Hot Chocolate is a few doors down from my place of employment and this is the second time I have dined there. James Beard nominated, reputation, blah blah blah. This is where I go to hold my awkward social meet-ups. The first time I went was on an "online" first date with a fella who didn't give two shits about food. No thanks, brother. And nice soul patch or whatever...sheesh.
Today I went with a friend with whom I have not seen or spoken with in literally over a decade. Oddly enough, the day I found him on Facebook was the same day he was flying to Chicago for a week. We used to go to after-hours goth night together when I was still a smarmy, know-it-all teen in 20-eye boots and half red and black hair. He was the "old guy Melanie used to hang out with," at least according to my parents. The weird thing is that I am older today at 29 than he was then. Who's creepy now, Dad?!?
I guess the dinner wasn't awkward so much as daunting. How do you catch up on a decade's worth of hard livin' in the span of a three course meal? Especially with the decade I've had. People throw the words gnarly, irresponsible and surreal around, but they don't even begin to scratch the surface of my 20's. The point is, do you reminisce about the past or discuss the present? Considering the hellion I was ten years ago, is living a boring, 40+ hour work week life depressing, or impressive? In the end, we are still both overworked coffee slaves in one way or another, and seemed to both take comfort in that constant.
But fuck it, let's talk about the food. I forgot to take pictures, so just take my word for it- the food was as pleasing to the eye as it was for my big fat mouth. I started with the mussels, which came in a thin but creamy sauce made with shallots, bacon, green onion, PBR and cream. It came with two, almost frightening spears of toasted, butter-brushed french bread. A smaller, less ravenous gal could make an entree of it! The real fun came after all the mussels and their shells had been cleared out and I trawled the bottom of the bowl for the chunky nuggets of bacon hidden in the cream. If it wasn't for the brininess from the mussels, the sauce could serve as a soup all its own! My long lost friend ordered the shrimp and grits and loved it so much I could only steal a quick bite. It was a nice contrast to the brightness of the mussels and I believe it was due to the sweet, red wine sauce.
Entrees arrived and my homie conservatively ordered the mac and cheese. Kind of a disappointment. The "cheese" part was a bit too runny and was lacking the sharpness I would have expected for a place serving this dish to adults. It wasn't bad- definitely very rich. But it lacked zing or zazz or charisma. My duck dish, however, was excellent. I hate to say it, but I think I will order my duck medium next time, as opposed to medium rare. I just don't care for it so underdone as it isn't quite the same as enjoying a rare steak. Despite that, the sear on the skin was salty and amazing and the sides were almost an entree themselves. There was a rectangle of something I forgot the name of...kind of like a polenta, but more custard-y and made from chick pea flour. There were green and white green beans with oyster mushrooms (tasty!) tossed with shredded leg meat from the duck. Needless to say, I inhaled this dish with what can only be described as a laser-like focus.
I want to take a brief moment to acknowledge the attentive busser we were assigned. More and more (especially in finer dining) these guys are over-worked and under-appreciated. We saw him more than we did our server and he was hawk-like in not just clearing our table, but also wiping it down and resetting out silverware.
We ordered dessert. I had an eponymous hot chocolate- the "Black and Tan"- made of medium intensity hot chocolate and one third hot fudge. I could have done without the fudge, in retrospect. It was a bit over salted. But the marshmallow and hot chocolate were both rich, sweet and dreeeeeamy!
Thinking on it more, Hot Chocolate, as well as a handful of other fine establishments (looking at you, Lula!), is a great place to go when you have no idea what to expect when meeting someone for the first time. Or the first time in over a decade. The food will give you something to talk about, and apart from polite "what have you been up to's," that is pretty much what we did.
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