Last night The Musician decided to take me out for a night of cultural exploration. As a classical musician, with a MS in conducting (??) and soon to be starting his PhD in the same field, I was out of my league with regard to subject expertise. A rarity for this Aries. Alas, the agenda for the night was dinner at Sequoia followed by a night with the National Symphony Orchestra, featuring violin virtuoso Sarah Chang--at the Kennedy Center. My reviews follow:
Sequoia:
I've always heard good things about this place from The Mexican and the GCC's object of lust. I, however, was not impressed. I started with a glass of Malbec--not bad. We then shared the appetizer of lobster chipotle spring rolls. As a food snob, these were poorly executed. The taste of lobster was undetectable, just the texture. Instead, the palate was over inundated with the fatty textures from the outer fried covering of the spring roll, a
nd the chipotle remoulade-like sauce inside. I gave it a D.
My entree was the seafood stew--being a cold rainy night, I thought this was perfect, but not too heavy less I become drowsy at the NSO. The presentation was huge...a large dish probably 16" in diameter. In it was 1/2 lobster, several scallops, shrimp, swordfish (though the waiter said salmon), and mussels. Lobster was alright, the scallops were a tad overcooked, the sword was good, mussels were old and tasteless, and the shrimp--wow. They came in two sizes, normal ones with the tails on, which were good, and the mini kind you see in very cheap appetizer plates, way overcooked. The saffron broth was enjoyable, along with the crostini with lobster mousse. I give it a B or B-.
Desert was a creme brulee--very nicely done. I do enjoy a nice relatively think brulee crust, so I was happy. I give it an A-.
The National Symphony Orchestra:
The performance was divided into three pieces, the beginning was The Overture to the Magic Flute (Mozart), followed by Corigliano's Symphony #2, and then Brahms' Concerto in D Major for Violin.
I do enjoy Mozart, and the performance of the Magic Flute was quite excellent--though I had to adjust to Leonard Slatkins somewhat odd conducting style, which I will not treat here. Corigliano was boring. He's a contemporary composer, and was, in fact, in attendance. The beginning reminded me of the them to Psycho, the remainder wasn't any better. Brahms was alright--not my favorite piece by him. But Chang did blow us away with her cadenzas in the piece.
Sequoia:
I've always heard good things about this place from The Mexican and the GCC's object of lust. I, however, was not impressed. I started with a glass of Malbec--not bad. We then shared the appetizer of lobster chipotle spring rolls. As a food snob, these were poorly executed. The taste of lobster was undetectable, just the texture. Instead, the palate was over inundated with the fatty textures from the outer fried covering of the spring roll, a
nd the chipotle remoulade-like sauce inside. I gave it a D.My entree was the seafood stew--being a cold rainy night, I thought this was perfect, but not too heavy less I become drowsy at the NSO. The presentation was huge...a large dish probably 16" in diameter. In it was 1/2 lobster, several scallops, shrimp, swordfish (though the waiter said salmon), and mussels. Lobster was alright, the scallops were a tad overcooked, the sword was good, mussels were old and tasteless, and the shrimp--wow. They came in two sizes, normal ones with the tails on, which were good, and the mini kind you see in very cheap appetizer plates, way overcooked. The saffron broth was enjoyable, along with the crostini with lobster mousse. I give it a B or B-.
Desert was a creme brulee--very nicely done. I do enjoy a nice relatively think brulee crust, so I was happy. I give it an A-.
The National Symphony Orchestra:
The performance was divided into three pieces, the beginning was The Overture to the Magic Flute (Mozart), followed by Corigliano's Symphony #2, and then Brahms' Concerto in D Major for Violin.
I do enjoy Mozart, and the performance of the Magic Flute was quite excellent--though I had to adjust to Leonard Slatkins somewhat odd conducting style, which I will not treat here. Corigliano was boring. He's a contemporary composer, and was, in fact, in attendance. The beginning reminded me of the them to Psycho, the remainder wasn't any better. Brahms was alright--not my favorite piece by him. But Chang did blow us away with her cadenzas in the piece.
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