Happy Smells

I think that everyone has smells that they consider their own personal “happy smells.” Just one whiff and you are taken to another place, another time. They can completely change your mood. I have several of them. Freshly-cut grass, the first day of fall in the mountains when everything is crisp and a little cool and you can literally smell the leaves changing, pencil shavings, old library books, rosemary, lilies, when you walk by a building and the smell of laundry detergent and dryer sheets comes pouring out of an air vent, and basil, oh basil! My mother and I stayed at the Hotel Palomar in Dupont Circle (which I will get to at a later time) on my first night when we arrived in DC and were recommended to the Dining Room at the Darlington House (http://www.darlingtonhousedc.com/) by Phillipe at concierge. What a recommendation! Great food, great service and a very friendly staff! (Note to my readers: Not a restaurant that exactly fits the shoestring criteria of my blog. It’s in the $$ price range. Pasta $16-20, fish $24-30, mmmmmmMeat $19-26. This is a great restaurant for a special occasion, perhaps when your wonderfully-generous parents come??). The restaurant is located in the first floor of a three-story walk-up, right above a less-expensive cantina, owned by the same people. The Darlington House is decorated in a classic-architecture style and reminded me a bit of Versailles. Seat covers. Chandeliers. Mellow atmosphere. In contrast to this style, numerous framed posters of Obama—the campaign ones that have a graphic-design/photoshop element to them—hung among the silver swirls of wallpaper. Definitely not what you would expect given the rest of the decorating, but they spur some conversation! The host, who I think might also have been the manager, spoke with us a couple of times throughout the meal, as did the chef. The wine list had a good amount of variety and there were bottles that fit pretty much any budget (in terms of restaurant wine). After ordering our wine, we were presented with some freshly-made tomato focaccia an amuse bouche-a small, great authentic bruschetta (I LOVE amuse bouches)!
But back to the happy smells. My entrée, Chicken Paillard ($19), came with basil mashed potatoes. This side combines two of my favorite things in life: basil and mashed potatoes. But you probably could imagine how the two flavors might really not “marry” well. Almost an eww factor, right? WRONG. They were wonderful! They were pureed just enough, with a little bit of remaining texture (not too baby-food-like) and they had just the right green color to them, not too intense that they looked artificial, just perfect! And the chicken breast, pounded out to almost half the size of the plate, had a refreshing citrusy-lemon-butter sauce. My mother had the special risotto of the day, made with a roasted red pepper coulis. It too, was wonderful, which really says a lot, considering the fact that both my mom and I are sort of risotto-snobs. Some restaurants can really mutilate risotto. Over-cook it. Cake it with Parmesan cheese. The chef at Darlington House prepared it perfectly to al dente, just the right amount of the roasted red pepper coulis, not too overpowering… I can’t wait for my parents to come back to DC so we can go back to the Darlington House and I can try a few other entrees and hopefully have a few more bites of their basil mashed potatoes!

Darlington House (Dining Room)
Dupont Circle ($$-$$$)
1610 20th St NW
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 332-3722
www.darlingtonhousedc.com
Other goodies: private event room, FREE Wi-Fi throughout the house