Kinship in Washington DC
I could have passed in front of Kinship without even noticing the one Michelin Star restaurant of Chef Eric Ziebold and partner Célia Laurent. Inconspicuous from the outside and undeniably delicious from the inside, it is like a secret gem that is not anymore secret considering how crowded the place was on a Sunday night. We arrived 5 minutes earlier than our reservation and they sat us in their waiting area with a fireplace that was welcome considering that for our last day in Washington DC, the temperature dropped. Several minutes after, we got seated at our booth, a far better sitting than the tables as very cozy.
Lounge at Kinship in Washington DC
Bar area at Kinship in Washington DC
Dining room at Kinship in Washington DC
The menu is split into few sections:
- Craft that celebrates cooking techniques.
- History revisits classics or dishes that the Chef experienced while traveling.
- Ingredients celebrates a specific product.
- Indulgence highlights specialty items.
Know that typically, the first two options are appetizers while the others are entrees and the last desserts. A bit complicated at first, especially as you would easily want to order two entrees, the menu being mouth watering. Here is what we had:
As a drink, Jodi order Tropical Isle mocktail, a pineapple and lemon soda.
Tropical Isle Mocktail at Kinship in Washington DC
On my side, I went for a local whiskey (I have been looking for one in the past few days!): a Joseph Magnus whiskey from Washington DC.
Joseph Magnus Whiskey at Kinship in Washington DC
Multigrain and sourdough bread with butter:
Bread and butter at Kinship in Washington DC
As an appetizer, Jodi went for the salade tunisienne or Tunisian salad, made with marinated lemon cucumber, red onions, cherry tomatoes, brioche croutons and parsley-mint sorbet.
Tunisian salad at Kinship in Washington DC
On my side, I chose the cuttlefish confit served with olive oil bavarois, pickled celtuce (aka celery lettuce) and wilted arugula. That was fantastic: perfectly cooked, the cuttlefish has a nice texture, being not rubbery at all.
Cuttlefish confit at Kinship in Washington DC
Cuttlefish confit at Kinship in Washington DC
Next was the La Ratte potato salad for Jodi, made with eggplant, grilled Vidalia onion, yellow Roma tomato and eggplant purée.
La ratte potato salad at Kinship in Washington DC
For me, I picked right away the braised Peking duck leg that was served with spaetzle, flowering quince, pumpkin and foie cider broth. Everything was fantastic but that duck was amazing: it literally fell off the bone, not even needing the Laguiole knife they gave me to pull it apart. And that taste! Not salty, it was delightfully fatty and perfect with the foie cider broth and spaetzle.
Peking duck leg at Kinship in Washington DC
Last was dessert. As we could not decide, we got two. The first one was the Manjari chocolate pot de crème that was topped with port-poached pears, candies hazelnuts and Roquefort cheese. The combination there was very interesting: pear and Roquefort are often served as an appetizer; and then pear and chocolate as a dessert. Imagining a fusion of the two is quite creative. I would say that the chocolate and Roquefort paired surprisingly well together, but I did not like the pears that were not soft enough. I should mention however that the chocolate pot de creme was very chocolatey.
Chocolate pot de creme at Kinship in Washington DC
Chocolate pot de creme at Kinship in Washington DC
The second dessert was the sugared brioche donut with roasted fennel cream, brown sugar crunch and Concord grape sorbet. It was quite good, the donut being delicious (I did not taste the fennel though in the cream). Definitely this donut can stand on its own.
Brioche donut at Kinship in Washington DC
Brioche donut at Kinship in Washington DC
I admit that the desserts were a bit out there and not as good as the dishes. Kinship was quite good and the service there on point. No wonder how they got awarded with a coveted Michelin Star!
Enjoy (I did)!
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Kinship - 1015 7th St NW, Washington, DC 20001
