Best New Southern Belle

(March 2007)

By Warren Rojas

Gorgeous water view: check. Attentive staff: check. Renowned chef aiming to take low-country cooking to new heights: check +. When it comes to the class of 2007, Indigo Landing is definitely making the grade as one of the finest new restaurants in the area.

Twinkling lights from the District skyline set the mood for hopeless romantics, while the rhythmic lapping of the Potomac supplies the ideal soundtrack for a lazy, afternoon lunch. Inside, an army of gracious servers buzz about announcing the arrival of chef Bryan Moscatello's toothsome creations, retiring empty plates and providing unvarnished advice about the restaurant's distinctly Southern tilt.

A basket of homemade breads bearing a smoked bacon stick (all the flavor, sans the grease), jalapeño muffins and flaky biscuits, is a snappy how-do-you-do. A comforting bowl of she-crab soup gets dressed up with a captivating crab-filled swizzle stick (terrific). The sultry oyster pie combines meaty oysters, chopped mushrooms and shredded herbs in a creamery soup, crowned with a round of crusty toast. Jumbo shrimp stand proudly atop milky cheddar grits bombarded with bits of country bacon, diced peppers and streaks of buttery cream. The so-called "duck bog" proves a worthwhile trek, delivering a weighty mass of roast duck breast (good), duck liver (better) and chopped duck sausage (best) entrenched in a soupy blend of wild grain rice, rendered duck fat and tomato sauce. Elsewhere, a nutty round of sugary pecans scooped into a graham cracker crust and topped with a boozy ball of mint julep ice cream, will have you whistlin' Dixie the whole way home.