14. 2941
Before we begin today’s class, a public service announcement. If you are only able to get to Falls Church once before Sept. 30th, you should take that opportunity to eat lunch at 2941 and take advantage of their extended restaurant week menu. To call it a deal is an understatement, and everything on the RW menu could easily be on the regular menu. With a regular menu running $70 for three courses (albeit at dinner time), it seems downright inconceivable not to have a three course menu for $20. Now, let’s begin.
The first bit of wisdom I can impart regarding a meal at 2941 is to take advantage of the complimentary valet parking. It’s there for a reason. There are many reasons I didn’t valet, most of them having to do with the fact that I didn’t want to tip the guy, so I just parked in the poor people parking in the back. That parking is really a garage for the office building attached to the restaurant, and though there are a few hidden visitor parking spaces, the real issue comes when trying to escape the parking lot since the stairs let out in the loading dock of the restaurant. After some serious wandering, I found the front of the restaurant, but really it was not worth the $2 tip I saved myself.
Yes, the restaurant is in the basement of an office building. Amazingly, once I got within fifteen feet of the front door—you would never know it. There were waterfalls, koi ponds, trees and flagstone for days. Once inside, there are walls of windows overlooking the aforementioned trees and a nice little lake. So much thought was put in to the decoration that there were giant mirrors on the non-windowed walls that reflected the lake, making it seem a little bit like eating on a cruise ship. But in the most wonderful way and minus almost all of the seasickness.
The RW menu was broken down to three choices for each course. For my appetizer, I went with the hamachi tartare. It was very nice—served over an avocado mousse with some chili pepper that I didn’t notice until my tongue started to throb after I woofed my fish down. For my main course I chose the Waygu beef salad. If that was a salad, then I’m Padma Lakshmi. (ed: I’m not.) For 99% of the world, the fact that it wasn’t a salad would have been a plus—it ended up being perfectly seared strips of Wagyu with a salad of microgreens on top. My problem is that I’m not a huge steak eater, though I do love steak salad. So in the end, I felt like I was eating a beautiful steak with a citrus vinaigrette poured on top of it—not the ideal situation for fancy beef. The flavors were great, so had there been a nice bed of lettuce under my beef, I probably would have thought it was perfect.
On to the dessert. To describe my dessert experience, I first have to address the service overall. I found the waitstaff a bit snooty. Maybe it was because I wasn’t a 50-year old man at a power lunch, but my $20.09 is just as good as theirs, dammit. So when it came time for the dessert and the chocolate molliere came out and I corrected the waitress that I had in fact ordered the goat cheese cheesecake, I knew I was in for it. She tried to fight me that I ordered the chocolate (I knew I didn’t), then took it away and promptly plopped it back in front of me. Judging by how much the foam had deflated in that little bit of time, I’d say there was about a 70% chance she spit in it. She did bring out my goat cheese cheesecake (seemingly spit-free), and it was the highlight of my meal. I’m not in love with sweets at lunch, so having an intensely flavorful little morsel of cheese, figs and raspberry sauce was perfect.
Though 2941 is essentially part of a suburban office park, there is a great feeling in the restaurant—like eating in a treehouse. With the huge windows, high ceilings and trees forever, it’s a serene settling you will never get eating inside the Beltway. It’s prices are not for the faint of heart, so I’ve said it before I’ll say it again—go for restaurant week. You’ll thank me.
