August 15th, 2009
Visiting kora was required. It was like paying homage to the recently fallen Farrah Olivia. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Farrah Olivia. I saw Chef Morou when we walked in and got some butterflies in my stomach (Did he know that I was not-so-secretly in love with his Farrah? I think my face betrayed me).

The decor looked nice at first glance (hi tree branch wall!), but while sitting and looking around, it started to loose its charm. The purple wall paper with silver decals went from looking minimalistic to cheap. We saw chunks of wall that had been left unpainted and some dirty parts of the floor. The exposed warehouse-like ceilings were somehow a step down from Bebo Trattoria, which lived in this space before. Metal meshed boxes acted as dividers in one part of the restaurant and had purple lanterns in them. A nice idea, but I felt like I needed to hang some earrings on the boxes and the lanterns were quite obviously from Ikea, so lost their charm. I really like the tree branch decals on the wall near the pizza oven up front, but unfortunately this wall was out of sight for most people dining and almost completely covered by the oven. Can’t we just give you our lacy chandeliers and you can give our half of the restaurant tree branches? Maybe I’m just being stubborn because Farrah Olivia had similar tree branches in their dining room.

The service was a big miss at our table. Our waitress was trying to sell us really hard on wine and other things, and did not know the menu at all. When I asked her to explain a dessert, she said “I don’t know” and went to check with the kitchen. She was gone for quite a while, but she seemed to always be missing when we needed her, even though there were only a few tables filled.

The bread was a little dense for my taste, but I loved the vellum Italian newspaper it came wrapped in. The Margherita my boyfriend ordered was a little sparse on the toppings, but the sausage (we added) was very flavorful and juicy. My half order of tortelloni was very good. The saffron cream sauce paired well with the butternut squash filling, but the pasta itself was a tad thick and too al dente for my tastes. I do like the fact that they allow half and full orders of almost all of their pastas. The menu at kora changes a little bit week to week. I’m not sure if it’s because they’re finding out what diners like best or if they’re trying to stay seasonal, but it’s good to know they’re keeping up either way.

The espresso laced tiramisu was, in one word, yummy. It had a very pronounced coffee flavor and the perfect mixture of custard-y texture and airy cake. The mascarpone cream and zabaglione were nice accompaniments that didn’t overwhelm the cake itself. I’m happy that I got to visit kora the first week that it opened, but I’m not sure I would go back. If it was in my neighborhood I might visit for brunch (Morou’s got a reputation!), or a quick catch-up lunch, but it’s in Crystal City. If there were things close to the restaurant or if I lived in the area, it’d be another story. As is, kora isn’t quite worth the trip. Yet.

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August 7th, 2009
Zentan recently opened in the Donovan House Hotel in Thomas Circle. The restaurant itself is good, in theory. We went before their site was up so we didn’t know much about the menu except for the fact that it was Asian. At first glance, the menu reads like a confused and slightly pretentious pan-Asian mash-up. Our server, slow to the table, “guided us through the menu experience”, which took about ten minutes. When we asked for recommendations, the most expensive and most boring dishes were recommended (Was it because they were having trouble selling them?).

Also, Asian Crudo is ceviche. They assume you don’t know what ceviche or little sashimi salads are, so they European-ize and call it crudo. Right when I heard the explanation of “crudo”, I steered clear from that menu section on principle. We ordered the tempura rock shrimp, Singaporean Slaw, and spicy scallop sushi. Everything was mediocre but the slaw. Even though the overall package of service and food wasn’t anything special, this slaw coupled with the decor of the restaurant and hotel over all and the rooftop view is worth going back. The slaw has over 19 ingredients including several types of nuts, a salted plum dressing, carrot, jicama, and other things I couldn’t find in the dim light. It’s served mostly dry, but it’s condensed and mixed table-side to become the ultimate delicious-ness that hits your mouth.

Alone, I don’t think Zentan is worth going to. The publicity photos make it seem much larger than it is. In person, it has a hotel lounge feel to it. But the hotel really jives with the overall hotel’s decor, which is modern and organic and includes a currently un-matched rooftop view. Unfortunately, the rooftop is quite popular and is often reserved. We didn’t want to go to Zentan without the option to go on the roof, so that’s why it took us so long to go here. If you have to choose between the restaurant or the rooftop, go to the roof. The drinks are better up there and so is the service. Not that I’d know about the service since I was resting on an ultra-comfortable lounge chair the whole time while my boyfriend fetched drinks at the bar next to the fireplace and pool.