Bistro Cacao, D.C. – with wines by the half glass
It is not obvious that a restaurant named Bistro Cacao would be deeply classic French, run by Turks, with a very good wine program. Took my family to dinner. Jeff and Matt don’t drink; Sally took a fall while we were moving furniture, we thought maybe concussion (it wasn’t… whew!), so I’m the only one drinking. How nice to have an extensive glass list with 2.5 and 5.5 ounce pours!
The food is fine; not Michelin star quality, but impeccable. I started with a smoked salmon app, excellent and original with pimentos, pistachios, parmesan and a lemony dressing. A half glass of 2016 Billard Hautes Cotes de Beaune Blanc was very good, but surpassed by the following half glass of excellent blankety blank (aka 2016 Paul Blanck Pinot Blanc). The Billiard was rated 88, the Blanck 89. The classic earth and apple fruit of the Billard paled next to the minerality and heft of the Blanck.
I don’t remember my family’s apps, but somebody had an excellent traditional onion soup. For mains, Jeff had a vegetarian plate that he liked. Matt inhaled a hangar steak with fries. Sally was very happy with a venison chop. I’d had a big lunch, so luxuriated with a foie gras appetizer as my main. As usual, I went with light, piquant reds to accompany this dish… one of my didactic contrarian wine pairings.
The 2016 Billiard Hautes Cotes de Beaune red was a better match for the foie gras than it was wine. It had nice crackly red cherry fruit and reasonable balance, but was simply too light. As a foil to the density of the foie gras it worked; in most other contexts it might not. Rated 86.5. The next half was 2014 Firesteed Pinot Noir from Oregon, a negociant I’ve found reliable over the years. The fruit was just slightly muddy compared to the Burgundy, but it was richer, without being in any way heavy or unbalanced. Rated 88.5
Everybody had dessert; mine was liquid. 20 year Graham Tawny. Sweetness in moderation, fruit in intensity, balance exactly right. Rate 91.5.
This is a very good restaurant, fine food, moderately priced. The half glasses IIRC ranged from $5 – 7, which means they are getting $50 – 70 a bottle for mid-level wines. But the luxury of being able to taste a plethora of interesting wines easily compensates. The food is moderately priced. The upper level wines by the bottle are fairly expensive. If you are a wine lover who likes to taste with no snobbery, this is a recommended find.
Dan Kravitz