Last weekend Gabriele and I had a very nice experience at Tempo, on Duke Street in Alexandria. It’s easy to miss if you’re not looking, set back from the street a bit and next to an Enterprise Rent a Car as you drive out of Old Town. The cuisine is old-school French/Italian served in a friendly, neighborhood atmosphere.
The lobby has many positive reviews on the walls — the restaurant has been there since the early 1990s. The dining room was very bright, with tables very close together. I don’t mind that in general, but it proved an issue whenever the table beside us was being served, or when any table was shown the immense dessert tray.
The wine list was fairly small. We weren’t sure what to order so we asked for a couple of small tastes of wines they do by the glass. Our server brought us over a small amount of a Ramon Bilboa Crianza and a Sawtooth Syrah (from Idaho!?) — neither were good at all.
At that point we asked a couple of questions, and she admitted she didn’t know much about wine. She sent over the head waiter/floor manager, who clearly had many years of waiting experience — his vest had enough medals to make a general proud. His name was Achilles, and we got to know him later in the evening.
After a little discussion we decided on a Montepulciano. Unfortunately, he came back to say they were out. We were both is a good mood, so rather than being frustrated we viewed this as a small obstacle to finding a nice new wine.
That wine ended up being a Domaine Saint-Roch Vacqueyras 2008. We’ve been drinking some good Rhone wines lately and I took the shot. Since it was 65% Grenache I hoped the wine would be easier drinking than some Vacs that can be very big and powerful. Luckily I was right. Old favorites are great, but finding a new wine makes a night out even more fun.
The wine was bright and fruity, with soft tannins and a smooth finish. There was a kind of “uplift” on the finish, almost an effervescence of a kind. There was also a bit of pepper. We enjoyed the wine and have added it to our growing list of delicious, affordable Rhones. Looks to retail for under $20.
We also really enjoyed the food. I started with a fresh, flavorful salmon gravlax, and Gabriele had mussels. She liked the mussels themselves but thought they had too many herbs on them. She had the corvina, which is sort of like sea bass, with mushrooms, capers, shrimp and a white wine sauce. I had Veal Genovese — it was very flavorful, thought it could have used a little less cheese. All the vegetables on our plates were cooked perfectly, and the hush puppy balls on the side were a fun touch.
Dessert was good as well — Gabriele had mango sorbet and I had blackberries with ice cream. When the check came, I noticed they had left the wine off the bill. I sent it back to be corrected, which I think Achilles appreciated. Before we got up he invited us to stop by his “office” — a small service bar off the lobby — for a little port before we left. That was a charming coda for the evening, and we talked a bit about the challenges of running a restaurant in uncertain economic times.
Based on our one visit, I think the service can be improved at Tempo. Aside from Achilles, the staff seemed young and inexperienced. Other Alexandria restaurants offer top service delivered in a friendly atmosphere, and I think Tempo needs to do that as well. Many of the diners when we were there looked to be regulars, so maybe they don’t care so much.
It took us a while to discover Tempo, but we’ll definitely be back.