#leo eric ochoa

[regal-swagg]

Professor Leo Eric Ochoa

i never wanted to be a wizard. it isn't something that i've ever said to anyone but my mother, but it's true. i don't know what about my parent's genetics lead to me being born with magical abilities, but somehow this incredibly odd gene was passed on to me and here i am. my parent's were both muggles, and i say were because they are both dead, but i will get to that later. my parent's were fifteen when i was born, just kid's growing up poor in lambeth. the first couple of years of my life were lived in my grandmother's house who loved me like i was her own, but was disgusted with my mother for having me. i was happy living with my grandmother, and when my mom went of to uni i continued living with my grandmother. my father would visit me every once in a while, but never stayed for long. he would drop off some cash to my grandmother, ask how my mom was doing in school, and then he would leave. when i was six years old he got arrested for selling drugs, and three years later he died in prison from some injuries to his skull. despite the lack of involvement from my parents, i remember being happy at that time. honestly i thought of them both more like older siblings, my grandmother was my mom back then. i was nine years old when my mom moved back in with me and my grandmother, she had a graduate degree and a good job and she was ready to play the part of full time mom. if it sounds like i'm bitter about it, i'm not. even though i did not understand at the time i am actually really proud of my mom for going off to college and of my grandmother for raising me while she did it. they always told me that no matter how much they argued, which was a ton, family came first. my grandmother knew that my mother would be able to provide a better life for us if she went to college and she was prepared to sacrifice anything for that, even if she didn't like it. i've always remembered that, taken it to heart, family comes first for me too. living with my mom and grandmother was awesome. we had a lot more money now so i went to a better school and they bought me all the toys, games, and clothes i want because i always got great grades. i loved school, especially science, and that made my family happy. when i was ten i was in every science related activity you could thing of, and realized i wanted to be a geneticist. can you imagine a ten year old black boy walking around ranting about being genetics and molecular biology? but a wrench was thrown into my life plans when an owl showed up my our house from hogwarts, saying that i was a wizard. to be clear, i wasn't upset about that news back then. i was excited, but i also told my mother to politely decline the offer to attend hogwarts because i had also been offered a scholarship to one of the best private school's in the city. my mother did so, understanding my wishes, but neither of us quite understood that i didn't really have a choice.the international statute of secrecy still existed back then, and of course being the little scientist i was i began to experiment with my magical abilities. i discovered that i could make plants grow faster, convince animals to do odd things, and heal minor cuts on my body. when i showed everyone in my animal science club but healing an injured kitten, the ministry of magic quickly intervened. all of my friends and my teacher had their minds erased by obliviators and minerva mcgonnagal, the former headmistress of hogwarts, showed up at my house. she spoke for about an hour with my grandmother and mother about why it was important for me to receive a proper magical education. she explained the law of secrecy and how untrained wizards and witches often lost control of their magic to the detriment of their environment. when i realized the gist of this conversation was that i had no choice but to attend hogwarts i began crying. my mother explained my ambition to be a geneticist, and mcgonnagal was able to peak my interest somewhat by explaining herbology, transfiguration, and care of magical creatures to use. she told me all about her own academic pursuits in the field of transfigurations, assured me that there was a science to magic, and created a plan with my mother to make sure that i would simultaneously receive tutoring in muggle science and mathematics. this convinced my family, but it wasn't until wise minerva mcgonnagal looked me in the eye and challenged me to be the first wizard to find the connections between magic and science that i accepted my fate. when my mother and i went to diagon alley for first time my curiosity with everything magical renewed my excitement about being a wizard. i received my wand from ollivanders, adopted a kitten i named darwin, after charles darwin, and purchased far more books than was on my list. my mother and i spent that summer reading all that we could, while my grandmother pretended to understand. when it was time for me to leave them and go off to hogwarts i cried a lot knowing that i would miss them, but i was also excited to learn. i sat in a corner on the train surrounded by older students reading fantastic beast and where to find them. the sorting hat took very little time to place into ravenclaw, and eventually i settled in. classes were easy at hogwarts, i only got two exceeds expectations my entire time at hogwarts and both were in potions which was discouraging because i have always been great at chemistry which is kind of the muggle equivalent. i particularly loved care of magical creatures, herbology, and transfigurations. i made very good friends with my teachers and headmistress mcgonnagal frequently checked in one me, making sure that i was also receiving my texts in mathematics and science. i made a few good friends while at hogwarts, but was never popular, and i graduated top of my class. i know a lot of people have more to say about their time at school, but it honestly was one of the least eventful times of my life. for the most part i never felt challenged academically and there was always part of me that missed muggle education. before returning to school for my second year my mother my my stepfather while purchasing my potions supplies in diagon alley. he was a lackluster potioneer, i way was because he is also dead now, but he was very handsome and he managed to charm my mother without any magic. they married while i was at school that year and when i returned for the summer i had a stepfather and we no longer lived with my grandmother in lambeth but in gordric's hollow. i was incredibly displeased by this, it meant that even in my summer's it was difficult to spend time with muggle's. my stepfather was never unpleasant toward me, but it was always awkward between us. he did not quire understand how to be a parent so he never tried, and i am sure it was hard to learn with me spending most of my time at hogwarts or summer school. i was sixteen when my little brother was born, when my stepfather learned what it meant to be a parent, but it was too late for him to be anything like a father to me. i graduated from hogwarts top of my class, my mother had another baby, and i went of to oxford to study biology. it felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders when i got to college and for the most part i blended into muggle society. of course i kept up-to-date with all of the most recent research in herbology, magizoology, and biological transfigurations, but i lost contact with my hogwarts friends and really only communicated with magical people in letters to mcgonnagal or when visiting my family in godric's hollow. i hit my stride in college! i began dating, both women and men to my surprise, and received undergraduate degrees in biology and biochemistry. i went on to attain phds in genetics and veterinary science, determined to find biological explanations for magic and magical creatures. my family was proud, mcgonnagal was proud, and i was happy. although i have had many good friends since graduating hogwarts i have been unable to have successful romantic relationships. i have been told by several people that i have dated that i am often to cold, that i obsess about science to much, and that i don't express my feelings enough. they are right, and to be honest my academic ambitions have always been more important to me than getting married or having children. on top of that everyone i dates was a muggle, and i was always anxious about the idea of inviting someone home to my mostly magical family. in 2021 my grandmother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. i petitioned the ministry of magic to gain permission to seek a cure that combined magic and science, which was granted, but it was too late. my grandmother died that year, but i was able to identify away to treat cancer with magic. i continued to work on the cure with the help of my stepfather who had become more adept at potions and by this time i had become quite average int he field. we published our results which we believe have great potential, but the international statute of secrecy kept of from moving forward with trials. in 2022 my parent's died in a fire that was caused by a potion my stepfather was attempting to create in our basement. he was killed instantly, and my mother died of smoke inhalation before our neighbors could put out the fire. i was in kenya at the time, researching lions and leopards as a muggle scientist and nundus as a wizard. when i got the owl that night i remembered everything that my grandmother had said about raising me, and knew that i would have to do the same for my siblings. i was surprised at my immediate resolve. i had always but my education and research before everything, but i realized then that i did that because my family was healthy and happy. i returned home to bury my parents and comfort my siblings. i was never very close to them, but i always loved them and had fun with them when i visited. i kept them out of school for two weeks and we quickly became close. the only person who comforted me was mcgonnagal. she and i discussed how i planned to leave my research position in kenya to care for my siblings, and she did what any great mentor would do, what i hope to do for some student one day. she offered me a consolation prize just as she had done when i was a kid, she asked me become the care of magical creatures professor and i accepted. i returned to kenya for a couple months while my siblings finished the year at hogwarts, then i returned. i bought us a small home in hogsmeade and we slowly settled into our new life. my brother looks up to me in the way that brothers are supposed to, we talk about everything and even though he is so young he has become my bestfriend. honestly it seems like he only needs me for financial and emotional support, most of the time he seems so mature. my sister is different. she is only fourteen now, and she was eleven when my parents died. while my brother feels like a typical brother, my sister is more like my daughter. i sometimes feel guilty about how different the relationships feel. i've had to be the one to teach her about puberty, discipline her, comfort her, help her understand loss and depression. sometimes she slips up and calls me dad. when she is sad she likes to lay on my chest and tell me in mad detail about everything that is going on in her life and it fills me with this sense of love, belonging, and protectiveness that i have never felt before. she also likes to ask invasive questions about my love life and when i plan to have children. because of her that is now something i want to figure out. being a professor at hogwarts was not my first choice in career but now that the international statute of secrecy has been repealed it doesn't seem so bad. because of my traditional muggle education and the title professor at a magical institution i am respected by both communities and i am the leading scholar in the developing biology/magizoology hybrid field. i love being close to my siblings, most of my students are amazing, and teaching gives me a chance to raise some pretty adorable magical creatures. before mcgonnagal died she asked me if i would continue on even after my brother and sister graduated, and i doubt that i will. but right now hogwarts is exactly where i want to be.

http://allwaswellxo.proboards.com/thread/418/ochoa-leo-eric

[356mission]

List of individuals and groups who have participated in an event at 356 Mission

LeanThe New Dreamz (Rose Luardo and Andrew Jeffrey Wright)

Andre Hyland

Whitmer Thomas

Jessica Ciocci

Michael Webster

Asha Schechter

Gabu Heindl & Drehli Robnik (screening)

Rachel Kushner (with parts read by Barry Johnston, Gale Harold, Karen Adelman, Paul Gellman, Stuart Krimko, Stanya Kahn, Alex Israel, Milena Muzquiz)

Mina Stone

Ken Ehrlich & Emily Joyce

Flora Wiegmann with Alexa Wier

James Lee Byars (screening)

Trisha Brown (screening)

Ei Arakawa (screening)

Jennifer Phiffer

Euan MacDonald and Henri Lucas

Fundación Alumnos47

ForYourArt

Derek Boshier

Alex Kitnick

Cherry Pop

De Porres

Aaron Dilloway

Jason Lescalleet

John Wiese

Final Party (Barry Johnston)

Crazy Band

Aram Moshayedi

Bruce Hainley

Gary Dauphin

Kathryn Garcia

Leland de la Durantaye

Sohrab Mohebbi

Tala Madani

Tiffany Malakooti

Negar Azimi

Barbara T. Smith

LeRoy Stevens

Joe Sola and Michael Webster

Math Bass and Lauren Davis Fisher

Angel Diez Alvarez (screening)

Hedi El Kholti

K8 Hardy

Anna Sew Hoy

L.A. Fog

Trinie Dalton

Rita Gonzalez

Alex Klein

Mark Owens

Tanya Rubbak

AL Steiner

C.R.A.S.H.

Lao

Mexican Jihad

Zak-Matic

Laura Poitras (screening)

Parker Higgins

Domenick Ammirati

John Seal

John Tain

Bruce Hainley

Lisa Lapinski

Kate Stewart

Sarah Lehrer-Graiwer

Ian Svenonius

Entrance Band

Allison Wolfe

Geneva Jacuzzi

Chain & the Gang

Shivas

Hunx

Jimi Hey

69

Tim Lokiec

Scott & Tyson Reeder

Total Freedom

Prince William

Kingdom

SFV Acid

Jesse Fleming

William Leavitt

Lucas Blalock

Oliver Payne

Meredith Monk

Jessica Espeleta

Rollo Jackson (screening)

Jack Smith (screening)

Noura Wedell

Sylvère Lotringer

Jesse Benson

Zoe Crosher

Alex Cecchetti

Patricia Fernandez

Jeff Khonsary

Ben Lord

Shana Lutker

Joseph Mosconi

Suzy Newbury

Scott Oshima

Kim Schoen

Clarissa Tossin

Mark Verabioff

Brica Wilcox

Michael Clark

Ben Brunnemer

Ted Byrnes / Corey Fogel

Kirsty Bell

Johnston Marklee

Emily Sundblad & Matt Sweeney

Kevin Salatino

Wooster Group (screening)

Shannon Ebner

East of Borneo

Sue Tompkins

Alexis Taylor

Leslie Buchbinder (screening)

Odwalla88

Dean Spunt

Bebe Whypz

Saman Moghadam (screening)

J Cush

Hive Dwellers

Bouquet

Dream Boys

Jen Smith

Thee Oh Sees

Jack Name

Alex Waterman and Will Holder

Jonathan Horowitz

Ali Subotnick

Brian Calvin

Dean Wareham

Gracie DeVito

Indah Datau

Jake DeVito

Sara Gomez

Luke Harris

Sarah Johnson

Julia Leonard

Jillian Risigari-Gai

Joseph Tran

George Kuchar (screening)

Andrew Lampert

Reach LA

Oscar Tuazon

Black Dice

Danny Perez

Avey Tare

Shinzen Young

Jesse Fleming and Lewis Pesacov

Mecca Vazie Andrews

Mira Billotte

Julian Ceccaldi

Oldest (Brooks Headley & Mick Barr)

DJ Andy Coronado

François Ceysson

Amanda Ross-Ho

Raphael Rubinstein

Wallace Whitney

Bradford Nordeen

Chris Kraus

Samuel Dunscombe & Curt Miller

Jay Chung

Lev Kalman & Whitney Horn (screening)

Maricón Collective

The Shhh 

Alice Bag 

Martin Sorrondeguy

Sex Stains

Kevin Hegge (screening)

Rhonda Lieberman

Lisa Anne Auerbach

David Benjamin Sherry

Eric Wesley

Tamara Shopsin, Jason Fulford, and Brooks Headley

Deborah Hay

Becky Edmunds (screening)

Kath Bloom

Erin Durant

Ben Vida

Charles Atlas

Laurie Weeks

Kerry Tribe

Renée Green

Fred Moten

The Office of Culture and Design / Hardworking Goodlooking

YUK, MNDSGN, and AHNUU

PATAO

Michael Biel

Mark Von Schlegell

Graham Lambkin

Lex Brown

Jibade-Khalil Huffman

Dan Levenson

Sarah Mattes

Carmen Winant

Gloria Sutton

John Musilli (screening)

Pieter Schoolwerth and Alexandra Lerman (screening)

Nate Young

Safe Crackers

Frances Stark

Liliana Porter (screening)

Adam Linder

Corazon del Sol

Gary Cannone

Ben Caldwell

Jacqueline Frazier

Jan-Christopher Horak

Haile Gerima (screening)

Barbara McCullough (screening)

Jon Pestoni

Andrew Cannon

David Fenster

Dick Pics

Seth Bogart

Lonnie Holley

Rudy Garcia

Dynasty Handbag

Christine Stormberg

Anthony Valdez

Kate Mosher Hall

JJ Stratford

Diana Adzhaketov

DJs Cole MGN and Nite Jewel

Casey Jane Ellison

Gary Indiana + Walter Steding

Kate Durbin

Michael Silverblatt

Hamza Walker

Wynne Greenwood

Robert Morris

Maggie Lee (screening)

Brendan Fowler

Susan Cianciolo

Aaron Rose

John Boskovich (screening)

Michel Auder (screening)

Lauren Campedelli, Leo Marks, and Jan Munroe

Klang Association feat. Anna Homler (Breadwoman), Jorge Martin, Jeff Schwartz

sodapop

Hoseh

Miles Cooper Seaton & Heather McIntosh

Drip City

Geologist

Deaken

Brian Degraw

$3.33

Angela Seo

George Jensen

Carole Kim & Jesse Gilbert & Friends

Aledandra Pelly

dublab

Mariko Munro

Emily Jane Rosen

Lana Rosen

Max Syron

Mark Morrisroe (screening)

Ramsey McPhillips

Stuart Comer

Jordan Wolfson

Kiva Motnyk

Samara Golden

Sam Ashley

John Krausbauer

Kate Valk

Elizabeth LeCompte

Lewis Klahr

Barbara Kasten

Martine Syms

Margo Victor

Studioo Manueel Raaeder

Mary Farley

Wayne Koestenbaum

Jibz Cameron

Sean Daly

Kendra Sullivan

Trinh T. Minh-ha

Johanna Breiding + Jennifer Moon

Tisa Bryant

Cog•nate Collective (Misael G Diaz + Amy Y Sanchez-Arteaga)

Bridget Cooks

Michelle Dizon

Anne Ellegood

Shoghig Halajian

Katherine Hubbard

Simon Leung

Amanda McGough + Tyler Matthew Oyer

Dylan Mira

Litia Perta

Eden’s Herbals

Matt Connors

Flat Worms

Susan

Lucky Dragons

Dos Mega

David Korty

Monica Majoli

Forrest Nash

Sophie von Olfers

Rudolf Eb.er

dave phillips

Joke Lanz

The Dog Star Orchestra

The Edge of Forever (Elizabeth Cline + Lewis Pesacov)

Lutz Bacher (screening)

Agnes Martin (screening)

Marisa Takal

Moyra Davey (screening)

Suzanna Zak

Wu Tsang, boychild and Patrick Belaga

Snake Jé

VIP

Fictitious Business DBA The Geminis

DJ M.Suarez

Asmara

Weirdo Dave

Mission Chinese

Veronica Gonzalez Peña

Thomas Bayrle

Bernhard Schreiner

Bob Nickas

The Cactus Store / Christian Herman Cummings

Atelier E.B

Iman Issa

Diana Nawi

Sqirl

Downtown Women’s Center

Earthjustice

Juvenile Justice Clinic at Loyola Law School

Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic

N.eed O.rganize W.ork

Planned Parenthood

SoCal 350 Climate Action

St. Athanasius

WriteGirl

Sean/Milan

John Santos

Thomas Davis

Twisted Mindz

Adrienne Adams

Evan Kent 

Jasmine McCloud 

Gia Banks

Ace Farren Ford

Dennis Mehaffey

Fredrik Nilsen

Paul McCarthy

Joe Potts

Rick Potts

Tom Recchion

Vetza

Oliver Hall

Rigo 23

Gil Kenan & Vice Cooler (screening)

Cassie Griffin

Clara Cakes

Clay Tatum + Whitmer Thomas (Power Violence)

DJ AshTreJinkins

DJs Protectme

Crush

Sara Knox Hunter

Dodie Bellamy

Miranda July

Alexander Keefe

Thomas Keenan

Kevin Killian

Silke Otto-Knapp

Calypso Jete, Essence Jete Monroe, Virginia X, Leandra Rose, Naomi Befierce, Tori Perfection, Foxie Adjuis

Brontez Purnell

Kate Wolf

Adam Soch (screening)

Dar A Luz

ADSL Camels

Cold Beat

Tropic Green

No Sesso

Michelle Carrillo

Ruth Root

Timothy Ochoa

[heatpeen03-blog]

Métier (Washington, DC)

Metier Restaurant 1015 7th St NW, Washington, DC 20001 202.737.7500 www.metierdc.com Wed 08/08/2018, 07:30p-10:35p

Given how much I enjoyed Kinship, I think it was pretty much a given that I'd eventually try Métier. Named after the French word for trade or occupation, the restaurant opened in April 2016 and is again the work of Chef Eric Ziebold and partner Célia Lauren. However, compared to Kinship, it's a tasting menu-only sort of place, one serving Ziebold's vision for elevated, contemporary American cuisine. Métier was awarded a Michelin star in October 2017 (which it has retained), and perhaps more importantly, was deemed the best restaurant in the DC area by Washingtonian at the start of this year.

Métier is located underground, underneath Kinship, and is accessed via a private elevator. Upon stepping out of said elevator, you're invited to relax in the salon, where you can partake in an hors d'oeuvre and apéritif.

Tonight's welcome cocktail was an anise hyssop-melon spritz, a lively, invigorating concoction showcasing a deft balance between fruitiness and herbaceousness.

To munch on, we received a dish of egg white bavarois with marinated caviar and Yukon Gold chips, which was pretty amazing. The custard melded the perfect creaminess of egg with a touch of sweetness, while the onion and caviar adding wonderfully contrasting hits of zestiness and salt. Think of this as the best sour cream and onion potato chips you've ever had.

La Ultima [$17.00] | Mezcal, Amaro Montenegro, Green Chartreuse, Lemon Given that we were in here for about 20 minutes, I went ahead and ordered a cocktail from the upstairs bar. The drink smelled strongly smoky from the mezcal, with a distinct vegetal character and traces of citrus. Taste-wise, I got more smoke up front, leading to a marked savoriness and an interesting herbal-astringent element that I couldn't quite put my finger on--it was almost like a "hot" radish, if that makes sense.

After some time, we were called into the main dining room. Penned by Darryl Carter (who also did Kinship), the space is a blend of the modern and the antique, and seats about three dozen. Note the 14-seater private dining room in the back.

Above we see the evening's menu, comprising seven courses at $200 a head, inclusive of service but not tax or beverages. And speaking of libations, I opted for the wine pairing ($145), though of course there's a pretty extensive bottle list if you'd prefer, with prices ranging from "reasonable" to "used car." The menu notes were a nice touch I have to say. Click for larger versions.

1: Iced L'Abeille Garden Ratatouille Leo Steen, Jurassic Park, Chenin Blanc, Santa Ynez Valley, CA, 2012 Given the hot weather we were having, it felt appropriate to begin with such a bright, refreshing course. An unconventional ratatouille of sorts, the vibrancy of the veggies was on display--unmitigated, yet bound together by the potency of olive oil. The paired Chenin Blanc fit the bill nicely too, smelling fruity and earthy while the palate went in a sweet 'n' savory direction, with a steely minerality and agreeable acidity.

The dish was accompanied by lángos, a type of Hungarian fried bread. Airy and light, it had a sweet-salty thing going and actually reminded me of Chinese you tiao.

2: L'Abeille Garden La Ratte Potato Fondant | Sautéed Chive Blossom, Lobster Coral Emulsion and Australian Black Truffle Château Latour-Martillac Blanc, Pessac Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2005 Next was as decadent of a preparation of potato as I'd ever seen. The Rattes themselves were pleasantly firm to the bite, and showed off a restrained richness that matched up beautifully with the luxuriousness and brine of that lobster sauce, all while the truffles imparted a further muskiness to it all. The dish stood up well to the paired wine. A Sémillon-Sauvignon Blanc blend, it displayed a sweet, oxidative nose and a palate rich and rife with nutty, buttery, oaky, vegetal nuances. Interestingly, it actually became much more fruit-forward when taken with the food.

For course #2, bread duties were handled by airy, chewy, subtly tart slices of pane francese, which I eagerly used to sop up the remaining liquid on the plate above.

3: Madras Curry Poached Atlantic Halibut | Coconut Creamed Corn with Compressed Mango and Cilantro Alzinger, Loibenberg, Riesling Smaragd, Wachau, Austria, 2016 Halibut arrived flawlessly cooked--it was about as perfect as it gets. The fish possessed just the right amount of curry spice, which was smoothed out by the sweetness of corn and coconut while the cilantro offered up a citrusy accent. Along with the halibut came an Austrian Riesling, one brimming with rich fruit and stone on the nose. Its taste was super fresh, vibrant, with more fruit and minerals alongside a pleasing tartness and acidity--it did a great job linking up with the sweetness in the dish.

4: Sautéed Moulard Duck Foie Gras | Duck Confit-Stuffed Savoy Cabbage and Peach BBQ Sauce Domaine Raspail-Ay, Gigondas, Rhône Valley, France, 2015 I was a bit scared of this next course. First off, I'm very wary of sweet foie gras preparations, and this had peach. Secondly, there's duck confit, and that just sounds like heavy on heavy. Fortunately, the dish actually worked, very well in fact. The foie itself was spot on in its sear, and had all the classic flavors you'd expect, while the cabbage worked beautifully for contrast. The surprise here was the confit, which ate as you'd expect, but somehow managed to not be overwhelming; I could say the same about the peach. Obviously, we had to have a wine that could stand up to the heft of the course, and the GSM blend made sense with its generous helping of (tannic) red fruit, pepper, and spice.

5: Martin Farms Minute Steak | Grilled Onions, Morel Mushrooms, Okra Croutons with Garden Herb Vinaigrette and Roquefort Dressing Château Latour-Martillac, Pessac Léognan, Bordeaux, France, 2009 I rarely see minute steak on menus these days, which I suppose makes sense given that it's typically not the sexiest cut out there. Ziebold's version, however, was a winner no doubt. It was tender, sure, but also one of the most flavorful steaks I've had in a while, and I absolutely loved the zippiness and acidity from that herb vinaigrette, while the onions and 'shrooms imparted further complexity to the dish. The meat called for a powerful red wine, and the matched Bordeaux met the mark. Comprised mostly of Cabernet Sauvignon, it was pretty prototypical of the region with its soft, velvety palate of robust berry fruit commingled with some almost meaty notes and a touch of heat.

The steak came with a serving of the Chef's famous Parker House rolls, which were oh-so buttery and airy and salty and just as good as I remember from the CityZen days. And yes, I made sure to mop up the remaining liquid above with 'em.

6: Key Lime Meringue | Crème Fraîche Cake, Granny Smith Apple, Cucumber and Shiso-Lime Granité Château Rieussec, Sauternes, France, 1988 With the savories done with, it was time for Pastry Chef Anne Specker (a CityZen alum) to shine. Our first dessert really did recall the essence of a classic key lime, playing the tartness of citrus against the sweetness of meringue while the granita added a bracing, herbaceous component. Going along with the course was a Sauternes with some nice age on it. It was just what I wanted, displaying loads of honeyed, stone fruit-esque sweetness balanced out by a fresh acidity and a touch of nuttiness.

7: Nut 'n' Honey | Ochoa Farms Tomato Confit, Peanut Butter Cream, Honeycomb and Yellow Tomato Sorbet Kelt, Tour du Monde, VSOP, Grande Champagne, Cognac, France The humble tomato was the hero in our final (proper) course, its slightly savory disposition making itself known for sure against a backdrop of peanut--very neat. To drink, we moved away from wine and into cognac, specifically an ocean-matured example filled with warmth, sweetness, and spice, along with notes of wood and mature grapes.

At this point, I was provided a shot glass of milk granita and instructed to construct my own milk shake, choosing from flavors of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry-verbena. I think it's obvious from the color which option I picked. In hindsight, I should've gone with Neapolitan.

Next came some wonderfully crisp, buttery, freshly baked malted vanilla shortbread cookies.

Rum Old Fashioned [$17.00] | Santa Teresa 1796, Bitters, Simple Syrup, Lemon Zest I requested a digestif and was brought this rum-based cocktail. It had a nose of warming spice and caramel mixed with citrus. The taste was sweet and fruity and chocolatey from the rum, with a smidge of bitterness and a long-lasting finish filled with brown sugar.

Guests were provided a vial of Old Bay olive oil to take home. And fortunately, I had no issues taking this in my carry-on luggage.

Tonight's meal effectively confirmed Ziebold's position as one of the top toques in DC. His food isn't necessarily flashy, but it is pretty much flawless (as was the service). There's a familiarity to the dishes, yet I still find myself pleasantly surprised at every turn. I get a restrained playfulness in the cooking, as well as a sort of quiet confidence that must, I imagine, stem from years and years in the biz. I think it's safe to say that Métier's got to be one of the premier dining experiences in DC.

Source: http://www.kevineats.com/2018/08/metier-washington-dc.html