Komi

Photo credit: wikipedia

TWSF has a minor obsession with conquering the mountain that is Washingtonian Magazine's Top 100 restaurant list. We've checked off an impressive number of the area's best restaurants over the past few years and last week we finally reached the summit (so to speak) and dined at Komi, who is ranked number 1. We have been wanting to go for a while and I used Chuck's 27th birthday as an excuse to make a reservation. We were extremely pleased with quality of the food, service, and overall experience. Komi lived up to all of the hype and exceeded our years of pent up anticipation.

Reservations:
Similar to minibar, Komi takes reservations 1 month to the day in advance. I called on August 16th for a September 16th reservation, and was able to score a romantic 9:15 PM seating after fighting the busy signal for 45 minutes. Komi has a four person limit for seating which fosters a intimate atmosphere.
Note: Komi takes a vacation for a few weeks in August.

The Drink:
Komi offers an extreemly high quality wine list (about $15 per glass and up to a paychek for a bottle) as well as wine flights to pair with your meal ($70 per flight). A sommelier will walk you through the wine list and if you choose a filght he will hand-select the parings based on the day’s menu. Couples are allowed to share a pairing, naturally we chose this option. The sommelier was kind enough to give us one less glass in exchange for heavier pours (we aren't fans of dessert wine anyways). We were each poured a generous glass of sparkling wine, white wine, and red wine over the course of dinner. The sommelier also included a tasting of IPA to pair with the half-smoke which was our favorite paring by far.

The Food:
The food was unbelievable and any description we could provide would not do it justice. The meal was a combination of small courses highlighted by various fish dishes, pasta, and new interpretations of the gyro and half-smoke leading up to a main course of goat with pita and a few small dessert courses. None of the courses missed the mark and anything we were served that night could easily be the best dish at any restaurant in town. Everything was amazing and we even took home gourmet lollipops a souvenir of our culinary adventure.


Our favorite dishes of the night:
*note every dish was explained in detail by our team of waiters, but we were a little tipsy and were not taking notes
- Minced scallop served on a spoon with yogurt dressing
- Homemade gnocchi with a delicious salty garnish
- Komi's take on the famous DC "half-smoke" paired with a Lagunitas IPA
- Goat with homemade pita and fabulously gourmet toppings {main entrée}
Despite Komi’s air of elegance, we were encouraged to use our hands and get messy with this dish which was appreciated because we would have tried to mind our manners and eat with silverware.
Special birthday chocolates

The Service:
The service was magical at Komi. We had at least 4 or 5 different servers approach our table throughout the meal. The staff acted as a well oiled machine and anyone on the floor could step in as your server at any given moment. I've never seen so many plates and place settings used during one meal, but the staff moved quickly and quietly with ninja-like precision.

The pace of the meal was timed out perfectly, enough time between courses to let the tastes linger without becoming antsy for the next plate. After the main course we thought there was no room for dessert, but we were given just enough time to let our stomachs settle and find space for a few more small dessert courses.

Our only complaint was that as much as we loved the main entrée (goat), we were not expecting it to be such a large course and would have preferred more small dishes. Oh, and be prepared to drain your bank account. Your cover for the night is $135 per person for the meal (not including the most ridiculous state/district tax I've ever heard of) and whatever drinks you choose to order.

Chuck’s note: We have had friends go to Komi in the past and their main course was also the goat pitas. The goat was delicious, but considering their tasting menu offers no selection I don't think that I would go back at that price point knowing that I was getting the goat again.

Komi was everything we were expecting and more. The amount of anticipation we had for this meal was off the charts and the fact that we weren’t disappointed in the least is a testament to the quality of the overall experience you will find at Komi.

P.S. Unfortunately they have a "no photo" policy, which is refreshing, but we won't be able to visually spoil the dinner for you, you are just going to have to go see for yourself!