A lack of respect

Blacksalt Fish Market and Restaurant
4883 Macarthur Boulevard
Washington, DC 20007
202-342-9101

I love seafood. I love it when it is done simply, I love it when it is fresh. Given its proximity to the coast, one would expect a proliferation of seafood places in DC - and there are several places that claim this specialty. DC Coast is a favourite of mine and, in my opinion, the best of the Jeff Tunks restaurants. I have yet to try Hook, which is relatively new. Blacksalt had always intrigued me because in addition to being a bar and restaurant, it was also a functional fish market. Unfortunately it is out in the Palisades, which is difficult to get to if you do not own a car. But I am leaving this place soon, and finally made it out there last Friday.

The first thing you see when you enter Blacksalt is the fish market portion of the place: a counter of fresh fish, sitting invitingly on a bed of ice. The more squeamish among us may have a problem with seeing - whole - what they are about to consume, but I say to these people: the only way to appreciate good food is if you have given thought to where it came from and what it was before.

I have written about the difference between service and the more exalted ideal of hospitality - an idea that Danny Meyer expounds on in his book. I have to say that I was summarily disappointed with both at Blacksalt. Our reservation was at 8pm, which was when two of our party arrived. Granted the remaining couple filtered in several minutes later, but the fact remains that we were seated at 8.05pm and it was 8.55pm before the waiter even took our order. In that time, we had to ask for bread and when that came, had to ask for butter to accompany it. To my mind, these are basics and should be buttoned down at any half-decent restaurant.

I think, though, even beyond the basic errors that our waiter made, he committed what I believe is the cardinal sin of service: he did not care. He had a disinterested air about him, and our every exchange with him appeared to be perfunctory. It was as if he did not believe in the words that he was uttering, but rather reciting them from a script. It was a rather disconcerting sight to see another person so lifeless and so lacking in dedication, that I almost forgot how mad I was at the terrible service. At the end of the night I rather pitied the guy.

Needless to say, this greatly discoloured our dining experience at Blacksalt. After the initial wait, the service did improved, as the runners and busboys picked up the slack for our waiter. But it was difficult to enjoy the food. My appetiser of mussels was good, but nothing I could not have done myself at home. Ty's tuna belly with sweetbreads was uninspired and did not have the intensity of flavour I expected from those ingredients.

My greatest complaint, though, with the whole culinary philosophy in the kitchen at Blacksalt - was the almost criminal way they treated the seafood by layering it with heavy, overly starchy flavours and complements. Now I know and like the taste of sea bass. I know and like the taste of red snapper. In a dish that contains either, I want to be able to discern those tastes. Any sauces or sides have to complement those tastes and allow them to shine through.

There was a Virginia red puppy drum on the menu at Blacksalt, which intrigued me because first, it was local and second, I had never had drumfish, at least not knowingly. I did not end up ordering it, but was glad that both Ty and Brody did. Yet the dish typified exactly what was wrong with Blacksalt. The fish came smothered in a curry cream sauce, and paired with a side of gnocchi. The flavours of these individual complements were good, but as a result I was unable to really taste the fish. For my part, I had ordered the braised octopus in garlic, parsley and olive oil - but it came with tomatoes that were not mentioned in the menu. The acidity of the tomatoes completely assaulted the octopus and rendered it virtually indistinguishable from squid. Needless to say, I was mortified at the complete lack of respect shown to these ingredients which were, for their part, extremely fresh.

To be fair, I did also have the Pacific butterfish with medjool dates and piquillo peppers - which are pretty strong flavours but somehow worked with the butterfish. And JP's whole sea bass was very good. There are hits on the menu at Blacksalt. One just has to find them.

One last thing about the restaurant destroyed whatever faith we had left after the meal, and whatever good feeling had been brought about by the excessive wine consumption through the meal. After we had paid our bill and were lingering finishing our wine, we asked for another bottle of sparkling water to wash everything down. To be honest, I had expected this to be comped, especially after how much we had spent at the restaurant. But we were brought a bill for $5 even as the water was brought out. RK made a point about how transactional the meal had been - completely devoid of hospitality and personability - just a group of individuals exchanging cash for food. That is not what dining out should be, but that is exactly what Blacksalt had reduced it to.

There are many reasons that I would not go back to Blacksalt - chief among them being the fact that I am moving from DC. But I felt that in many ways a lack of respect had characterised the meal - our waiter had disrespected his profession, the chef had disrespected the food - and as a result, we were left tremendously disappointed. It was not a good feeling, and it took me until the next morning to shake off the regret.