Nearly Perfect Meal of the Month: Palena

Before I start writing about this great meal, I have to tell you about something incredibly gross. A friend is going to be staying with me for a bit so last night I was half-desperately trying to clear up enough space for two people to walk around the apartment. There were a few iffy things in the fridge, like two whole half gallons of milk, so I thought I'd address those as well. In the corner of the second shelf was a squarish item, neatly wrapped in tin foil. I had no memory whatsoever of putting this in the fridge, not a good sign. When I pulled back the edge of the foil I was greeted with what looked to be the sickly green and bloated fingers of a very large corpse. They made me think about Pirates of the Caribbean, not sure why. I'm guessing these were once sausages and that they started their life in the fridge in, oh, mid-June.

No, I didn't document the death fingers. The lesson here is that I have to do better about wasting food.

Ok, on to the really interesting stuff.

.....

I've been meaning to post this for nearly a month. Argh!

I wish that Palena's website did the place justice. Even having a menu from the current season would help, and a couple of photos of the food and/or bar would be great. That's really the only complaint I have about this charming restaurant in Cleveland Park.

Fairly standard bread basket.


My new favorite drink: Sazerac.




Gazpacho of brandywine pink heirloom tomatoes, with poached king salmon, calamari and hard boiled egg


organic romaine lettuce caesar with house cured Spanish mackeral, crispy friend capers and lemons, and a reggiano cheese dressing



wild alaskan king salmon and beet ravioli with cucumbers, chives, and capers


summer pot au feu, corn agnolotti, small variety tomatoes, zucchini, oxtail in a tomato and oxtail consomme


Snake River Farms Duroc pork loin, lightly smoked and served with parsley puree, roasted cranberry potatoes, and a sauce of green peppercorns and capers


New Zealand snapper and gulf shrimp, braised in olive oil with fennel and tender young arugula, paprika broth?

Cheese plate with Tyrolean almond bread


Finally, yellow plum tart to share. This turned out to be too sour for me, I wish I'd gone with the cinnamon ice cream instead. Not that we needed dessert. They also sent us home with a cookie bag!


After dinner we stopped at the ADORABLE bar for a scotch. I can't believe I didn't take photos of this place.