Last night, the top chefs from 4 Lettuce Entertain You, Enterprises restaurants in the DC area convened at Bethesda Row's Mon Ami Gabi to showcase their signature dishes. Here is a video I recorded at the dinner showing each dish, and remarks by two head chefs and Mon Ami Gabi manager Adam Murphy.
The annual "A Taste of Lettuce" was held in Bethesda for the first time this year. Besides Mon Ami Gabi, the other LEYE family members represented were The Big Bowl (Reston, VA), Wildfire (Tysons Corner, VA), and Community Canteen (Reston).
While the menu primarily featured traditional dishes well-prepared, the first course stood out for being fairly adventurous. A combination of heat and crunch was delivered by a 3-piece appetizer assortment. The BBQ Pork Bánh Mi Crostini wasn't an actual Bánh Mi, but more of a crostini slider. I thought the Vietnamese Duck Confit Spring Roll was the best of the 3. Overall, it was the most complex, diverse and unpredictable of the courses, and packed with flavors.
The Wildfire chopped salad appears somewhat unassuming, but once you try it, you can understand why it was named one of Chicago's top salads. A wide variety of ingredients keeps it interesting. I tested the corn kernels right away, and found them to be tender and fresh, unlike the canned corn you get some places. Bacon was a second winning ingredient, and the freshly ground black pepper added significant heat. I give this salad 5 stars.
For the main course, I chose the hometown dish: Mon Ami Gabi's Filet Minon. The steak frites were served piping hot in the center of the table; the plated starch was Potato Gratin. I was impressed that my filet was cooked exactly medium-well, as I ordered it. It's challenging to keep a steak tender when more thoroughly cooked, but this is one restaurant that can do it.
Finally, there was the Apple Tartine from Community Canteen. I liked the homemade cinnamon ice cream and pastry on this. The texture was somewhat like baklava. I tend to prefer sweeter apples, but there was a good contrast with the sweet ice cream.
Each course had a wine pairing, but the dessert featured an Armagnac.
Every diner received a generous gift bag at the evening's end, featuring some special items from some of the participating restaurants. There was also outstanding service, which you are already familiar with if you have dined at Mon Ami Gabi before.
One thing I learned that I'm passing along, is to sign up for the text message offers for any or all of these LEYE restaurants. I was not aware of this, but you actually get different specials from the email signup. For example, last week, you would have gotten a free order of mussels at Mon Ami Gabi; this week, you'll get free mousse.
It would be interesting if other chains at Bethesda Row tried this, such as Cava, José Andrés' ThinkFood Group, etc.
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