Editor Pick
Mendocino Grille
- February 7, 2001
- Rated 4 of 5 by
Tavia from New York, New York
Now this is a restaurant. A local favorite, I hear. We saw the whole range of diners -- European visitors, young 30-somethings chatting about work, matrons in suits with Barbara Bush pearls and obedient husbands, and a table full of young blondes all wearing black leather pants and tight tops. Our waiter was a wry character, who very formally would explain dishes to us unbidden but at the same time grin at us while dealing with the matrons-in-suits, as if we shared a private joke. We liked him; he fluttered his eyelashes.
In the front of the restaurant there is a wine bar, at which you can eat but mostly folks were drinking wine, chatting and looking cool. Of course, it's not hard to look cool in the Mendocino, as its decor is a sleek and soothing array of aqua and white, clean lines and surfaces. I believe there were tables either upstairs or in a room off the one we were in, we could not see it from where we were seated.
While deciding what to order was hell, what we did eventually select was heavenly. It was carefully prepared and artfully arranged: we ate well. I ordered the Mendocino Cioppino, a fish stew which definitely tasted fresh and came with soft breadsticks. The scallops, clams, mussels, shrimp and various finfish had been simmered together in the red sauce with the perfect amount of herbs and picante that my lips tingled as if they'd been kissed long and hard. Yes, it was that good.
Definitely make a reservation if you have your heart set on eating here, any night of the week. On a Saturday night, when we left (reluctantly I might add), the hostess was turning couples away at the door who did not have a reservation.
From journal Posh, Pre-Inaugural DC