlic and mayonnaise. Julia's lamb with honey glaze was yummy. The glaze wasn't cloyingly sweet and there was the faintest hint of lavendar in the background. It went beautifully with the grilled artichoke accompianment. My Baudroie was good but not terribly inventive. It was just monkfish with olives and a sauce. However it was perfectly prepared. For wine we just went with the house wines a Pinot and a Sancerre. They were very nice and a good deal. The negative review we read said the saving grace was the creme brulee, so we just had to order some. We all thought it was amazing. I don't even like creme brulee and I wished we had ordered two. It had the crunchy topping and a creamy filling but it wasn't as eggy as most creme brulee I have tried. I swear I would go back just for that.

La Dolce Vita

This was a disappointing stop on our journey around the world. I knew Italy was going to be difficult because Italian food is so well known and represented or is high end and expensive, tasty but not necessarily authentic. I decided that it would be fun to try the restaurant owned by a family that lives near us. They are originally from NYC and I thought it would be authentic. They do have this fun wood fired stove. The place was packed when we arrived so my taste buds were prepared for some good old New York Style Italian food. After we'd eaten I can't say I can figure out why it is so crowded.
The appetizers and desserts were the best parts of the meal. The Vongle Oreganata was yummy with lots of garlic, parsley and toasted breadcrumbs. The clams were tender not rubbery and the topping perfect. The Melanzane Ripieni were good although very small. Roasted peppers in the stuffing gave them a distincly sweet finish.



The pizza Napoletana was good. The crust is very thin; just the way I like it. It actually looked exactly as it had been described in a book by someone who had been to Naples to get this exact pizza. A sweet thin tomato base is topped liberally with fresh mozzeralla and a few basil leaves give it some color. The basil leaves are missing because we were so hungry we forgot to take a picture.


Everyone else chose pasta dishes. Julian got Fettucini a al Chingale. Very disappointing. I think we found three small pieces of boar nestled in the pile of pasta. We should have known. Lidia's in Kansas City makes a truely exceptional wild boar ragu and I am not sure if anyone can measure up to it. Spaghetti Puttanesca is a typical southern Italian dish so Julia got that. It was tasty enough; slightly spicy with a disctinct yet mellow anchovy flavor. Still I make as good or better at home. John got Linguini al Vongole. We were impressed by the amount of clams and the fact that they were tender but otherwise just a pretty OK dish.

We had a glass or two of wine; a very fruity Gavi and an Orvieto that was a bit sour not just dry.
The two house made desserts are tiramisu and cannoli. Neither one dissapointing. The cream in the tiramisu is light and not too sweet. It has a nice coffee flavor which left me wanting more. Cannoli are not my favorite but the filling is light and not too sweet a very nice finish to a meal.
Dolce Vita is fine if you just need to get a meal that isn't horrible, but we save our eating out dollars for what we hope will be worth spending money on; something we can't make at home or wouldn't make at home. Not necessarily fine or fancy dining but something worth going out for. I guess the trouble is we eat a lot of Italian at home and have become pretty good at the usual suspects. I hope we can find a better choice when we get to Northern Italy.

Zatinya

This had to be the best experience we have had so far. It definitelty helps to tell our server what we are doing. They usually take an interest in helping us find the right dishes. Our waiter Jab was great. The restaurant specializes in Leabanese, Turkish and Greek. Since we had already done Lebanon and Turkey we asked Jab which dishes were specifically Greek and he pointed us in the right direction. The plates are all mezze (small servings) which we love because we can try a big variety. After we ordered our first set of mezze Jab brought us as a surprise a taste of Ouzo. Not my favorite flavor but it was nice of him. It was actually a smoother anise flavor than the Raki we had in "Turkey".


Our first round of mezze consisted of Zuchini patties, Tzaziki, Augotaharo, Garides Saganaki, Spanakopita, Cretan Snails, Octopus Santorini, and Rabbit Stifado.
We got so many dishes that I can't describe them all in detail. The Augotaharo it is a bit strange. Like a carpaccio of very salty intensified smoked salmon. The Spanakopita was like a canoli stuffed with creamed feta and spinach: not what we were expecting at all. The Saganaki sauce was so good I could have just had a bowl of it to dip my bread in and been a very happy camper. The Octopus surprised me; grilled it wasn't chewy at all and it really picked up the flavor of the grill. The tzatziki was so creamy and delicious. It is hard to believe that it is simply cucumbers, yougurt, garlic and a bit of salt.

We had some very nice Greek wines with our meal. The whites were Malgousia and Robiola they were both good. They went very nicely with the meal. The red was Agiorgitiko. It was a nice complement to heavier flavors. We orderded a couple more dishes. Sakikopite and Short Ribs Kapana. The short ribs had cinnamon sented tomato sauce. The sauce was not sweet and the cinnamon does not overwhelm. It was delicious.
Even with all of that we saved room for desert and coffee. We got the fresh cheese tart and the Turkish delight.

It was strange that both were deconstructed ice creams basically. I must admit I was a bit disappointed when the desserts arrived because they were not what I expected. However, the flavors were very nice. The Thyme ice cream was actually good and it was served with a scoop of the fresh cheese and sprinkled with pieces of a crust like cookie. The Turkish delight was walnut ice cream and a cinnamon wafer with some of the fresh cheese spread as a blanket under the the ice cream.
Jab must not have liked our choices. We had finshed our desserts when he arrived with a chocolate dessert and a special after dinner drink on the house. The chocolate lava cake with cardamom cream was so good we finished it and forgot to take picture. The drink was a dessert wine from Comandaria de St. John. It is the only wine they make and it is one of the wineries in the world. We would not have thought to give it a try. The wine had an intense raisiny nose but did not taste to sweet. It is not like grappa with a lot of alcohol; just a nice end to the meal.
The best surprise was the bill. We had tasted more flavors and had a fun experience than our last several restaurants and the bill was less. The mezze are definately great for getting a wide range of tastes. All in all it was a great way to spend an hour or so going on vacation while not leaving DC.