Park Cafe Lincoln park, Capitol Hill

I am going to meet a few friends at Park Cafe this evening. It is a great and small little cafe on Lincoln Park, just a few steps (literally) from my place. It's quaint, serves decent food and has a neighborhoody feel to it.
They serve the typical fare: crabcake, pasta, duck (surprising), etc.........so I will have to review this on my next blog......
To be continued............

So Friday night I went to Park Cafe, literally steps away from my place on Capitol Hill.
It is an unassuming little cafe that serves nicely composed dishes such as Muscovy Duck Breast, Lamb Steak, Wild Boar for main courses, tomato mozzarella stack, maryland crab soup in clear broth for starters. I say unassuming due to the fact that it is small, mostly Capitol Hill residents know it but it should be better well known than it is now. Alcione Vinet opened Park Cafe back in the late 80s, when no one wanted to open a restaurant in that neighborhood. Vinet persisted and without a liquor license, customers had to bring their own bottle(s).
Vinet's journey of having to fight a liquor license ban due to the proximity to a church and finally getting his license, is a story in itself.
From serving Mexican cuisine, to currently a cafe with white table cloth, a cellar with 3500 wines and serving finely prepared cuisine.
Park Cafe has a serene atmosphere to it that makes customers come back. Austere, warm colors, modern, yet homey.
The menu is very sparse; with about 6 items for starters and similarly for the main courses. Everything is A la Carte, meaning all courses do not come with sides of vegetable or starch.
Starters are typical with a Caprese style salad (Fresh Mozzarella and sliced tomatoes) served with Prosciutto, which is fair. The Anjou pears with nuts, Blue cheese and greens is very good; the balsamic dressing is strong but not overbearing that it overwhelms the composition.
Soup of the day was lumps of Blue Crab ina clear broth with lightly cooked vegetables.
It was refreshing but not really new.
The Main courses however, are prepared almost perfectly.
Seared Muscovy, cooked enough to savor the sweetness of the duck, but also subtly seasoned. This is best consumed medium rare.
I had the Wild Boar, which was good, but I didn't quite taste the gamey flavor that most wild grown meats do such as Venison. It tasted more like a Pork tenderloin which is very similar in flavor but not quite as sweet.
lamb steak is likely a loin, due to its tender qualities; again nothing mind blowing, but well seasoned and prepared.
I do think that once one has accomplished a certain level of culinary skills, simplicity becomes second nature. Simplicity not because it a short-cut, an improvisation of sorts, but returning to simple, basic yet sophisticated way of food preparation.

Park Cafe
106 13th Street Southeast
Washington, DC 20003-1408
(202) 543-0184
Open Mon-Sat 11am-2:30pm, 5pm-11pm; Sun 11am-2:30pm, 5pm-9:30pm
App. $50-65/pp, based on Starter meal and a glass of wine, tips and taxes excluded.