Very Cherry
Area restaurants offer specials celebrating the cherry blossoms
Photo courtesy of Heather Freeman Media
Chef Daisuke Utagawa remembers how he used to celebrate the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin in Washington.
“I’d go down there after the restaurant closed,” says Utagawa, then chef at Sushiko, in Chevy Chase. “I’d bring three huge tubs of sushi and bottles of saké and a bunch of my friends and we’d go under the cherry trees and enjoy a picnic late at night.”
These days, Utagawa is too busy catering to the cherry blossom crowds at two restaurants — as well as raising children — to hit the Tidal Basin. And of course wine — or any other alcoholic beverage — is not on the menu, so to speak, on federal parkland. It’s a different era.
And ultimately, a better one. Over the past decade, increasing numbers of people have been celebrating the blossoming cherry trees, an official gift from Japan over a century ago, in an increasing number of ways — and all over the city. That was the goal of Diana Mayhew when she took over what had been a poorly run, all-volunteer outfit 15 years ago. Mayhew has turned the National Cherry Blossom Festival into a three week affair full of activities and events, from a day of kite-flying to a fireworks display to a parade. Twelve years ago the festival teamed up with the Restaurants Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) to launch “Cherry Picks,” in which participating restaurants run specials throughout the entire festival. “Cherry Picks is one of our favorites,” Mayhew says. “It’s another thing we can do to accommodate all of the people that come and give them lots of choices of how to enjoy Washington. Give them a little taste…so they come back again in the future.”
Photo courtesy
Photo of Heather Freeman Media
When it began, there was at least one stipulation on restaurants in the Cherry Picks program, but RAMW‘s Kathy Hollinger says participating restaurants now have total freedom to do as they wish. “No longer do they have to incorporate cherries!” the trade organization president says. “I look forward to seeing how creative our industry can be — whether they create a cocktail, or cook with a particular ingredient, or just use it as a way to launch their spring menu.”
Hollinger singles out Chef Geoff’s, with four area locations, as one of the longest-standing participants in the program, which officially starts March 30 and ends April 12, but restaurants are free to expand beyond those dates. And of course many restaurants plan to offer specials when the festival officially kicks off this Friday, March 20. (RAMW runs a Spring Wine Fling all next week, which is why Cherry Picks officially starts later.)
What follows is a peek into some of the Cherry Picks highlights around town.
At Sushi Ko, which Utagawa has owned since 1988, the focus is on a special entrée available only during the festival. Madai Blossom combines kombujime seabream, cherry gelée, cucumber, tomato and melon water. Call 301-961-1644 or visit sushikorestaurants.com. Meanwhile, Utagawa is also one of the proprietors in the popular Daikaya, across 7th Street from the Verizon Center. The two-year-old Izakaya upstairs offers three Cherry Picks specials: the appetizer Cherry Blossom Rice, a house-made caramel dessert with salted cherry blossoms and the Hanami, a cocktail featuring a persimmon-infused shōchū with salted cherry blossom foam. Call 202-589-1600 or visit daikaya.com.
All three of Jose Andres’s Jaleo locations will whip up five cherry-inspired tapas, including a seared salmon with cauliflower purée and cherries as well as a pork belly confit with cherry sauce, plus a Spanish Garden cocktail made of gin, chrysanthemum syrup, orange jam, lemon juice and green chartreuse. Call 202-628-7949 or visit jaleo.com.
Another cocktail option comes from bartender Jimmy Ponce at Penn Quarter’s Nopa Kitchen + Bar. The Cherry Picker uses a rosemary- and chocolate-infused oat vodka, red currant syrup, lime juice, cherry herring and rose flower water. Call 202-347-4667 or visit nopadc.com. Meanwhile, the craft beer palace City Tap House will devote five of its tap lines to Japan’s Hitachino Nest Beer to celebrate the blossoms. But the venue has also created a blossoms-inspired three-course meal: an appetizer of roasted foie gras terrine with almond crumble, black cherry jam and arugula; an entrée of Muscovy duck breast with charred spring onion, sunchokes, tart cherry gastrigue and parmesan gnocchi; and a dessert of Cherry Clafoutis with vanilla, kirsch and chocolate gelato. Call 202-644-9433 or visit citytaphouse.com.
Photo courtesy of Heather Freeman Media
Cuba Libre offers two cherry blossom-inspired Cuban dishes: the entrée Chuleta de Puerco, a Serrano ham-wrapped center cut rib pork chop with sweet potato crema, roasted kale and amarena cherry jus, and the dessert Empanadas de Cerezas with goat cheese, sour cherries, toasted pistachio and sweet cherry mostarda. Call 202-408-1600 or visit cubalibrerestaurant.com.
Finally, Masa 14, the hip 14th Street Latin-Asian fusion restaurant part of Richard Sandoval’s small local empire, offers small plates Pork Kushiage with miso BBQ, Japanese mustard and scallion and Seafood Okonomiyaki, cabbage pancakes with shrimp, squid, cabbage, mayonnaise, bonito flakes and nori. Wash it down with the Rosy Rickey, a seasonal twist on the bourbon classic made with house-made cherry simple syrup. Call 202-328-1414 or visit masa14.com.
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