Back from a stint in Ireland, as executive chef at The Shelbourne Dublin, John Mooney opened Highland Manor (604 East Main Street) in February. With its sunny 170 seat dining room and graceful ballroom, the property, a Queen Anne style plantation home built in 1903, is long on classic Southern elegance. Co-owner is New York City-based restaurateur Mick O'Sullivan (the duo are opening a place in New York City later this year). Joining Mooney in the Southern-drawling kitchen is chef de cuisine Scott Barton (formerly a consultant for New York City-based Myriad Restaurant Group) and pastry chef Nicole Potter, who hails from Olde Hearth Bread Company (Casselbery, FL).
APPS ($7 to $12): Southern country ham platter with pimento cheese, sour mash mustard, roasted red pepper relish, and crackers; white popcorn shrimp with smoked chile rémoulade.
MAINS ($18 to $26): buttermilk fried quail with braised greens, mashed potatoes, and pan gravy; seared diver scallops with grits, hen of the woods mushrooms, and shellfish broth.
DESSERTS ($7): fried strawberry pie with buttermilk panna cotta and aged balsamic vinegar; warm pecan/chocolate chess tart with Bourbon gelato.
In March, Dan Mesches, CEO of the newly formed Stir Food Group and The Malrite Company (whose projects together include Zola, Spy City Cafe, and Zola Wine & Kitchen) unveiled 175 seat Potenza at 1430 H Street NW. Named for Mesches' southern Italian grandmother, the menu is a sentimental nod to all things Italian. Leading the kitchen is Stir executive chef/partner Bryan Moscatello and chef de cuisine Anthony Acinapura, recently the chef/owner of Prime 707 Steakhouse & Bar (Lake Worth, FL). Desserts are the work of Stir executive pastry chef Christopher Kujala. The early 20th century space, with tile floors and tufted furnishings, exudes a handsome Old World aura.
APPS ($7 to $11): charred octopus with focaccia croutons, tomato, cucumber, and red onion; braised mini lamb meatballs with roasted pepper sauce, shaved pecorino, and pine nuts.
MAINS ($12 to $24): rigatoni with Sunday gravy (meatball, spicy fennel sausage, spare rib, brasciole, and ricotta cheese); whole roasted branzino with truffled cavatelli pasta and roasted cauliflower.
DESSERTS ($7): pistachio/plum torta with honey/thyme gelato; bombolini (oven baked Italian doughnuts with morello cherry confettura).
While cooking together at 2941 Restaurant (Falls Church), Jon Mathieson and Jonathan Krinn hatched a plan to open a fine dining place of their own. They realized this idea in February with the debut of Inox Restaurant (1800 Tysons Boulevard) in Tysons Corner, a burgeoning business and shopping district. Named after the French abbreviation for stainless steel, the spacious 160 seat restaurant is understatedly edgy. Four separate private dining rooms accommodate a total of 134 additional guests. Heading up the stellar wine and beverage programs is John Wabeck, a trained chef who decamped from New Heights (Washington, D.C.). Pastry chef Scott Harlan comes by way of The London (New York City).
MAINS ($22 to $34): pan-seared red snapper with kohlrabi, winter radishes, and Granny Smith apple yellow curry; roasted rack and loin of lamb with black barley, hen of the woods mushrooms, mustard green charlotte (pine nuts, oven-dried tomatoes, braised lamb shoulder folded into a charlotte mold of mustard greens), and aged Sherry vinegar.
DESSERTS ($10 to $12): dark chocolate bread pudding with fleur de sel and kalamata olive sorbet; warm pineapple mousse with white chocolate, pistachios, and pineapple sorbet.
George Mendes, an alum of the original Bouley with more recent cooking stints at Tocqueville and Wallsé, is at the stoves for the first time as chef/owner at Aldea ("village" in Portuguese), which opened in April at 31 West 17th Street. Inspiring both the interior and the cuisine is Mendes' Portuguese heritage. The bi-level 65 seat space's blue and white color scheme references azulejos tiles found throughout Portugal. Similarly, earthy Iberian flavors are the touchstone of his restrained cooking style.
APPS ($9 to $15): cured sardines with Madeira-soaked raisins, bitter almond milk, and citrus; foie gras cooked with fig leaf, fig dégustation, and brioche.
MAINS ($18 to $27): house-cured salt cod with spring peas, hearts of palm, and jamón serrano jus; lamb belly with peekytoe crab, black trumpet mushrooms, and sea lettuce.
DESSERTS ($8 to $11): pain perdu; sonhos, or "dreams" (beignets fried to order and served with a variety of exotic dipping sauces).
