We wanted to love it, but Napa let us down. Not the wine-producing county in Northern California, but the H Street Northeast restaurant Napa 1015, which on its Web site promises “Northern California inspired cuisine with a French flair.”
We were excited as we approached the inviting restaurant, set amid boarded-up storefronts, fast-food joints and hair salons.
Here was yet another serious restaurant endeavor on H Street - the not-yet-established but exciting and vibrant retail, restaurant and live-entertainment corridor at the northern tip of Capitol Hill.
It started out well, but by the end of the evening, almost everything that could have gone wrong had done just that.
When we arrived, we were seated promptly. The noise level was on the high side, but not annoyingly so in the narrow but pleasant dining room in a typical century-old Capitol Hill row house.
It seemed several guests - a jovial crowd - were bound for the Atlas Performing Arts Center, a neighbor to the east. They were happy, and we wanted what they had: drinks.
So, with expectations and moods high, we ordered. First up, mixed drinks that missed the mark.
Hmm. Well, surely the missed mark was an anomaly and not indicative of the staff’s inabilities.
An order of a fantastic malbec and later a smooth Barolo off the thoughtful wine list reassured us.
Then again, as a fellow diner observed later in the evening, after the subpar service and sloppy food preparation had soured us: “They don’t make the wine; they just sell it.”
True, and when it came time to sample the restaurant’s own creations, we were mostly disappointed.
How about virtually raw wild boar?
Yeah, we didn’t care for it, either.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves, because the undercooked grilled wild boar was part of the entree course, which took almost two hours to arrive (or more than one hour after we had finished our appetizers).
The appetizers consisted of tasty-sounding but badly executed offerings including grilled calamari with tomatoes, artichokes and olives. The veggies were fresh, but the calamari was charred and chewy. What a waste of good squid.
The steamed mussels with chorizo, onion, celery, saffron and sherry was another missed opportunity. Some of the mussels were slimy, others gritty.
Our hopes now rested on the entrees: a shrimp pasta dish, a grilled meat medley, a grilled rib-eye.
Though hope is eternal, patience isn’t. We waited and then waited more. We ordered our second bottle of wine and then waited a little more.
Shortly after 10 p.m., our entrees arrived, but not one of the three dishes was prepared correctly - or to order. They were in turns underdone, overdone, soupy and bland. The sides fared better than the meats and seafood, but the whole course was disappointing.
Our hopes near-dashed and our evening - at least culinarily speaking - unsalvageable, we ordered Key lime pie and chocolate cake. They turned out to be decent but not decadent.
What had gone wrong?
Was it the waiter - sweet but uncertain - or the kitchen? Or both? It was unclear. All we knew was disappointment in the long waits and the haphazard food preparation.
Maybe that’s growing pains. The restaurant has been open less than a year, and maybe such a busy Saturday night was overwhelming to the waiters and kitchen crew.
Let’s hope so.
If H Street is to reach its potential as a premier D.C. entertainment and restaurant destination, places like Napa 1015 have to do better. Much better.
RESTAURANT:Napa 1015, 1015 H St. NE; 202/396-6272; www.napa1015.com
HOURS: 5 to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday brunch
PRICES: Starters $8 to $12, entrees $14 to $25
CREDIT CARDS: All major cards
PARKING: Limited street parking
ACCESS: Wheelchair accessible
METRO: Union Station
• Gabriella Boston can be reached at gboston@washingtontimes.com.
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