Ortanique, small world experience My wife and I were down in Miami for a conference a week ago, and stayed in Coral Gables for a change. We had a few interesting meals at Les Halles, Pascal's, Norman's, and the final evening at Ortanique on the Mile, the original location for Ortanique. We were particularly interested in this last, since we'd been meaning to get into Ortanique in Washington DC for some time now. The decor was cool, the Latin music was great, and the food was excellent -- lots of big Latin flavors melded very skillfully, somewhat reminiscent of Red Sage in its opening months. One of my favorite features was a special page in the front of the wine list for selections of which they had only one or two (or possibly none, depending on your timing) left, at slightly reduced prices. The meal was not a letdown after Norman's the night before, which is saying something. So when a couple of friends suggested getting together for supper in the District this past Saturday, we suggest Ortanique, in the old bank which previously housed BET on Jazz. It's a very nice space, with a high ceiling, a balcony with tables around three sides of the main room, and a somewhat more formal decor than the Coral Gables location. The menu is essentially the same as CG, but lacks the signature banana fritters with cinnamon ice cream for dessert. Several seafood ceviches are offered, and were hits as starters. I had a mango salad with walnut oil dressing that was just superb. Three of our six had the Colorado rack of lamb with a chipotle sauce, which received raves. I had a whole deep-fried black bass, with deep, spicy accents. Another had the signature entree, a jerk double pork chop, (which I had in CG) and judged it outstanding. Not a negative note surfaced throughout the entire meal. I don't know where Cindy Hutson, the executive chef and one of the big names of "New World" cuisine, is spending her time (possibly at the remaining location in Las Vegas), but her local chefs are turing out excellent food. The wine list was quite extensive, and focussed on the $35-70 range. They did not have a "close-out" page like CG, but we were told they do so every once in a while. The sommelier saw Nancy and I perusing the wine list while sipping some British West Indies rum at the bar before our friends arrived, and came over to offer assistance as soon as we were seated. I had spotted a Turley Juvenile zin on the list, and mentioned that we hadn't had that particular Turley before. We got into a little discussion of Turley zins (wonderful, big, and complex without the cloying sweetness of so many big zins), during which I mentioned that we had been introduced to Turleys at Charleston in Baltimore about two years ago, had been enjoying them without exception ever since, and that we had recently drunk a bottle of Turley Haynes Vineyard Zin at the French Laundry, where it nicely complemented the food. The sommelier then mentioned that he had just received the 2000 Turley Old Vines zin that day, and that it was available for just a few bucks more than the Juvenile. We opted for the Old Vines. In one of those stranger than fiction coincidences, he went on to tell us that Larry Turley was at that moment in the restaurant having dinner! Well, we put away a couple of bottles of a nice viognier, and three bottles of the Turley. As we were served the third, Larry Turley appeared at our table, introduced himself, and went on to have a very nice ten-minute conversation about his wines, his previous partnership in Frog's Leap, and what he was doing in DC. Very nice guy, very small world. Ortanique in DC also offers half off the entire wine list (except champagnes, I believe) on Tuesday evenings. We'll be back very soon to sample that Turley Juvenile on a Tuesday and see if the food quality is consistent. Some local restaurants running similar promotions have held them on the chef's night off, with disastrous results in food quality (Allison Swope's "The Mark," now renamed, comes to mind.) Regards, Larry
Miami, FL