59. Proof
After this weekend’s trip to Cafe du Parc which was, uh…pricey, I reevaluated my dining habits. Meaning as soon as I got home on Friday night I Googled “secret DC dining deals”. After getting past the few (inexplicable) porn sites that came up, I came upon a posting for the Lunch Crush at Proof. During the week, you can order off a bar menu of six lunchy items that come with a glass of red or white wine, or a soda if you are boring. All that for $12. I’d never eaten at Proof before because I heard it was ungodly expensive, so I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to stick it to the man and eat at a pricey place on the cheap.
My friend, the darling Lea, was in town and staying downtown so I forced her on a death march in the freezing cold and high heels the eight blocks from The Willard to 8th and G St. (Sorry Lea!) The place was so empty just before noon that I didn’t think they were open but when we bellied up to the bar, our friendly bartender gave us both the bar menu with the $12 deal on it as well as the dining room lunch menu. He said not to even open dining room menu, the Lunch Crush was too good of a deal. Sold. He recommended the Crispy Shrimp Sandwich, sold again. Here’s the best way I can describe it (besides heavenly): if Top Chef had a challenge to recreate the McFish Sandwich from McDonalds, this would be the winning dish. Fresh shrimp combined with very little filler then fried, on a brioche bun with carrot, cucumber, jalapeno and (I think) daikon. It was the perfect amount of spice to go with the creaminess of the shrimp. And high fives to the chef—that sandwich was a feat of physics. It never fell apart even though it was almost a full five inches high.
The food was great and the service was even better. After hearing Lea and I discuss the common qualities of Riesling and cough syrup, he gave us a glass of a dry Riesling to try. I think he was about to throw it away since he said it had ‘notes of Petrol’, but nonetheless, I’m not about to turn down a free glass of wine. I know that we could have sat there for a very long time and talked wine with our friendly and slightly bored bartenders, but alas we were on a schedule. I can’t wait to go back for another Lunch Crush, by that time I think it might be Lunch Love.
