The Humble Gourmand

Jose Andres’ Latin/Asian fusion joint promises much and over-delivers on service, flavor, and creativity. The swanky but understated dining room, in Washington’s Penn Quarter, puts diners right at ease, and the staff aims to impress its clientele without overwhelming it with fuss.

Although we were sampling the three-course Restaurant Week fare, we also decided to order Café Atlantico’s famous guacamole, hand-made with fresh avocado, tomato, red onion, and cilantro in a molcajete right next to your table. It lived up to its reputation.

We started with a nice Argentinian Malbec and the sopa del dia (soup of the day, for those of you who don’t habla espanol), which turned out to be a wonderfully spicy tomato-cumin bisque with crème fraiche. The callos del mar con arroz de coco crujiente, or scallops, coconut rice, crispy rice, ginger, squid, and squid ink oil, was delightful.

For a main course, I dined on pork chops feijao tropiero, Atlantico’s take on a traditional Brazilian dish, which consisted of two pork chops with black beans and pork, white rice, farofa, and oranges. A drizzle of mole poblano sauce added to the exciting and intense flavor combination, but couldn’t disguise the fact that the chops were a bit overdone.

My companion enjoyed the seared salmon with cauliflower-quinoa “cous cous,” papaya avocado mash, and papaya-vanilla oil, which was perfectly prepared and quite unique. Passion fruit sorbet and a chocolate-banana lava cake with chocolate flan rounded out a thoroughly enjoyable experience.