Review the Kc Cafe at the Kennedy Center

I've found the key to a relaxed evening at the Kennedy Center! Actually there are two keys: where to park and where to consume.

Offset, parking: We drive to the Kennedy Eye. We could have a crowded subway and then a more crowded shuttle and go far belatedly. Or we could Uber and and then join a few hundred other people waiting for their need-priced Uber home. And then we drive and park.

There are 2 problems with parking in the vast Kennedy Center underground lot. The first, an annoyance, arises at the outset: the $25 fee. The second, a living Hell, appears on divergence, when thousands of cars try to clasp through a single go out at the same time, simply to be stopped within 100 yards or so by traffic lights that give time preference to high-book thoroughfares: thus the unseemly rush from the hall to the parking lot fifty-fifty every bit the concluding notes linger at Kennedy Heart events. The exit is a major irritation.

The 2d major upshot is where to eat. There are two dining options in the Kennedy Eye itself, and I'll say up front end that I haven't been to either in a long time. There'southward a fast option, the KC Cafe, a multi-station cafeteria with nutrient that doesn't cost a lot, just more than it's worth. You tin can become there, get some food, and choke information technology down in time for a seven:00 pm show or concert.

The other in-firm option is the elegant Roof Top Terrace. Nosotros went in that location once and the prices matched the decor. Alas, the food barbarous well short. There also are other restaurants in nearby neighborhoods with pre-theatre menus. Marcel's has 1 for $72 per person, plus wine, taxation, and tip, and dinner in that location includes machine service to the Kennedy Center (plus tip) — subject to availability. With other options, the logistics of your evening out go complicated.

The answer, my friends, is the Tazza Cafe. It'southward on the south side of the Watergate circuitous, at the southeast end of New Hampshire Avenue. Information technology's right adjacent to the entrance to a Watergate parking garage where you can park for $17, and get out easily. And the Tazza Cafe offers improve food than either of the in-house restaurants at a modest price.

The Tazza Cafe is an informal place where you tin can see people in evening apparel, the occasional notable Watergate resident in coincidental apparel, and Kennedy Eye regulars. The decor falls between cafe and elevated coffee shop, with a forest theme north keeping with the wood fired pizza.

There's plenty of seating, with tables exterior, and booths, tables, and a counter facing abroad from the open kitchen inside. Yous lodge and pay at the counter, and your food arrives well before you fifty-fifty think of worrying if you lot'll accept time to eat; soon enough, indeed, for you to take hold of a gelato after your relaxed repast.

And the food is good. An Italian place under another proper noun used to occupy the space, merely at present information technology's more broadly Mediterranean with maybe a tilt toward Turkey. Tazza still offers forest-fired pizzas, a variety of sandwiches and salads, a choice of "Chef's Specialities," and (drum curlicue) breakfast all solar day.  And they have beer and vino.

On our get-go visit, I resisted the lure of corned beefiness hash and the siren vocal of lamb hash, and nosotros both ordered Chef'southward Specialties. I chose the Moroccan lamb topped with a very tomatoey sauce and chick peas. It came with a nice arugula salad.

The lamb came with what I initially thought were potatoes but really were beautifully roasted onions. Like the lamb they were very tender, meltingly and so. The Moroccan seasoning was complex only not aggressive, and the spices were joined by almonds and apricots.

Nancy ordered the Craven with Charred Lemon, which came with cauliflower, cucumbers, pumpkin seeds, light-green olives, yogurt sauce, and fresh naan.

As you lot tin encounter, the chicken had a beautiful caramelization, merely dissimilar most breast meat, information technology wasn't at all dry. The chicken was lightly seasoned with a faint charred lemon taste.

Later on nosotros finished Nancy and I checked the clock and shared a gelato — a scoop each of vanilla and amaretto. It was very proficient. Nancy, a leading gelato expert, correctly identified the vanilla as excellent and improve than the amaretto. I don't really want any dessert, just I tasted both flavors and ate all of the amaretto, which
I found eminently satisfactory.

Nancy and I strolled over to the Kennedy Centre, masked up, presented proof of vaccination, picked up our tickets, and sauntered to our seats in fourth dimension for the seven:00 issue, a gala celebration of the re-opening of the Opera House after a long, long COVID closure. The opening aria, Dich Teure Halle , was perfect for the occasion. (Take a await at the lyrics hither.) The rest of the program included favorites of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was a fan and patron, with a chip more than German than Italian. Liza had given us the tickets, and we enjoyed the operation immensely.

We were back a few weeks subsequently for the Choral Arts Guild Christmas concert, back to the Kennedy Heart and dorsum to Tazzo.

We explored the carte du jour a bit more than, and I ordered a loving cup of Mediterranean chicken soup and, on impulse, a Calabrese pizza,

while Nancy ordered a cup of roasted vegetable soup and the Imam Biyaldi, a stuffed eggplant.

While we were waiting, Nancy got usa each a glass of h2o. There was a choice of three flavored waters — cucumber infused, which I dear, and orange or lemon infused.

My soup was fine, but I shouldn't have ordered it. The pizza was large enough that the soup wasn't necessary, and good enough that I ignored it once the pizza arrived.

The calabrese pizza was graced with an abundance of anchovies and Kalamata olives and, equally you tin imagine, it was bursting with flavor. Overlaying those assertive flavors was the smoke from the wood fired oven in which it was cooked. The bread as well was flavorful, peculiarly the crust that puffed upward at the outer edges. This was the all-time pizza I've had in ages.

Nancy showed more respect to her soup than I did to mine. She pronounced information technology skillful, just it, as well, was overshadowed past the entree, her eggplant. It was a big hunk of eggplant with a rich, circuitous tomato sauce, and expert enough that she suggested that I melt eggplant often. The eggplant was accompanied past brown rice and a chopped salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, and carmine onion — very fresh, very simple, and very good.

Piece of cake parking, a skillful and unhurried meal, a grand program, and an easy exit. That's exactly what you want from the Kennedy Middle. You can see wonderful performances in that location, and if yous want to be well-fed and relaxed, give Tazza a try.

***

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Source: https://johntannersbbqblog.wordpress.com/2022/01/07/the-key-to-the-events-at-the-kennedy-center-tazza-cafe-the-watergate-complex-washington-dc/

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