By Stefanie Gans, Dining Editor
FOR: LOCAVORE WORSHIP
1800 Presidents St., Reston; 888-123-4567
reston.hyatt.com
A block of icy watermelon offsets a warm disk of fried goat cheese topped with arugula. Watermelon-as-savory, seen in summers of late, proves the dinnertime worth of this picnic dessert staple. Plus, its gorgeous.
The Hyatt in Reston Town Center became a parishioner to the church of local food worship. The menu notes ingredients’ origin (VA, MD, PA) and displays an ode to sustainability, but contradicts itself when seasonally opposed Brussels sprouts (fall) and asparagus (spring) both appear. Still, Chef Sean Glover, a six-year veteran of the hotel, claims 90-to-95 percent of the menu is local. Opened in June, the restaurant has started the pilgrimage, it just needs to stay devout.
A pottage of seafood offers chunks of lovingly house-smoked flounder in a garlicky scampi-like sauce. Rockfish arrived a shade overcooked, with a Left Coast slaw of artichoke and a drizzle of chili-honey around jalapeno cheesy grits, for a mash-up of textures and flavors that entertains.
