Why I Shouldn't Be Allowed in Nice Restaurants, Vol. 2

Restaurant Week Excursion #2 was to Firefly in Dupont Circle.

This is really one of the prettiest restaurants in Washington, and very romantic without a whole lot of pretense. Plus, their Restaurant Week menu was far more generous and varied than that of Poste, and the food was only about half as weird. No purple eggs! And they didn't even sneer at my outfit, which I had thought was urban and hip, but on second glance made me look like an Edwardian schoolboy.

For appetizers, Tim had the chicken liver pate (...great, but he's gotta motor if he's gonna make that funeral) and I had the Bibb salad. Both were good, but nothing spectacular. I had briefly considered ordering the deviled eggs, until Tim gave me such a look of disbelief that I ordered the salad. After we finished our appetizers, there was a significant lag in bringing out our entrees. I'm not usually fussy about timing, but people who were seated well after us were getting their food. Our waiter dodged our plaintive expressions for some time, until a manager came out, apologized, and comped a half-bottle of wine. I'm easily bribed, so the rest of the evening passed with a pleasant glow (which may have been the wine).

For entrees, I had the arctic char (which is salmony, but is somehow not technically salmon) and Tim had the sturgeon. Sturgeon tastes like chicken! Who knew? And for dessert, I had the Firefly Sundae with chocolate brownie, peanut butter ice cream, and whipped cream. It was rich, and the peanut butter ice cream wasn't as overwhelming as I thought it might be. Tim had the apple crisp, which was a tad too sweet but very good.

As for the eavesdropping, it wasn't quite as good as Poste. But it was still entertaining. Much like an army can only march as fast as its slowest soldier, a group of women out for dinner can only converse at the IQ level of its dumbest member. So I caught a few snatches of, really, one of the dopiest group conversations ever (the merits of popped collars, and the preponderance of said collars by neighborhood). Plus there was a woman in an absurdly tight, short red dress who had to reshuffle herself every time she even breathed.

Overall, Firefly is a winner. Just leave your Edwardian schoolboy and skankwear outfits at home.