Rambler Review: Tosca
Food: First, you have to be impressed by Tosca's restaurant week menu. They provide you with a full size menu (none of this select one from two crap) divided into starters, pasta, entrees, and desserts. You may select a half order of pasta as your first course, or you may select a full order of pasta as your main course in lieu of one of the entrees. Or you could have pasta for both courses. For the first course, I had the roasted veal and spinach ravioli with red wine reduction, butter and parmesan cheese, and J had the organic squash gnocchi dumplings with brown butter and truffled imported fontina cheese sauce. Let me just say that the veal ravioli was phenom. It was swimming in a delicate butter sauce that made the ravioli melt in your mouth. The veal, despite being ground up baby cow, was superb and had a rich, complex flavor. Shavings of fresh parmigiana reggiano added the necessary "cheese element" that I look for in everything I eat. I also had a taste of the squash gnocchi, which had a surprisingly full-bodied flavor. I think it's safe to say from these two dishes that Tosca has mastered pasta.
For the second course I had the grilled pork T-bone steak, with roasted potatoes sautéed Swiss chard and rosemary sauce , and J had sautéed swordfish 'puttanesca' (literally: whorish) style, with tomato mashed potatoes and baked endive wrapped with imported speck (which is prosciutto-ish). The pork chop was huge, and cooked absolutely perfectly. Despite being rather thick, the meat was cooked consistently all the way through, and was as moist as a... well, it was moist. I believe this was my first experience with swiss chard, which to me seemed like bitter spinach. The rosemary sauce was also surprisingly bitter, so the bitter chard and bitter rosemary sauce really just exacerbated each other. Admittedly, I expect a sweeter sauce with pork. There's something about pork and fructose - they just go well together. All in all, the dish was a little boring - not that you could have made it terribly exciting. J liked her swordfish, and the tomato mashed potatoes are definitely something to try.
For the third course, I had the roasted butternut squash and apple strudel "Tosca" with dried fruit compote and vanilla ice cream, and J had the warm chocolate cake with hazelnut ice cream, passion fruit sauce and spicy salted hazelnuts. Both were absolutely delicious, and you couldn't go wrong with either. Definitely save room for one of these desserts.
Service: Our waiter was very outgoing, knowledgeable of the menu, and prompt. Despite a packed RW house, he was extremely attentive. No complaints in the service department.
Ambiance: Here's where we had some criticisms. The ruffled beige curtains covering the windows really created a sterile banquet hall feel. The curtains need to go. There also wasn't any music, at all, which can definitely be a good thing, but I would have liked a little Vivaldi playing softly in the background. Basically, the room is boring, and you really wouldn't know it from any other restaurant. Or cruise ship.
Price: The menu is on the pricier side, which is why this restaurant is a must-do during RW. We saved over $40 on our bill because of RW. Of course, we made up for it in booze. Despite the pricey main course entrees, you could easily do a salad and a full-size pasta entree for under $30 a plate.
All in all, I think Tosca is a great restaurant with delicious food, despite my beef with the rosemary sauce. The atmosphere belies the liveliness of the food. The pasta is so good that I don't think I'll ever order a non-pasta dish again. If you haven't yet, I would suggest that you add Tosca to your list of places to try.
References (5)
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Periodically, we will publish This Week in DC Reviews, a roundup of reviews of DC-area restaurants, with quick links to DC-area restaurant reviews and mentions from the previous seven days in blogs, magazines, and newspapers. For a roundup of New... -
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(critiquing the curtains? really?)
K - you'll see. The curtains are cheesy.
Tune in for my next post where I get in touch with my feminine side.