"We go there"

To Zola, that is. After wandering the city for entirely too long on Friday, first in search of the elusive Breadline and then in search of just about anything, we ended up at Zola, because basically its amazing. Not having reservations, we sat at the bar, which is classy and comfortable and, fortuitously, does complete food service. lovely. now, it is important to note that at Zola, "restaurant week" translates loosely into "order anything on the menu and get fat and happy." which we did. I started with the corn and mussel chowder which was basically the perfect food for a rainy day. surprisingly light and delicate for a chowder, it was full of mussels (at least 5 whole ones swimming around in there) and sweet corn, and harbored a delightful little mountain of corn flan right in the middle. it was still hot and steaming and pretty much amazing. god i love zola. then i moved on to the crabcake sandwhich. as i said to ant, i'm partial to old-bay-savory maryland crabcakes, which this was not, but it was still wonderful-- lots of sweet meat, not much filler, and fried crispy without being oily. it was served on a house-made "sticky" roll, butterry and soft, with lettuce and tomato, and tangy honey mustard dressing. To the side was an amazing little dish of coleslaw, which was flavored with wasabi and ginger and i probably could have eaten a gallon of it. and then the life-altering part: fried pickles. two big spears of dill pickle, battered and turned into pure deliciousness. delightful. (aside: i love the plating and service at zola too-- so casual without being simple, and friendly without being pushy. comfortable.) for dessert i had the flight of butterscotches, which i've been thinking about since i saw them on the menu last time we were at zola, for restaurant week in august. the three little puddings came plated on a beautiful three- welled glass slab, each labled by way of hand-written icing on a cookie placed next to it, announcing the kind of fancy-schmancy scotch that flavored it. my untrained pallate couldnt detect any difference between the three, but they were each lovely and creamy and just the right amount of salty-- like jello pudding snacks pumped full of some amazing deliciousness-steroid. the whole lunch, start to finish, took just about an hour, which was perfect timing, and you just cant beat having the entire menu to choose from. the food was fresh, pretty, yummy, (seemingly) healthy, and in portions big enough that i didn't need dinner (miraculous!). pretty much i love zola. thats right, we go there.


Zola
800 F Street NW
Washington, DC 20002
Website: http://www.zoladc.com/