Vermilion bar, sans people
This past Saturday night Gabriele and I celebrated Valentine’s Day at Vermilion in Old Town, Alexandria. Technically of course we were two days early, but it looked like a lot of couples were doing the same thing. I was late calling the restaurant, so we didn’t have a reservation.
When I called and spoke to the hostess, she suggested that Gabriele and I could find two chairs in the nice Vermilion bar while we waited for a table. That worked, although don’t let the picture above fool you. Nabbing two spots on a busy Valentine Saturday was no easy task.
It was critical to secure two spots because my valentine was hungry. The bar menu at Vermilion is very good, and while we waited we enjoyed roasted olives, mini burgers and fancy house fries. These apps tided us over, along with two glasses of a nice Rhone blend.
It was a 2008 La Bastide Saint Dominique Cotes du Rhone (note the link talks about the 2006, not 2008.) It was a satisfying bar wine by the glass — smooth, with bright currant fruit and a dry finish. Gabriele tasted a little cream on the finish, I didn’t. A very pleasant, easy-drinking wine.
Then it was upstairs for dinner. Interestingly they put us at the “chef’s table,” a large rectangular table at the top of the stairs that could easily seat six or eight. We enjoyed the extra space, and it was funny to see some diners glance over as they departed the restaurant. They may have been wondering who the couple was at the big table, with the guy scribbling away taking notes.
Our meal was delicious. We still had room enough to split a braised octopus appetizer, served with beans and vinaigrette over toasted foccacia. The bread was outstanding, and they sent us out an amuse bouche, two tiny containers of mushroom soup with toasted parmesan flakes. It had fantastic mushroom flavor and was very light, it tasted like it had no cream whatsoever.
For her entree Gabriele had fluke done with leeks and potatoes, and I had the rockfish with ham, celery and chowder froth — and that’s exactly what it looked like on the plate, froth. Both were perfectly prepared and extremely flavorful.
Serving sizes were a little on the small side, but thankfully nothing like the tiny portions served at Vermilion’s cousin restaurant Tallula in Arlington.
We puzzled for a while on the right wine to have with dinner. The wine list isn’t large and is a bit short on affordable options. We liked the bar Rhone but didn’t want a bottle. Our server brought over a taste of a Pinot Noir they sold by the glass, but that didn’t make the grade.
I asked our server about a New Zealand Bordeaux blend on the list, and since he hadn’t tried it he sent the manager over. After talking with him, we went with the Puriri Hills Estate 2003.
It was a blend of 69% Merlot, 15% Cabernet, Cabernet Franc 8%, Carmeniere 6% and Malbec 2%. Although is was a small percentage, the Cabernet Franc was very present in the aroma. The wine was very smooth, and somewhere between light and medium bodied. There was a good bit of earth and minerals on the palate — I tasted tobacco, leather and most of all pencil lead.
To me it was surprisingly old world in style for a new world Bordeaux blend and unlike the only other NZ Bordeaux blend we’re familiar with, the Matariki 2005 Quintology. The wine had too much Cabernet Franc in its character and taste to become a favorite, but we enjoyed it with our meal.
Everything was done well at Vermilion. The restaurant has a fun vibe downstairs, and a cool mellow one upstairs. I’m not breaking any new story here — it was a Top 100 restaurant last year according to Washingtonian magazine. They describe Vermilion as “midlevel,” and I guess that’s accurate if you’re comparing it to the best in the DC metro area. I’d describe it as a promising destination, regardless of the holiday or time of year.