Salty and Delicious

Should I ever develop high blood pressure, I'll be in trouble and in more than the obvious way. I have recently started a love affair with all things salt in general and all fish bathed in salt in particular. It started with the anchovy bread salad at Marcella's last week and continued to this:

And yes, that is a greasy cheese pizza covered with yet more salty and delicious anchovies. Pair with wine for a truly gourmet dining experience.

The next stop in this affair is going to be a rendezvous with a big plate of spaghetti and anchovies at the new restaurant up the street from us (it's walking distance and has a liquor license!). They're not advertising yet, but I know people and have seen the menu and instantly zeroed in on Spaghetti con Acciughe as my entree choice. Because, when there are anchovies on the menu I have a tough time saying no.

And now I need to drink large quantities of water to counterbalance all that delicious salt.

Not the Room For Me

Last night we headed over to Gallery Hop. It was a nice night out and we wanted to look around. The plan was to get there about 5:30, grab something to eat and drink at Marcella's and then do the hop. Well, we got there closer to 6:30 and there was an hour and 45 minute wait at Marcella's. We still walked around for a bit, and then happened upon Burgundy Room. It's the least popular of the wine bars in the District, so no problem on getting a table. I've been there before, so I didn't have big expectations, but I have to say we were disappointed upon leaving.

I understand the Burgundy Room is a tapas bar, so the point is to order a few small plates to make a complete meal. We didn't want to stay that long, so we each ordered only one plate. Plus, to me it seemed like the menu didn't lend itself to combinations. The small plates were more like mini-complete meals rather than typical small plates meant for sharing and exploring. I had veal short ribs, cheddar mash and fried carrots. Chris had a Cornish game hen, candied yams and braised red cabbage. The food was fine, but it wasn't great. I was okay with the portion, but Chris was still hungry after.

Being a wine bar, we maybe should have just stuck with a glass of wine and not ventured into food territory. I ordered a nice claret. It's something I don't usually drink, so I thought I would give it a taste. It came with a piece of cork floating in it and a lot of sediment at the bottom of the glass. The waiter said they just got the variety in. So either they haven't figured out it is best decanted or they're just not going through enough of it.

All in all, we decided the $60 (on two glasses of wine and two small plates) would have been better spent at Marcella's. From having been there before, I know Chris wouldn't have left hungry and the food would be of better quality. We're making it a point to go on a non-gallery hop night. And, now I know, if you can get a table at a restaurant in the Short North during gallery hop, it's really better to skip it all together.