Five Courses Means Five Stars at D.C.'s Vidalia

Last week was Washington, D.C.'s restaurant week, a semiannual lull in the normal going out calendar that the city fills by offering a three-course lunch menu for $25 and the same for dinner for $35, give or take some change.

This year's restaurant week brought me to Vidalia, whose sister restaurant Bistro Bis was my restaurant week choice in the winter. Similar in atmosphere to Bistro Bis, Vidalia offers the perfect mood for an intimate dinner or even a small group of friends. A bigger restaurant space than some places, we were seated in a quieter side room where me and my fellow diners opted for a five-course option, available during restaurant week for $45.

Before the meal was served, our table was offered two different kinds of bread, one cornbread and the other more akin to focaccia, with a bowl of caramelized vidalia onions to top them off. I wasted my onions on the latter bread, which left the cornbread ever so slightly lacking in sweetness. However, both breads were moist and delicious on their own.

From Another Cook in the Kitchen

Our server and busboys were impeccable throughout our lengthy meal in rearranging our place settings to ensure we had the proper utensils and had plenty of water at the table. The server was also a great help in assisting the three of us in narrowing down their lengthy menu to the very best items.

To start, I got the cucumber soup, which was refreshing and served cold. Plated with a cluster of baby heirloom tomatoes and garnished with crumbled black olives, the dish was a good basic start to a long meal: light and cool, enabling the rest of the dishes to build in both richness and temperature.

From Another Cook in the Kitchen

Second, I ordered the grilled octopus, which had a great texture that shifted between crispy and buttery and was never rubbery. The cherry tomatoes served with this dish were seared and added a perfect sweet acidity to counterbalance the smooth creaminess of the avocado smeared at the bottom of the plate.

From Another Cook in the Kitchen

By recommendation of our waiter, our third course was shrimp and grits. A true Southern dish on a menu that tends to lean all over the place, the grits were a revelation, completely creamy and not gritty at all. They really were more like a slightly differently flavored polenta in texture. That creaminess was counterbalanced by shrimp that had a slight bite to the outside but were perfectly cooked on the inside. If all shrimp and grits were like this dish, I might have a new favorite thing to eat.

From Another Cook in the Kitchen

The fourth course was the one I'd built up most in my mind. One or two restaurant weeks ago, I ate at Jose Andres' Cafe Atlantico, where I had the most delicious cut of beef in my life: beef cheeks. I realize that most of you probably shudder at the thought, but you MUST get over this, because animal cheeks are the most amazingly decadent thing. To see if pork cheeks measured up, I ordered them at Vidalia, and just let your knife sit at the side of your plate: You don't need it at all! A fork is enough to cut this amazing meat, which I was so excited about that I forgot to photograph it until my plate was empty!

From Another Cook in the Kitchen

The cheeks were served with tiny crawfish and okra, but all I needed were the cheeks for this to be one of my favorite dishes for the night.

I threw caution to the wind (and ignored our waiter's suggestion) for dessert, choosing the dish that has a phrase irresistible to me: caramel bourbon sauce. Some girls live for chocolate; I live for the warm sugariness of caramel mixed with bourbon and cream. This sauce came in accompaniment to a warm Georgia pecan bar, dolloped with a side of what must have been homemade vanilla ice cream (I could taste the vanilla bean so strongly). This dish was as decadent as I'd hoped. I only wish it'd been served with a spoon so I could have wiped the plate clean of the ice cream.

From Another Cook in the Kitchen

In all, I can't sing the praises of Vidalia highly enough. This might be the best restaurant I've gone to in D.C., and it's going to be a hard one to top. Coupled with the success of my previous meal at Bistro Bis, Jeffrey Buben now new to my list of favorite D.C. chefs.

* Sorry for the photo blurriness! I didn't want to use my flash and distract the other diners.