The Shaw obsession still holds strong. Shaw is the coolest girl at school right now, always showing up with something new that you just have to have. When a friend and fellow food lover suggested a Saturday night date, Shaw was the obvious answer for where we should start but we simply couldn’t pick one single place to try. Instead, we opted for a mini Shaw crawl in order visit several places we’d been itching to try – starting with The Dabney in Blagden Alley.
As far as cool girls go, The Dabney is the one that always looks effortlessly sexy. She’s cool, but also welcoming and a good listener. Being around her makes you feel good. She’s artistic and everything she does explodes with fun and creativity.
All of this is to say that we were in love with the look and the vibe of this restaurant as soon as we arrived. From the lush and peaceful patio (unfortunately closed due to the never-ending DC rain) to the open fire burning in the kitchen, we were drawn in and felt a little bit cooler just for being there.
The Dabney gets crowded fast, but we were lucky enough to score seats at the bar. Perfect, because we weren’t planning to have a full meal, just a few bites in order to get acquainted.
The first bite set the stage. An innocuous-looking complimentary bread plate sings when topped with the sorghum butter served out of the cutest tiny jar you ever did see. The butter is lightly sweet, whipped to perfection with savory notes from the seasoning on top. We wanted to eat it with the (equally adorable) spoon.
The flavors at The Dabney are somehow cohesive both in flavor and appearance, or at least the dishes that we chose were. We dove next into a bowl of day boat scallop crudo with rhubarb, fennel and basil.
Thin slices of scallop melt in your mouth and then pop with a little bit of sweetness and a little bit of acidity. This bowl reminded me of the smell of deep forest after a rain, bursting with life and pungent freshness. This makes sense, as The Dabney gets its food from its rooftop garden, foraging and local farms.
The menu changes often in order to feature the highest quality seasonal ingredients. The best example of this during our visit was the soft shell crab with ramps, radish, basil, pickled strawberries and hollandaise.
Soft shell crab is not my favorite, but Tom and Lauren raved about it. I have to admit the two bites I had were tasty, but it’s a mental thing for me. The radishes, ramps and pickled strawberries were excellent though, I think I could have eaten an entire bowl of them with that herbaceous green sauce.
The presentation of our final dish was the coolest I’ve ever seen. As my friend Sarah put it when I showed her a picture, it looked like a mini edible terrarium.
Inside the lovely bowl was ramp custard with charred garlic scape, herb salad, beef fat dressing and brioche croutons that was a pleasure to eat.
The ramp custard was smooth and earthy while the beef fat added a touch of wildness to the dish and the crisp herbs and vegetables kept the texture from being too mushy. It’s apparent that Chef Jeremiah Langhorne puts a ton of thought into each and every element of each and every item on his menu.
I need to go back and try more of this food. The unity of the flavors and aesthetic is something I’ve never experienced at a restaurant before. The food almost tasted alive, and I say that in the least creepy way possible. The lush greens, the sweet seafood that tasted just plucked from the sea, everything felt immediate and satisfying.
Our Shaw Crawl was off to a fabulous start. I got to sit at the cool girl table and it was everything I wanted it to be. Stay tuned to see if our next two stops were as successful!
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