A few weeks ago I started looking for somewhere my girlfriend and I could go for a nice quiet dinner. Palena does not do a lot of PR, their head chef does not write cookbooks or do interviews, and their location is not really anything spectacular. But this restaurant is definitely top 5 in DC in my opinion. The food, atmosphere, and service were all phenomenal.
The Palena "building" is next to a small shopping center right on Connecticut and use to be a Kenny Rogers Roasters drive-thru. The setting is real personal and feels very comfortable even though I had never been there. Before we even had a chance to look at the extensive cocktail menu our waiter walked over and gave us some complimentary glasses of champagne. Now that is the way I like to start a meal. However, we still decided to get a couple drinks in addition to that and browse over the tasting menus.
We snacked on the free bread and home made butter and we decided to go with the 3 course meal plus dessert. I had the 1) Sweet Pea and Pistachio Gazpacho (garnished with fennel salami, hard cooked egg, pickled chanterelle mushrooms), 2) Poupeton Provençal (Fish cakes roasted with Bouchot mussels, saffron and lime shellfish bisque sauce), 3) Veal loin and shortrib with wild blueberries and pearl onions, and 4) Blueberry Tart. Danielle had the 1) Raviolli and consommé with beef broth, 2) Stuffed calamaretti, 3) Nova Scotia Halibut (with Roasted heirloom beets, wilted arrowhead cabbage,horseradish froth) and 4) a coconut encrusted ricotta cheesecake.
What was great about both of our dinners was that all of the ingredients for each dish seemed to be seen right in front of you. What I mean is that everything tasted fresh and relied on the natural flavors from each food as opposed to heavy seasoning or marinating. The gazpacho, which I normally do not care for, was sweet and went great with the salt of the meat and mushrooms. The second course was my favorite. The lime that the fish cakes sat on top of made the dish and went really real with my Mendes cocktail The Mendes (Cabana Cachaça, muddled lime, Cointreau, fresh orange juice). To go with my veal the sommelier brought over a real light red wine. The shortrib was tender enough to cut with a fork and had not even a hint of dryness. The blueberry tart was good, but the desserts are probably the weak link (if there is one) at Palena.
All in all this meal was fantastic. I give Palena a high A with a great wine list, good service, and soo many different dishes to choose from and enjoy. Other than Komi, I can't think of another DC restaurant where I left more pleased.
Highlight: Service, romantic setting, and the fish cakes
Lowlight: It ended, lol
