Food Matters is a restaurant in a quiet neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia, which bases its menu on seasonal offerings all grown or reared within one day's travel of the restaurant.
Rich and I had been trying to grab a bite there for a while but had various circumstances getting in the way. Tonight, at loose ends, we tried again and the fourth time was the charm.
We both had a very good time. The restaurant's atmosphere is light and open, with an informal feel that gives diners enough room to talk normally but keep the overall noise levels down. The restaurant opened strong with me with its cocktail of the month, a whiskey ginger fizz which was surprised me, mixing whiskey, shaved ginger, citrus juice, simple syrup and soda into a refreshing drink which carried a light overtone of whiskey but blended it nicely with the ginger and citrus - flavors that I would have not thought would have gone well together, but really clicked. I would have had a second when the waiter offered one, but as good as it tasted, the drink carried a bit of a kick and I was the driver.
Rich and I decided to splurge on a side order of hand cut fries since we had seen another table eating some as we went to our table and they looked great. They were. They were cut nicely thin and fried but without too much oil and served hot. Terrific.
For his entree, Rich had a slow cooked duck confit with red cabbage and caraway, mashed potatoes and duck jus. Now, I don't where they found a local source for duck confit, but I would not mind finding it too (except maybe I might need it like I needed a local source for chocolate chips). Rich's dish was really well done, really nicely seasoned with everything carrying a nice flavor and maybe only the cabbage needing a little bit more of a cider flavor.
My entree was a pan roasted natural pork tenderloin with twice baked sweet potato, sauteed greens and garlic and apple cider pan sauce. Boy that was good! The pork was done just right, not too much so it lost its texture and flavor. The sweet potato was really different, a baked potato skin filled with a mixture of baked sweet potato, a little ginger and what tasted like some of the pan juices...really good. The greens were a sort of kale that was so lightly sauteed with garlic that they were still a little bit crisp.
For dessert we each at a little bit of a delicious chocolate trifle with orange mascarpone cream - only a little bit because even though the dessert was not large, it was nonetheless really tasty and rich.
Although we didn't have any, Food Matters seemed to have a pretty good wine list and a wide collection of wine and food for sale as well.
It was a very good price too. Our dinner for two, including one cocktail, one home made lemonade, one appetizer, two entrees and a dessert, all really well made, for $40 per person including tax and tip. Overall, Food Matters is definitely a place worth checking out and we plan to be back...
Food Matters, 4906 Brenman Park Dr Alexandria, VA 22304 (703) 461-3663, Tue-Thu. 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Fri. 5:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. Sat. 11:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m. Sun. 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Recent Comments