1. Komi
Whenever someone tells me that something is the best or the greatest of anything, I’m skeptical. When I heard that Slumdog Millionaire was the greatest movie a friend had ever seen, I expected to be able to mark the day I saw it on my calendar as the moment my life change in some measurable way. It was a good movie, but it was after all, just a movie. That was one of my issues before dining at Komi. I didn’t know what could possibly make a restaurant so much better than every other one I had ever eaten at that I would call it the best. Well, I stand corrected. Komi is the greatest eating experience I have ever had in Washington, hands down.
The food is unbelievable, but it is the whole dining experience that makes Komi what it is. It is a tiny restaurant—only 14 tables, all within viewing distance of the giant window in to the kitchen. And for those 14 tables, I counted ten servers plus a hostess who circulated with bottles of wine and carafes of water. The level of care and attentiveness is really unparalleled, but at the same time, the servers were never intrusive. A pretty amazing feat since they served us at least twenty courses. It was like they weren’t even there. Maybe it was because it was a dark restaurant and they were wearing all black, but whatever it was worked. One of the other things that, whether it was intentional or not (I’m assuming it was), makes the meal so enjoyable is the way that they do a chef’s tasting menu without a bit of formality or pretentiousness. It felt more like you were sitting at the counter in a chef’s home kitchen instead of in their restaurant. The dining room is decorated sparsely but confidently, with low candle light and textured neutral walls. There is nothing prissy about it, and the restaurant has no fabric to absorb sound (aside from the comfy dining chairs) so you never feel like you have to whisper. The place would not be nearly as much fun if you couldn’t freak out when you are served homemade animal crackers.
Now. To the food.
There are two ways to eat at Komi—the dinner menu or the degustazione. The dinner menu includes a progression of mezze and then your choice from about six pastas and six main courses. The degustazione—which we went with—is a longer progression of mezze and then the chefs choice of pasta and main course, followed by a cheese course and the chef’s desserts. We started with a couple sashimi plates which were seasoned with either fleur de sel or meyer lemon, making them sashimi with very little of a nod to Japanese cuisine. There were classic dishes—tiny steamed brioche with caviar, a shrimp mousse, a raw oyster and a salmon belly tartar (the favorite of the group). And there were mezze that were incredibly creative—steak tartar with parsnip ice cream, a goat cheese s’more, and deep fried Cesar salad (deemed too weird to be really enjoyable). The mezze that surprised us the most was the date stuffed with mascarpone cheese. If I had seen that on a menu I never would have ordered it but, I could have eaten an entire plate of them. I never thought I’d say dates were delicious, but there is no other word for them.
That could have been the entire meal, but after all that we hadn’t even started. Next came the pasta course. All the pasta was freshly made and absolutely melted in your mouth. The chef sent out three different plates—beef cheek agnolotti, eggplant and cipollini pansotti with snails, and salt-roasted pumpkin ravioli. All signs pointed to the fact that we should have hated the eggplant (since none of us are fans of eggplant or snails) but it was fantastic. This meal made me believe in eggplant, maybe I’ll try it again. I was burned by your nasty flavor and slimy texture once Eggplant, but Komi has made me believe. You owe them. I loved the beef cheek, so flavorful in just a tiny amount of food, and the ‘rents were big fans of the pumpkin. There was a great sweet sauce over top of it that complemented the salty pumpkin nicely.
As soon as our pasta plates (after having been licked clean) were taken away, a waiter came to our table with the hindquarters of a very small piggy. It was the before picture of our main course—roasted suckling pig. Amazing. The after picture (having been sliced) was served with home made pita, which was so fluffy it resembled naan more than the pita you get at the grocery store. There was a plate of five condiments—tzatziki, eggplant puree (there you are again!), a slaw, chili sauce and a seasoning salt. I got greedy and would pile all five condiments on the pita at once making transportation of the pig from plate to my mouth very difficult. I have to give props again to Komi, I never thought I would eat a chef’s tasting menu main course with my hands. Usually with a roasted pig, I gobble up the crispy skin before anyone can get to it. But the meat was so tender and flavorful that you almost didn’t need the skin. I ate it though, it would be just plain rude not to.
After a quick palate cleanser, out came the desserts. There was tart lemon and olive oil cake, a dark chocolate and shortbread tart and Greek donuts. To be perfectly honest, the desserts were very good but did not blow me away. But after the pig and the entire meal, I have no idea what dessert would have blown away. The Greek donuts were unbelievable though, too bad Krispy Kreme doesn’t have the recipe for those.
It took me a very long time to write this post because it’s hard to put down on keyboard what makes Komi such an experience. Here’s the only way I know how: Our reservations were at 8:15pm. When we arrived at 8:15, our table was not ready. We stood in the doorway for thirty minutes waiting and leering at every four-person table, willing them to get up and leave. I was fully prepared to rail them on making us wait, but after that meal, I would have waited twice that. Unfortunately we would have finished our meal after midnight if that had been the case, but we all make sacrifices I guess. Eating at Komi is a marathon, it took us about two and a half hours to finish, so now I guess I understand why runners go through marathons over and over. For me, instead of a runners high, Komi gave me eaters high. And I’m addicted.
