Introducing: Who Ate It Best?

Introducing Who Ate It Best. . .the unending war between Big & Little Spoon to see who had the best meal. (It's not really unending, we'll start a new one in 2014.) The challenge: choose the best dish for each course.  Judges (both of us) will mutually agree on the winner of each course. If we are eating with other diners, we have to pick the diner first - we cannot choose them based on the dishes they pick.

Our first venue:  Lincoln in Washington, D.C. during Restaurant Week.  We actually lucked out because the restaurant gave us 4 courses instead of 3!  The restaurant's menu is based on small plates, so they figured they should give us a little more.

First Course

Big Spoon: Irwin Mushroom Beignets with thyme mornay, pickled celery stalks
Little Spoon: Eco Friendly Farm Pork Belly with applewood smoked, vanilla bourbon applesauce, honey compressed jala
Remarks: The mushroom beignets were a perfect mixture of savory and umami. They were definitely fresh and still warm. The Eco Friendly Farm pork belly was delicious, moist, and everything that pork belly should be.  The vanilla bourbon applesauce gave it a nice hint of sweetness.  Big Spoon liked it the best, but I thought it came out a little un-warm - not cool, but not warm enough to my liking.


Pork Belly vs. Mushroom Beignets

First Course Winner:  Draw

Second Course

Big Spoon: Warm Molasses Grilled Radicchio Salad with honey balsamic vinaigrette, navel oranges, warm goat cheese
Little Spoon: Gorman Farm Beet Salad with beet puree, candied walnuts, blue cheese crumbles, radish chips, curly endive, sherry dressing
Remarks: Big Spoon liked the grilled radicchio, but I thought it seemed a little wilted and not fresh off the grill. However, we both are suckers for beet salads and this one did not disappoint. It was perfectly chilled and the beets were perfectly cut. The ingredients don't seem super original for a beet salad, but it one us both over.

Grilled Radicchio vs. Beet Salad

Second Course Winner: Little Spoon

Third Course

Big Spoon: Braised Short Rib Stroganoff with carrot pasta, sage truffle crème, warm gremolata
Little Spoon: Stuffed rack of lamb with seasonal vegetables
Remarks: Big Spoon loved his stroganoff. Braised short ribs is pretty hard to not like. It was perfectly cooked. My rack of lamb came out way over done. I hesitated to bring it to their attention, but I just couldn't enjoy it if I didn't. Turns out, they had mistakenly given me one that was well done (who orders lamb well done??!) requested by a patron 2 tables from me. They happily brought me a new one that was perfectly cooked (medium-medium rare).

Short Rib Stroganoff vs. Stuffed Rack of Lamb

Third Course Winner:  Big Spoon (my lamb should have won; I thought his pasta a little too done, but I had to do a re-do.

Fourth Course (Dessert)

Big Spoon: chocolate fudge with passionfruit puree, hints of coffee
Little Spoon: pear tart with vanilla ice cream
Remarks: Big Spoon loved his dessert. The passionfruit provided a great balance to the rich chocolate. I loved my pear tart, but some bites just had too much tart (dough) and not enough pear.

Chocolate Fudge vs. pear tart

Fourth Course Winner: Big Spoon

 

Final Score: Big Spoon 1 / Little Spoon 0