Michel Richard Citronelle - Washington, D.C.

December 8, 2007


Number #1 in The Washingtonian. The higher of the only two DC-area restaurants in the October 2006 Gourmet magazine's America's Top 50 Restaurants at #12 (the area's only other restaurant was The Inn at Little Washington at #23). And the one with "Washington's most awe-inspiring chef" of the four four-star restaurants in The Washington Post Magazine's Dining Guide 2007.

We had to take the plunge. My wife and I, along with my brother and sister-in-law, chose the extravagance of Citronelle instead of Christmas gifts for each other. What followed was the most expensive meal I've had and certainly one of the best, though not necessarily my favorite.

We chose the nine-course Promenade Gourmande (instead of the three-course meal or the approximately 15-course Grand Degustation). The next three and a half hours was a tour de force of great ideas, stunning preparation, outstanding ingredients, with a sense of playfulness in both concept and plating. Among the many triumphs was the buttery and crunchy (from pistachios) "escargot crumble" of the amuse bouche followed by the "portobello truffle cappuccino" - a portobello soup with a whipped potato topping consumed via straw, which looked like, well...

Probably the table's overall favorite throughout the meal was the broiled sake-miso marinated sablefish. The fish was meltingly tender and flavorful yet not overpowered by the marinade. The centerpiece for me, however, was the black angus veal steak with sweetbreads and morel sauce. While the fish course showed Richard's expertise with Asian flavors, the veal dish had the classic flavors and ingredients of his native France. It was superb.

Most of the parts of the dessert courses were excellent, which is what one might expect from Richard, who was a pastry chef before he tackled savory fare. The jolie pomme, essentially an apple sorbet dessert, was delicious as well as visually beautiful with its thin, crunchy candy apple slices and vanilla bean serving as the apple stem. The chocolate course was a stunner with Richard's take on the Kit-Kat bar as well as the hard, dark chocolate-covered ice cream on a stick. The petit fours included large, perfect raspberries but also chocolate-covered grapes, an odd pairing that I don't think works particularly well.

There were a few other disappointments in the meal. Though the Truffle-foie gras Napoleon pairs two legendary delicacies and the layers of black truffle and brown foie gras looked amazing, the gelatinized texture wasn't terribly appealing and the flavors weren't as enjoyable as I hoped. The lobster burger was also a letdown; I didn't taste the ginger mayo and the lobster was surprisingly flat-tasting. That said, I'm going to take two positive aspects away from this course. First, when I eventually make it to Richard's other DC restaurant, Central, I won't choose the lobster burger entree. Second, the burger was served with potato chips fried in clarified butter. Though my chips at Citronelle were oversalted, I have since fried chips at home with clarified butter with success and I thank Richard for the wonderfully decadent idea.

I walked away from the meal happy (and extremely full) but not thrilled. At such a price, which was $20 more than the Citronelle website said at the time, the Promenade Gourmande certainly featured some amazing food but wasn't perfect. At least for such a price, Citronelle did offer some high-dollar ingredients, such as truffles, foie gras, abalone, and veal sweetbreads. But as the most expensive meal I've had to date, perfection is what I expected. For less money, my wife and I were proportionately happier with our meal at Minibar. And as far as four-star DC restaurants go, my brother preferred his meal at CityZen to Citronelle.