Unrated during the pandemic
Opening one establishment is challenge enough. Hollis Wells Silverman has introduced three places to eat and drink since December, all on Capitol Hill, where she lives four or so blocks from the collection. The former chief operating officer of José Andrés’s ThinkFoodGroup says she never expected to open a restaurant of her own. But space opened up near Eastern Market, and she saw a chance to give the neighborhood what she thought it needed: an all-day restaurant with a California lilt (the Duck & the Peach), a breezy osteria inspired by a college trip to Italy (La Collina) and, most recently, a gin-driven, reservation-only watering hole (the Wells). She hopes the look of the 30-seat bar, dreamy in green and copper, makes visitors feel as if “they’ve stepped out of D.C.”
One chef, Katarina Petonito, 29, oversees the three menus, which include small bites at the cocktail lounge. Her job is made easier by the design; the Duck & the Peach and La Collina share one big kitchen. Petonito brings a strong résumé to the project, brought to life for an estimated $5 million by Eastern Point Collective. The Maryland native most recently cooked at the popular St. Anselm near Union Market. Before that, she was chef de cuisine at the late Kapnos on 14th Street NW.
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Different as the venues are, they share an interest in public health. All three require proof of vaccination or a recent negative coronavirus test for indoor dining.
The branding for the Duck & the Peach is personal for Wells Silverman. Yes, she likes the idea of promoting two popular ingredients. But the words are also the nicknames for her late black Labrador, Red, and 11-year-old daughter, Davis, respectively.
Airbnb could be forgiven for recruiting the restaurant. “I want it to feel like someone’s home,” says Wells Silverman. Light pours through the windows, which take in a spacious patio outside. (Note to self: Bring Henry the Whippet next visit. Note to families: Kids seem to love it here.) Caramel-colored leather chairs and banquettes prove both stylish and comfortable; clusters of elegant wooden lights could double as art installations. Coffee table books, many from the owner’s home, practically ask to be cracked open. Wells Silverman is from New England but has a soft spot for the Golden State, where she worked in San Francisco at the renowned Jardiniere and tried her hand as a wine broker in San Diego. Paintings of beaches and flowers by her late artist-father draw eyes to the walls.
Petonito says she’s letting the menu be shaped by the season, along with her employer’s thoughts. Dates stuffed with goat cheese, drizzled with olive oil and dusted with sea salt is a first course that reminds the owner of a first date at the Greek-themed Komi in Washington. Fluke stars in a crudo whose accents of Fresno chiles, sungold tomatoes and sheer Persian cucumbers provide pops of color and flavor. A server’s excitement about a special might lead you to pursue, and swoon over, lush foie gras paté, crackling with sea salt and gilded with (what else?) diced peaches. Thick, faintly sweet toast serves as escort.
The butcher steak, thick and blushing, underscores the chef’s tenure at St. Anselm, one of the city’s best grills. The meat, carved into two chunks, rests on a whip of turnips and alongside carrot coins ignited with harissa. Shrimp cooked just enough to warm the seafood are paired with Israeli couscous and a vivid sofrito. The sides are anything but routine. Ratatouille is presented as thin slices of summer squash, peppers and Japanese eggplant lined up just so on a creamy sauce made from the trimmings and scraps of the vegetables. The heat of summer jumps off the plate and onto the palate.
The name of the restaurant demands she offer duck and peaches, and the combination of crisp-skinned fowl and juicy fruit is simple and satisfying. But an even finer dish is roast chicken. I first encountered the entree in winter, when the restaurant was doing takeout. Even in a box, the bird is impressive. But it shows even better when it’s moments off the rotisserie and displayed on a plate. The chef starts with a good product — from D’Artagnan, and raised in Pennsylvania Dutch country — which gets brined for several days in citrus. A rub with oregano and sumac is next, followed by drying and roasting. Prepare to sigh — and strip the carcass clean.
Dessert lists have taken a hit during the pandemic. They tend to be shorter and less ambitious, in some cases because there’s not a dedicated pastry chef. The Duck and the Peach has in its favor Rochelle Cooper, 30, previously with ThinkFoodGroup, where she worked in research and development. Her shareable peach cobbler with sweet corn ice cream, deeply flavored with roasted corn cobs, is the lovely marriage it sounds like. And her fancy twist on s’mores is the culinary equivalent of glamping. The surface of the smoky confection, which fuses chocolate mousse, cake and a brown butter chocolate dip embedded with graham crackers, is honeyed meringue, teased into little gold-colored “flames.”
Wells Silverman and team seem to have sweated every detail. Some are obvious, like the sleek water tumblers, menus perched on stands (for ease of cleaning) and a table for eight near the front window that feels private but takes in the sweep of the restaurant. Other touches are inconspicuous but welcome. The roomy, unisex restroom shared with La Collina thoughtfully includes Braille type near the entry.
The approach to La Collina (“the hill” in English) is designed to put you at ease. String lights crisscross the patio, set off with white umbrellas, burnt-orange chairs and people who appear to be happy occupying them. The restaurant only recently opened its doors to inside dining; my experience is based on the patio, where servers ferrying carafes of wine and platters of salumi (spring for the melt-in-your-mouth mangalica ham) signal a carefree hour or so.
Meatballs zippy with pepperoncini and risotto fritters that open to reveal all the right “p” words — provolone, pecorino, parmesan and peas — reveal a chef who’s comfortable juggling a couple cuisines. La Collina’s chopped salad — a heap of shredded lettuces punctuated with bitter radicchio, mellow chickpeas, stinging dressing and oregano — falls squarely in the Italian-American camp. Petonito likes to refer to her cooking here as “Italian-ish,” the “ish” of which has become shorthand for chefs who prefer to play with their food rather than adhere to strict interpretations. Yet to taste her bucatini tossed in little more than butter, cheese and black pepper is to return to the Old World.
Diners are informed the whole fish comes head and all. “It’s a sign of respect,” the chef says, who thinks it’s important for people to know their food was once a living thing. Her grilled branzino glides to the table with a fistful of glossy herbs and a dressing of red wine vinegar, lemon zest and black pepper that contrasts nicely with the sweet flesh. Fortunately for the table, the crusty pork Milanese shows up as merely a substantial cutlet splayed across a chiffonade of snap peas and fresh mint. A bite of hot crisp meat chased by a forkful of cool greens is my kind of leisure activity.
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As at the Duck & the Peach, the pastry chef’s handiwork encourages lingering. Made using goat’s milk and fragrant with vanilla, rice pudding ringed in both fresh and cooked peaches — Cooper calls it a “jam-pote” — is both lovely and comforting. The pastry chef’s budino is top-shelf, too. Cooper uses both dark and milk chocolate for the pudding, which she tops with chocolate cookie crumbs and a cool semifreddo flavored by whatever fresh mint she finds interesting. The crowning touch is a bittersweet halo of Manjari chocolate dusted with cocoa and sea salt.
The food arrives in waves that require you to help clear the table of dishes you might still be enjoying. In the end, though, the staff’s charm — warm greeting, frequent check ins — wins us over. “Have a loving evening,” a waiter says as we reluctantly say ciao.
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Unrated during the pandemic
The Duck & the Peach 300 Seventh St. SE.202-431-1913.duckandpeachdc.com. Open for indoor and outdoor dining, delivery and takeout 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for breakfast and lunch and 5:30 to 9 p.m. for dinner Wednesday through Sunday.Prices:Dinner appetizers $7 to $12, main courses $28 to $47 (for the signature duck).Accessibility: Double doors at the entrance make it easier for wheelchair users to go in through the patio. Restroom is ADA-compliant.
La Collina 747 C St. SE.202-998-2799.lacollinadc.com. Open for indoor and outdoor dining, delivery and takeout 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Prices:Dinner appetizers $1.50 to $12, pastas and main courses $14 to $38. Accessibility: Double doors at the entrance make it easier for wheelchair users to go in through the patio. Restroom is ADA-compliant.
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