Millions of courses at Vermilion

From Another Cook in the Kitchen

Last night, I had the opportunity to dine at a Washingtonian 2008 Top 100 restaurant, Vermilion, located on King Street in Old Town Alexandria. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos because my guest diners were all business associates that I was meeting for the first time, so I didn't think it would be appropriate.

The decor is typical Old Town, rough and exposed brick, candled tables and walls lined with bottles of wine, all packed into a narrow and no doubt old building.

Our server started us off with slices of fire toasted pita bread and an assortment of olives in olive oil. The bread was crispy and a little ashy, and the olives were delicious. Though how the two correlated is beyond me. The bowl of olives didn't come with a spoon, so they were difficult to fish out, and the kalamata olives weren't pitted and couldn't easily be smashed or placed on the bread.

Then we were served a basket of rosemary bread with butter. The rosemary bread was tasty, and the butter balanced out its slight dryness.

Courtesy of the chef, we were then served shot glass sized servings of cold pea soup topped with a little creme fraiche and a dot of oil on top. Honestly, the flavor was fresh but since the soup was chilled, the texture came off as too coarse and fibrous.

For my entree, I ordered the Virginia-raised bison skirt steak with smokey short rib polenta agnolotti, oven dried tomatoes and basil ($27), which I paired with a glass of my favorite red, shiraz ($7.50). The bison, which I ordered medium rare, was flavorful and plentiful on the dish. It was cooked perfectly in thin strips with very red centers. The smokiness of the short rib agnolotti was overpowering when compared to the creamy polenta, which also formed the foundation of the plate, but it was bold and interesting next to the bison. Ultimately the dish was good, but I found it odd that the bison took a back seat to the flavors of the agnolotti.

For dessert, I ordered the French toast cubes, which came in thick 2-inch perfect square cubes, fried and topped with powdered sugar. The cubes were plated atop drippings of maple mascarpone, and sweet hazelnuts and caramelized pineapple. The dish was dry because of the very minimal amount of the mascarpone, which was barely recognizable flavor wise. The pineapple could have been more plentiful to help bring some more moisture to the dish. In all, my problem with this dessert is the same problem I have with most nice restaurants: Decadence and flavor took a back seat to presentation.

Overall, Vermilion is a beautiful restaurant with a great wait staff, and the many breads and soups brought out make you feel like you're in for a treat. But the overall flavors of each dish are a little too disjointed for me.