For the past week I've been sharing with you my foodie tour of Washington D.C. On my last night in town I got to be part of one of the coolest dining out experiences I've ever had. Thanks to my friend (and hostess for the weekend), we were invited to a small, intimate dinner at a soon-to-be opened restaurant called Slipstream. On that Sunday evening, we sat at a table with the co-owners, their siblings and a few friends for a full tasting of their entire dinner menu. At the time, the restaurant was planning to open five days later.
When we arrived, the sticker cling was still covering the floor to ceiling window at the front of the restaurant.
We snuck in through the door covered in butcher paper and were greeted by one of the co-owners. She was kind enough to give us a full tour of the space, even though they were still unpacking and getting organized for their big opening day.
The paint had just dried on their custom mural, created by artist Dante Marshall. The mural is an interpretation of the restaurant's name. In cycling or swimming, the term slipstream refers to the area of least resistance.
At the front of the restaurant, the hostess stand was made from one of the original doors in the space. This storefront used to be a brake repair show. This stand, along with a few others I'll show you, were made by the co-owner's brother.
Her brother also made this absolutely stunning counter top for the coffee bar. The wood is sourced from wine barrels.
A second bar, also made by her brother, was created from scraps of wood left over from custom doors.
The handmade pieces continue all the way through, including the lighting. These overhead lamps were made by an Etsy artist, just for this space. I love the way the lights reflect in the big floor to ceiling window.
After walking the whole space, it was time for dinner. All ten of us took our seats at the communal table in the center of the dining room and we couldn't contain our excitement. The chef and his sous chef were in the open kitchen working away and sending things out as they were ready.
First up was the butter radish toast with a deviled egg.
How beautiful is that egg? The outside of the egg white is a gorgeous beet color. The chef explained that this is not your traditional deviled egg - it isn't made with mayo, only a touch of cream. I also loved that the plate this dish was served on had a divot just for the egg.
Until I took a bite of this radish toast, I never really thought of radishes as that special of an ingredient. Well, this radish confetti (as the chef was calling it) was such a yummy surprise and made all the more delicious by the thick schmear of butter affixing it to the toast.
The second course was salmon served over creme fraiche with scallions, lemon and capers.
Since I don't eat salmon, I had to rely on my fellow diners to give me the scoop on this delicately plated dish. The verdict was, "The fish is super fresh and we love the crunch of the scallions with the creaminess of the creme fraiche."
Course three was the duck and pomelo salad. Again, I didn't taste this one myself, but I did get feedback from the whole table. Across the table from me, a friend said, "I could seriously eat this salad every single day." Another added, "I would eat this as a salad, a sandwich or a burrito. It's so good!"
Overall, my fellow diners said the duck salad was super flavorful. They loved the spices, herbs and the citrus flavor of the pomelo.
The farmer's market salad was next, a mix of greens, beets, purple potatoes, radishes, tomatoes, slivered grapes, asparagus and cheese.
The salad was not only visually vibrant, but tasted outrageously fresh.
For the final savory course, the chef served us gnudi with fennel and tomato. On its own the gnudi was a bit bland for me, but in a bite with the tomato it was lovely.
Since this menu preview dinner, the Slipstream team has changed up this dish and they now serve it with acorn squash and brown butter sage sauce.
As we cleared the dinner plates, everyone was trying to make room for coffee, tea and dessert (thankfully I was already wearing elastic waist pants).
On the coffee front, Slipstream is exclusively serving Madcap Coffee. One of the co-owners has a deep passion for coffee and really wanted to focus on the highest quality beans. They special thing about thees Madcap Coffee flavors is they can also be made as espressos.
In addition to the rotation of Madcap flavors for traditional coffee, they are also serving two kinds of coffee on tap and making specialty coffee drinks.
For tea, they have partnered with Song Tea, who is based in San Francisco. The owner goes once a year to China to pick all the best teas for his business. The way Slipstream is serving tea, you will get two infusions with every order.
Look how cool this is - there are flowers in the tea!
As you may have gathered from reading this blog, I don't drink coffee and I am pretty picky about my teas. What do I like? Two words for you: Hot. Chocolate.
The Slipstream team was kind enough to whip me up a hot chocolate, complete with a flower in my steamed milk!
With my hot chocolate in hand, it was time for dessert. As the plate landed in front of me, the chef described the dish as cheesecake served with chocolate sauce, cherry drizzle, creme fraiche and macaroon dust.
That's right, people. Macaroon dust!
For me, the texture of this cheesecake was a bit odd and definitely not something I would order again. I did like the creativity of the macaroon dust and you can never go wrong with chocolate sauce on the plate.
At the end of this multi-course feast I was struck by how special this experience was. How often do you get to taste your way through a restaurant's menu before it opens? I felt so lucky to have be included in this friends and family dinner.
If you live in D.C., Slipstream has officially opened its doors! They are open all seven days of the week and are serving breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner. Check out these mouth-watering photos of their weekend brunch.
You can visit at 1333 14th Street NW, Washington, D.C., 20005. You can also follow them on Instagram, @SlipstreamDC.
A huge thank you to Miranda, Ryan, Chef Johnny and the whole Slipstream team for such an unforgettable night.
