Kinship
Iced Tea
Sourdough and Whole Wheat Bread – Salted Butter
Pineapple Quince Salad – Spicy Greens, Poached Cranberries, Darden Ham, Cider Vinaigrette
Maine Lobster French Toast – Cucumber, Asian Pear, Sesame Mousse
Slow Braised Short Ribs – Carnaroli Risotto, Persimmon, Butternut Squash, Sunchoke, Beer Gastrique
Kinship Roast Chicken – Lemon-Garlic Panade, Pommes Rissolees, Frisee Salad with Shredded Thigh, Parker House Rolls
Kinship Carrot Cake – Cardamom Spiced Halwa, Cheesecake Pudding, Carrot Custard, Fresh Ginger Ice Cream
Reid’s Orchard Concord Grape Panna Cotta – Cream Cheese Mousse, Lemon Verbena Fizz, Tapioca Pearls, Frozen Buttermilk
Chocolate Peanut Torte – Whipped Chocolate Ganache, Madeira Mascarpone, Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Path Valley Sweet Potato Cake – Braised Apples, Sweet Potato Confit, Bay Leaf Chantilly, Spiced Apple Cider Ice Cream
Just recently recognized as two distinct Restaurants occupying the same address by Michelin, both Kinship and the Tasting Menu based Métier found at 1015 Seventh Street NW, it was moments after valeting the car that three guests entered the front door to find a hostess in waiting, confirmation of a 6:00pm reservation quickly accomplished and a stylish booth offered in a space that was full and would remain that way throughout Monday evening.
Opened by Eric Ziebold in the earliest days of 2016, The French Laundry pedigree and several years toquing Cityzen at the Mandarin Oriental finally seeing the Chef ready to step out on his own with an idea focused on “what the modern American Restaurant can be,” Kinship makes every attempt to take its name literally by creating an environment of spaces that seemingly could exist in many homes while preparing a menu based on “Craft, History, Ingredients and Indulgence,” these headings used to divide sections that begin with sharable Appetizers and progress from top to bottom with larger entrees and several large format items.
Tucking the tasting menu away downstairs while Kinship occupies several elegant rooms and about seventy seats at ground level, the spacious bar full of men and women dressed in business wear while tables and booths amidst white walls and crown molding offer plenty of privacy both by way of their design and wide spacing it was shortly after sitting that water was joined by glasses of Iced Tea while the menu was perused, information that the restaurant’s signature Chicken takes up to 75-minutes to prepare quickly seeing an order placed for it while another seven plates were arranged before and after.
More formal than many of the Capital’s Michelin Starred spaces but not as stuffy as Cityzen, the servers fairly solemn but able to read a diner’s interests and savvy without over-explaining, it was shortly after orders were placed that a pair of plates was presented along with two styles of bread and a half-sphere of Salted Butter, the Pineapple Quince Salad showing a good understanding of the season with bold flavors and sharp textural contrasts while the Lobster “French Toast” may just be the best dish in D.C. today with several butter-poached segments of Crustacean balanced on a slice of griddled Bread Pudding in a bath of Butter and Cream with crisp Fruit and Vegetables helping to temper the richness.
Using a lone entrée as a sort of mid-plate, the $28 Short Rib from the “Craft” section expectedly fork-tender and rich atop creamy Risotto dotted with diced Persimmons and Squash surrounded by an Amber Lager reduction it was mere moments after the plate was wiped clean with a slice of Sourdough that the Kinship Roast Chicken arrived, the $56 Bird a veritable fine dining ‘deal’ when accounting for a bowl of crispy Potatoes and Salad loaded with shredded Thigh, the Chicken itself juicy with vibrant Citrus Stuffing under the skin and the bite-size Parker House Rolls a throwback to Ziebold’s former digs that remain every bit as tiny and delicious.
Smartly placing the Dessert menu in the same context as savories and presenting the full carte at meal’s beginning it was with only a few spare leafs of Frisee remaining that plates were cleared in preparation for the true definition of “Indulgence,” a quartet of sweets arriving simultaneously and quickly filling the table, the Sweet Potato Cake made ‘for sharing’ featuring four dense slices topped in Cinnamon Apples and tender chunks of Sweet Potato with a beautiful herbal tinge added by Bay Leaf Chantilly and quenelles of sour Apple Cider Ice Cream.
Happy to see the rest of the dishes served either room temperature or chilled so that Ice Cream would not melt quickly it was next that attention focused on a deconstructed Carrot Cake with plenty of spices including Ginger and Cardamom, the Grape Panna Cotta presented in bright purple with lemony Meringue that became effervescent on contact with the tongue another great surprise while the Chocolate Peanut Torte was fairly similar to most Desserts featuring the decidedly American ingredient pairing but brought up a notch by Mascarpone infused with Portuguese Sweet Wine that gave the dish a sort of Peanut Butter and Jelly finish.
