A Case For & Against Fusion Cuisine

There is a rampant illness afflicting a lot of local chefs these days, and the cure is nowhere in sight. The illness is Fusionitis, and it has spread through the DC-area restaurants like wildfire over the past few years. Look at the description of some of the more recent restaurants in town and I will bet that a good number of them are described as having some form of fusion cuisine. Masa 14, Oya, and Zengo all have the Latin Asian cuisine down pat. Mie N Yu combines both the Far East and Middle East. Jin has both Asian and Caribbean influences in the menu.

Is this trend the way of the future for restaurant cuisine or do chefs in this area just have multiple personality disorder?

Keep. It. Simple. Silly.

Most of my friends live in Northern Virginia, and for some reason, they all seem to have an aversion to "crossing the bridge", aka going to the District. My friends in DC feel the same way; to them, Virginia and DC might as well be separated by the Atlantic! For both sets of friends, it has to be worth it to make the effort to cross the Potomac. Me, I love going into the District on a regular basis, whether to explore new places or meet up with old friends. TaylorMade is one of those friends. He and I have a kind of friendship that would hibernate for weeks or even months, but when we get together, we pick up from where we left off. The last time we saw each other was this past fall for my birthday. He said he contacted me after that and that I blew him off. I call BS and plead 99% not guilty.

I was in the mood to check out Masa 14 and TM lives but a few blocks away so to make amends (ha!), I invited him to check out this joint. There has been so much hype about Masa 14, from people (like DC) and from written publications (like Washingtonian Magazine). Plus, I have eaten at each of the chef's other restaurants before (Zengo for Sandoval, Kaz Sushi Bistro for Kaz, Viridian for Burrell) that I was curious to see how this menage a trois would turn out.

March 20 - March 26: Top 5 Sins of The Week

Home:  No, not some new, fancy restaurant! I actually ended up cooking a superb dinner a couple times this week. Been running on sunny days, thus eating like a pig. One evening was grilled lamb chops (awesome!), the other was seared duck breast (yum!).

Masa 14:  Meh.

Matuba Japanese Restaurant:  I've been here once before. Worthy of a repeat. Some of the freshest sushi around town, yet quite inexpensive. Within walking distance from my house, to help keep the pounds down.

Rappahannock Coffee:  Ate the quiche. Not too heavy, lots of veggies. I ran an extra mile that day.

Starbucks:  I always get the Venti Green Tea Latte, extra hot. Unless I get the Tall Hazelnut Latte with Soy Milk.