Dinner at Ardeo
Last night we had dinner at Ardeo in Washington with my 93-year-old mother-in-law.
Usually she just eats a lettuce leaf or two and calls it a day, so it's not really worth going to a fancy restaurant. (Readers of this blog from the beginning will know our usual haunts are Chadwick's or Clyde's in Friendship Heights. They will remember the infamous veggie burger with bacon incident.)
But last night I just really needed a nice place to be; and Ardeo is our go-to special occasion restaurant, not too far from where she lives.
The great thing about eating with a 93-year-old is that we got there at 5:45 p.m. (Ardeo is so chic it's amazing they would even open the doors for us at that hour.) We owned the place for the hour and a half we were there.
Ardeo, beautiful as it is, is the kind of restaurant that lists "huckleberry extraction" and "watermelon radish" as ingredients in the same dish on the menu. Since my mother-in-law was wearing her running shoes, I thought I better not tease the waiter about it. ...
In spite of its overhyped menu and somewhat uneven food, I like this restaurant. The staff are quite good natured (We aren't the easiest customers to deal with), and it's not as expensive as you might expect. There's even an Ardeo hamburger on the menu. I recommend it, maybe not as a special trip, but if you happen to be in DC.
Ardeo, and its cafe and wine bar next door, Bardeo, are easy to get to, right on Connecticut Avenue in Cleveland Park; and I always find a parking place on one of the side streets.
(Photo courtesy of the Ardeo Web site)
Comments
Elizabeth, how come Tom Sietsema reviews restaurants in Baltimore and you stop your tracks in Columbia? I saw a favorable one he did on Pazo a few years back when it first opened..
For me, it's simply a time issue. I don't know exactly what else he does, but I write lifestyle and pop culture stories as well as food stories and my Table Talk column. And my blog is also time consuming. I would love to get to Annapolis and Frederick more often than I do and even Hagerstown and Ocean City, but I can't do it all.
Posted by: Eric | February 4, 2008 3:33 PM
Aha, good to know that it wasn't because of a "noncompete review agreement" rule that food critics such as yourself might be imposing. Now, if only that freedom would work as well among chefs and restaurant owners - the possibilities...one can only dream.
Posted by: Eric | February 4, 2008 4:00 PM
Maybe someone needs to clone Elizabeth.
Posted by: Dahlink | February 4, 2008 4:39 PM