Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Opening: The Partisan


The Neighborhood Restaurant Group has opened yet another restaurant. The most recent venture? The Partisan, which is attached to Red Apron Butcher's third location at 709 D St. NW. It features a charcuterie menu organized by flavor profile (bright, herbal + floral, spicy hot, smoky, spiced, rich + smooth, earthy), a dinner menu organized by animal (fish, chicken, pig, cow), then size (small, medium, large). There are vegetarian starters, so your non meat-eating friend can still join you, as long as they don't mind a pig's head on your plate. As is the case with most NRG establishments, there is also a large focus on wine and beer.
The Neighborhood Restaurant Group is opening up new restaurants so fast it's hard for the staff to keep updated business cards in their pocket. When we attended the pre-opening gathering the night before The Partisan opened it's doors to the public, Brent Kroll was pouring glasses of Lambrusco at the entrance, handing out his card, and noting that The Partisan (and Iron Gate) were not listed on the back of his card alongside the other restaurants he works on. Luckily, I'm assuming most people with his business card will know what restaurants he is a part of.


After picking up a glass of Lambrusco, guests headed to the kitchen counter to make a plate of house-made tigelle and a selection of pork, including porchetta and bologna, pork belly, and pork loin.


While guests enjoyed the pork they picked up at the kitchen counter, staff members came around to pass more samples around. I heard a lot of rave about the beef fat fries and rockfish tartare and pork rinds. Unfortunately I was unable to try either. The rotissi-fried chicken with honey hot sauce was my favorite of the passed dishes I was able to try.


I wasn't expecting macarons to be a dessert option, but I loved each of the flavors I tried, which included Red Velvet, Salty Caramel, and Negroni. My biggest issue with macarons (or desserts in general really) is when they are way too sweet, and give me a sugar high after one bite. These macarons had well balanced flavors, and did not give me a sugar high, even after three macarons.


The Partisan is open Monday-Saturday, with the bar opening at 4pm, and the Dining Room opening at 5pm. To see the full charcuterie, dinner, wine, beer, and cocktails menus, visit http://www.thepartisandc.com/. Reservations are recommended, and can also be made online.

The Partisan on Urbanspoon

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