Taste of InterContinental wine pairing meal rotates at Willard hotel in D.C.

ANAYSIS/OPINION:

Seven decades in business certainly calls for celebration. For the platinum anniversary of InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, the ritzy hotel brand’s District outpost has unveiled its “Taste of InterContinental” experience, a five-course meal being offered at the Willard InterContinental, located along the busy Pennsylvania Ave. corridor in Northwest — not far from the White House.

The Washington Times was invited to experience the Willard’s four-course, wine-paired “Taste of InterContinental” dinner, served up at the iconic property’s swanky Cafe du Parc, whose theme was focused on the cuisine of Sydney, Australia.

First course was barramundi credo with finger limes, an Australian sea bass that was served cold and topped with both garlic and caviar. While initially surprised by the temperature, the taste, texture and presentation of the barramundi were all excellent. The combination of citrus flavor offered perfect counterpoint to the garlic and salty caviar — together turning a rather standard Australian fish into stellar haute cuisine. For this dish, the wine pairing was Chateau St. John Chardonnay from Kenwood, California. A winner!

Second course was grilled shrimp with roasted macadamia sauce. Macadamia, a nut native to Oz, flavored the sauce exceptionally well to go along with the rather large prawns. Penfold’s Bin 9, a red wine made in Australia’s Barossa Valley, complemented the course. While not as stratospheric as the barramundi, it was nonetheless exceptional.

For the main course, the staff brought out Australia Wagyu beef cheeks served atop lemon myrtle risotto. If you’ve never had beef cheeks before, it is among the most tender cut, with a gentle use of the fork enough to separate the meat into neat forkfuls. This meat absolutely melted upon the tongue, accompanied perfectly by the Penfold’s Big 38, again from Adelaide in South Australia.

On to dessert, this time a pavlova served with strawberries, passion fruit coulis and the staple fruit of Australia’s nearest neighbor, the kiwi. After three savory courses, this was a bit of a letdown, but those beef cheeks were hard to top. Robert Mondavi Moscato D’Oro of California’s Napa Valley was on offer to go along with this course, and even though I’m not much of a sweet wine fan these days (too many headaches in my early twenties), it was a decent meal-capper.

The rotating “Taste of InterContinental” will be on offer through November, with Chef Peter Laufer even unveiling a “best-of-the-best” meal as Thanksgiving nears.

To find out how Chef Laufer is changing up the Taste of InterContinental menu, visit CafeduParc.com.