Plume

Our evening of wine tasting at the Australian Embassy ended with dinner at Plume restaurant. It is located in the Jefferson Hotel about three blocks from the Embassy. It is a quiet, upscale restaurant that is noted for having the largest selection of Madeira in all of Washington, D.C.

There was a group of six of us and our evening started modestly enough with some sparkling wines at the bar. The majority of us had a nice Rosé that functioned as a nice palate cleanser after some of the heavy wines we had at the tasting event. The highlight of the evening was provided not by the food (which was exceptional) but by Meaghan, or more accurately, her purse.

This is a fine dining establishment and that means that on top of the food, the service must be impeccable as well. Well, when Meaghan placed her purse on the floor, a waiter immediately returned with a small foot stool and placed her purse upon it so that her purse would constantly be within reach should she need something out of it. Of course, Meaghan being the shortest one of the group, commented that she needed the stool more than her purse as her feet didn’t even reach the floor!

This was but a small example of the exceptional service offered at this restaurant and as I mentioned, the food was pretty rocking too. A rabbit compote was the star of the amuse-bouche and both my braised veal shank and Ms Cocktail’s pan seared scallops were done excellently. Of course, no dinner is complete without wine and with this crowd, coming up with something to please all of us and still pair with the foods was quite the challenge. The sommelier was both knowledgeable and exceptionally patient allowing us to hem and haw over our final selections.

We started with the López de Heredia “Vina Bosconia” Reserva Rioja Alta 2002. This was a well balanced Rioja that had mellowed appreciably by its time in the bottle. The second wine we had was keeping with our big Australian red theme from earlier, the Betts & Scholl Grenache “OG” Barossa Valley 2006. As you would expect from a Grenache, this wine was a little softer and not as earthy as some of the wines from earlier in the evening.

The evening was not cheap but it also wasn’t outrageously expensive for a dining experience such as this. Both the food and service were excellent. Overall, I would give this restaurant 4 ½ Cocktails.