Cork

On my last trip to DC I had a Sunday night dinner with Mom at a new-ish spot on the 14th Street corridor. Happens to be right around the corner from Mom's new place. Literally.

Cork does great cheese plates and charcuterie. Plus cold plates and hot plates. They don't call it tapas because having cold and hot appetizers does not 'tapas' make.

It appears to be where DC's Zaytinya-going glitterati-young-hipsters go when they turn 35.

They've collected their reviews as well as I could here.

Lots of wine from all over. They do four flights a day. Our choices on flights were champagne, Alsatian whites, burgundies, or southern Italian reds. We went for single glasses.

For us it was:

Three cheeses, a sheep's milk that was uneventful, Cowgirl Creamery's RedHawk, and a manchego that was mmmmmmm.

Three meats, an Italian prosciutto, a New York speck, and a Missouri salami. The mustard accompanying the charcuterie was hothothot in the best possible way.

We also ordered a hot plate that intrigued me and broke another food barrier. Rosemary Chicken Liver Bruschetta. Great crusty bread; an earthy, thick, rosemary heavy, delicious chicken liver spread; caramelized shallot marmalade.

Really, why hadn't I eaten something like this before?

Now I'm going to have start eating more offal.

Damn you sarcastic bastard.

For wines we each did a glass of white to start and then a glass of red to finish. Can't recall Mom's wines exactly, and I'm fuzzy on my white (but it was a Pinot Grigio and it was Italian and it was perfect).

My red was a reach, but an excellent one. I'd never heard of the "Fer Servadou" grape from southwestern France. But I spent a few days in Toulouse one fine late winter weekend when I was living in Paris. And I love southwestern French food. And I was eating the rosemary chicken liver (which is a fairly southwestern French flavor to my mind).

Plus, it's friggin' $6 a glass at a fairly schwank new DC place.

So I had our favorite wine of the night: Domaine du Cros, Marcillac, Lo Sang del Païs, 2006.

It was thick like a zinfandel and deep like a margaux, and made you pucker just a bit like some Aussie shiraz without all the pepper...and cheap like a jug of Paisano. It doesn't get much better than that folks.

Take a friend; get a bottle; order charcuterie, the bruschetta, the mushroom duxelle, and the Pernod braised lamb shank.

DC peeps, get yourself there for a nice meal. Pricey for a Tuesday night, but a delicious little treat if you're looking to treat yourself or someone else.