Editor’s Note: There is a bumper crop of content at the website this morning. Concluding a three-part Coastal Empire series, a Tacitus essay and a restaurant review from The Daily. Enjoy! – Vic
It is all unlikely, in this most unlikely season in an unlikely teen-aged Century. I find myself at the Farm, having parked myself in one of the Adirondack chairs on the patio at Big Pink to sip my coffee and contemplate the gray day.
Jane from the Office of Sexual Assaults came by- not looking for me, thankfully- but to run an errand before calling a cab for Dulles to catch a flight for Reykjavik. I told her I was going to head for the farm, and I could save her $50 on the cab ride, since I was going that way anyway. She told me she wanted to depart not later than 1145, which is how I found myself as a pro-bono volunteer Uber driver on the Toll-Road way earlier than I had planned, and actually at the farm early enough to ignore the chores.
As part of that I realized I was hungry again. I did not think that was possible after the visit to Camponos Restaurant last night. The gang had been wanting to get there since former Willow owner Tracy O’Grady and her husband Brian went after her Willow Restaurant closed.
The place is across from the Kennedy Center, and serves the denizens of the Watergate Complex- it is a neighborhood that lacks a central hub, but Tracy is changing that all up with her pizzeria-bistro-gelato place. It is the place I would go in a heartbeat if it was a little closer. It is a bustling place, quite unlike the chef-driven experience at the old Willow, but with great smells and fabulous bistro Italian cuisine.
We came from all points of the compass, and took the place in. Of course there were familiar faces- many of the crew from Willow are there along with Tracy and Brian. Dante, John, one of the Roberts and several of the back-office crew are there as well.
We got an Actual Willow Table- after hugs all around, Tracy showed us to the quietest corner of the bustling establishment, located directly in front of the refrigerated case with the scrumptious-looking gelatos. This is not a wait-staff establishment, so patrons line up at the register for coffee and wine, which naturally we did.
Legendary Chef Tracy O’Grady with The Lovely Bea.
Bean and Jamie. It felt like old times.
If there is better pizza around here, I am unaware of it. The Willow flatbread tradition continues!
Mrs. O’Grady’s recipe Deviled Eggs, a Willow tradition. Some things live on. We are going to be back, of course, and Tracy has some grand plans to blow out the wall behind the gelato station and expand into the place next door, which will include a real bar. She said she might see her way clear to stocking diet tonic.
Just for the regulars, you know?
We could not finish the pizza or the deviled eggs, and Jamie took the box home to demonstrate the excellence of the food to her husband, who had elected to skip the bustle of the trip. Last report was that all of it was gone. And as a grand gesture, Tracy made us an incredible chocolate gelato float in cold-brewed Italian coffee. My goodness, that was quite out of this world.
Anyway, kudos to what the Willow Alumni are up to- and just as a teaser, it appears that the legendary Beef-On-Weck Buffalo Night could be back on the menu! If it does, you know exactly who the first in line is going to be!
Copyright 2016 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com