Over the weekend, I ate at Agraria Restaurant on the waterfront in Georgetown. The concept, however admirable, seemed a little crunchy when I first read about it – it is farmer-owned and operated and American family farms and ranches supply all the food. The result, however, is surprisingly upscale – the décor rivals many D.C. restaurants and the service was impressive.
I wanted to like Agraria, I really did. The menu was simple, with dishes listed by their main ingredient. I ordered the scallops ($19), which were sautéed in rosemary butter, if I remember correctly. I guess I just assumed they’d be accompanied by a vegetable/side of some sort. Imagine my surprise when the plate came out and contained…three scallops. Call me crazy, call me an unsophisticated American obsessed with quantity over quality who fails to comprehend the concept of FOOD AS ART, but I don’t know what chef sends out three scallops and says, “Wow. That is a completely sufficient amount of food for a main course. Well done, me.” That’s $6 a scallop. Granted, they were absolutely delicious – flavorful, buttery, devoid of sand, but I was left unsatisfied. Perhaps I was supposed to eat the sprig of rosemary they so generously added as garnish.
I suppose I was a bit miffed as well because for a few more dollars, my date got an entire red snapper (complete with eyeballs and tiny snapper teeth, yuck). He said it was delicious; I took his word for it – something about seeing the teeth of the organism I’m eating just turns me off a bit, but I digress. My point is that portion size seemed a little skewed.
My date caught me looking longingly at the dessert menu (again, for me, 3 scallops does not a meal make), so we got two of their fruity options, labeled simply, “Peach” and “Blueberry.” The Peach turned out to be a cobbler with a flaky, brown sugar-y crust. I adore cobblers – they remind me of my Georgia-spent childhood, sitting on my neighbor Elliott’s front stoop and letting peach juice dribble down my five-year-old chin, but this one was (and I never thought I’d say this) too sweet. Way too sweet. So sweet I couldn’t even finish it (a rarity, in the world of Kate), and even resorted to tempering it with the other dessert. Which brings me to...the Blueberry. When we ordered it, I had no idea what it was – the description merely had random words like “float” and “vanilla” involved. It turned out to be this odd take on a root-beer float (sans root beer, obvs). I suppose the best way to describe it would be a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a glass filled with chilled blueberry coulis. Don’t get me wrong – it was tasty – very fresh, syrupy, a perfect blend of tart and sweet, but as a dessert, it just didn’t do it for me.
In all, I was not overly impressed. Honestly, if I wanted to show someone the best of American cuisine, I’d take them to a Texas barbecue joint (Dickey's, after which I will name my firstborn)before I’d take them here.
Logo credit: agrariallc.com
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