Strands of soft, fresh noodles wrapped around themselves like a cocoon. With a slinky sauce accented by specks of meat, the dish managed to evoke simplicity and luxuriousness. It was an artful display of duck Bolognese, during Restaurant Week no less.
On other nights with more freedom, the kitchen turns raviolini black with squid ink, and the little pockets mingle with shrimp and chorizo for a refined version of surf and turf. Soft-shell crabs, finicky and often mangled in the wrong hands, are a delight with crisp, not soggy, pincers enhanced with a pickled ramp aioli and, on the side, disks of cushy purple potatoes that almost steal the show.
Miso makes everything better, including flavoring a mousse on top of a flourless chocolate cake over soy crumbles with probably 15 other ingredients that all seamlessly connect.
2941
Modern American | $$$$
2941 Fairview Park Drive, Falls Church
