Pesce

Serendipitously we were looking for a place to eat at Dupont Circle and Pizzeria Paradiso had a 40-minute wait so we went across the street to Pesce. It was our first visit since the restaurant had moved down three doors to a space at one time occupied by Johnny's Half Shell (since, of course, moved to Capitol Hill).

Pesce is one of those restaurants pretty much under the radar but an old favorite of ours because we ate there so often with Andrea's parents. So it was sentimental to go back there. The new space, while not as charming as the smaller former location, was still very familiar, and the fish, as always, was very fresh and prepared just right. We split the popcorn shrimp appetizer, which was about as good as popcorn shrimp can be. I had the whole grilled Branzino, which was moist with just the right taste of fishiness, and Andrea got the lobster risotto, a super-rich buttery concoction that was enough to have leftovers for lunch the next day. A glass of Sancerre was the perfect accompaniment.

Update, Oct. 11, 2012: On Tuesday we actually booked a table at Pesce to meet downtown after events. Perhaps it was an off night. The waiter was distracted and intermittent; the chalkboard menu seemed to have fewer seafood choices; the dishes were all a bit "precious" with elaborate sides; the fish did not seem all that fresh. This is all the polar opposite of what we remember and like about Pesce.

I had grilled sardines, which were fine, but very fishy and perhaps not real fresh. Then I had seared tuna, which was served sliced on what turned out to be a "salad" of black peas and a few hundred other things. Perhaps I had the wrong thing in mind, but I had not been expecting a cold dish (yes, I know that seared tuna is not hot). When I queried first the bartender then the waiter, their answers were perfunctory. My glass of Sancerre cost $14 and when the bill came the waiter had charged us for a bottle; his apology was once again perfunctory.

Now it may seem this is the case anyway, but for sure we will not rush back.

Farmer's market again

I like to make a point of going to the New Morning Farm farmer's market Saturday mornings and simply buying what looks good to me. It's fun then to find the right recipe for the ingredients.

Last Saturday they had "cheddar cauliflower," small little heads that truly were the color of cheddar cheese. I roasted it with butter and lemon per a technique in a Canal House cookbook I bought recently, and, together with a sautéed yellow squash we had around, put it over penne with a little grated pecorino. Pretty good.

I also got some fava beans. These were pretty late stage beans but I used a recipe from Sara Jenkins' Olives and Oranges for a salad with "spring" fava beans because she specified you could use more mature beans and blanche them to remove the tough skin. It's a bit labor intensive to first shell the beans, blanche and shock them, then pop them out of their skins, but playing with food is for me part of the joy of cooking. The beans get mixed with greens, herbs (mint, basil, parsley), and tiny cubes of pecorino and dressed just with olive oil and salt.

I paired it with a pork loin spit-roasted (felt like using the spit on my Weber grill) that was marinated in roast garlic and spike with springs of rosemary. The recipe from the Jamisons' Big Book of Outdoor Cooking called for fennel and onion to be roasted in the grill underneath the spit and then tossed with orzo. So it was a great little meal, with lots of leftover pork for later in the week. No chianti with these fava beans, but a nice Montalcino.