Washington D.C. – October 13, 2009 – I took a trip to Washington D.C. recently and had the fortune of finding time to eat at one of José Andrés’ restaurants, Jaleo. It was when I lived here that I started my fascination for José Andrés with Café Atlantico, Zaytinya, Oyamél and now Jaleo.

Jaleo offers a wonderful, rich assortment of tapas or small plates. Here you can experience the richness of the traditional tapas plates along with some modern twists. Whatever you do, make sure you order a pitcher of the red sangria. My ex Brian and a new friend Nabil, who coincidentally works at the same place as my ex joined me for dinner. Nabil is quite a fan of José as well and was looking forward to meeting me and having a great meal.

You may ask, what does Jaleo mean? The Jaleo website says:

Jaleo means “uproar, revelry, merry-making” in Spanish and the restaurant takes its name from the famous John Singer Sargent painting that hangs in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. The energy and vitality of the painting are reflected in each of Jaleo’s locations which are dominated by large murals inspired Sargent’s flamenco dancer.

This night the three of us will have gone thru two full pitchers of Red Sangria and 11 tapas plates. In addition we split two desserts and coffee between the three of us. I apologize for the photography in advance..it was the best I could do with my iPhone and dark conditions.

Here was our evening – in order or arrival:

Baked bread with a nice crust served with Olive Oil with a Crushed Garlic Clove and Rosemary for Dipping

Chorizo Palacios - A slightly spicy cured pork sausage, seasoned with pimenton and garlic sserved with mini breadsticks

Trigueros con romesco - Grilled asparagus with romesco sauce

Patatas bravas – Fried fingerling potatoes topped with a spicy tomato sauce and alioli – one of my favorites!

Chistorra envuelta en patata frita - Slightly spicy chorizo wrapped in a crispy potato – I have made these before inspired by José’s show Made In Spain

Arroz cremoso de setas - Wild mushroom rice with Idiazábal cheese – I could have ordered 5 of these and been happy the entire nite. I didn’t have a picture…

Cordero a la brasa con salsa de romero – Grilled lamb chops with rosemary sauce – this was ok..it needed something

Lubina con vinagreta de ajos y romero – Seared sea bass with rosemary garlic dressing

Lomo de buey – Grilled Hanger steak with piquillo peppers – perfect, the mole verge from the other Papas Arrugasa dish would have gone wonderfully with this as well

Papas arrugasa – Canary Island-style wrinkled baby potatoes served with mojo verde – these were salty

Buñuelos de bacalao – Fried salt cod fritters and honey alioli – I’ve never had bacalao before, these were tasty

Trucha a la Navarra - Seared trout wrapped in Serrano ham – this speaks Spain to me for some reason

Pastel Vasco con helado de leche merengada – Basque cake with semolina cream, cinnamon-vanilla sauce & ice milk

Espuma de avellanas y chocolate – Chocolate and hazelnut mousse torte

It was a wonderful evening with my ex Brian and I got to meet an online friend in person. There was wonderful conversation, lots of laughter and good times all around.

My next José Andrés destination will have to the the Bazaar here in Los Angeles. José also has a show on PBS called Made In Spain. There he travels between his home in Washington DC and various landscapes in Spain to expain the rich history of Spanish food. It is on my TiVo every week. If you ever find yourself in Washington D.C. for pleasure or business, make sure to take the time to visit one of his restaurants and tell them FoodiInDisguise sent you!

I’m giving Jaleo a 4+++++. I wish I had more time to explore more of the dishes. There were a few choices that I would have reconsidered, but overall it was a wonderful experience. Our server Jordan was very attentive to the table and made sure our glasses were always full and helped make some of the recommendations on our menu that evening. Jaleo also has locations in Crystal City and in Bethesda.

Jaleo
480 7th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20004
Tel (202) 628-7949