Kinkead’s Still One of the Top DC Spots

Kinkead’s has long been one of DC’s best restaurants for seafood, and the Washingtonian restaurant was ranked #9 in last month’s Washingtonian magazine. I hadn’t been there in years, so Gabriele and I decided to to see for ourselves last night.

We had a terrific dining experience. The atmosphere, service and food were all first rate. The wine list was expensive in general and astronomically in the case of American Pinot, which led to the wine discovery of the evening.

We both like red with almost everything, so I was thinking Pinot with our fish. They poured a New Zealand by the glass, so we asked for a taste to see if we wanted a bottle. That tried and true approach failed here, since the wine was very mediocre. The Pinot from Oregon on the list was IMO very overpriced, so we were in a bind. Until Stephen our waiter gave us a good recommendation.

He suggested going with French burgundy. French pinot is often very earthy and sometimes downright funky, very different from American or New Zealand wines. Plus, Gabriele has never had a French pinot she liked. Finally, the labels are very hard to decipher and know exactly what you’re ordering, aside from famous names with corresponding markups. So a lot was riding on this rec. I really like it when restaurant staff make clear and enthusiastic suggestions, so we went with it.

We’re glad we did. The wine was definitely different, but pretty fruit forward by French standards and very enjoyable.  It was a:

Pernand – Vergelesses, First Cru, Les Fichots, 2004.

It’s from an appelation just north of Beaune (the label of course didn’t tell me that, I looked up later), and it probably retails for between $25-$30. The earthiness was there but subdued, and gave the wine a substance that matched very well with the creative preparations of flounder and cod we ordered. It wasn’t the finest Pinot I’ve ever had, but it was a fun find and a reminder that when in doubt about what to order, just ask the wait staff. If it’s a quality place that makes sure its servers are well trained, you’ll get some good advice.