Succotash DC: the best addition to DC since KINSHIP
PHOTO: A demolished first course at Succotash DC (c) Sery kim
Well, it looks like my favorite restaurant in DC, aka KINSHIP, has some fresh competition. Last Monday, September 11, Chef Edward Lee opened his restaurant SUCCOTASH inside the former building for Equitable Bank (located on 915 F Street NW, a few short steps from the Shake Shack side of the National Portrait Gallery). Lucky me, I had to chance to eat there three times before it opened, gluttonously trying a bit of everything on the menu, and I have to say I am totally enamored with everything Chef Lee is offering!
PHOTO: A copy of the Succotash menu (c) Sery Kim
Chef Lee created a menu comprised of southern favorites yet it's not as if the items are just bland regurgitations of what we already know to expect from the South. Rather each item has an enormously flavorful twist on them. For instance, it was a real tie for me on the best thing I ate at SUCCOTASH because, again, I really adored everything I ate, but the powerful salty/spicy combo of the Dirty Fried Chicken wowed my tastebuds. As everyone who loves Southern cooking realizes, fried chicken is as much apart of the palate as water is to the rest of the world. At SUCCOTASH, the leg and thighs from chickens were perfectly battered and cooked, with a thick flaky exterior skin I would pay money for just to have an entire bowl of that skin, then basted in a sweetened Honey Gochujang Sauce. Blue cheese, pickles and nori flakes added contrasting texture and a fresh lightness to the fried chicken.
PHOTO: Dirty Fried Chicken at SUCCOTASH (c) Sery Kim
My other favorite was the side of Watermlon & Fried Peanuts. What could be a basic dish instead was turned into something fun and flavorful with the fried peanuts, and I really enjoyed myself. I also found the appetizer of Sweet Corn Panna Cotta to be wonderfully tasty.
PHOTO: Sweet Corn Panna Cotta above, Watermlon & Fried Peanuts below (c) Sery Kim
Other standout items from the menu were from the "To Share" section. The Kentucky Country Ham Board -- Chef Lee's other restaurants are in Kentucky -- was delicious and fun to make. Tiny buttermilk biscuits, no bigger than a silver dollar, are placed on a board with Colonel Newsome's & Father's, peach jam and Bourbon washed butter. Placed everything together in a morsel for a fun mini-sandwich.
PHOTO: Kentucky Country Ham Board (c) Sery Kim
Once you are done with appetizers and various starters, be sure to also dip into the Pimento Cheese Burger (below) as well as the Fried Chicken & Waffles. I am telling you Chef Ed Lee really knows how to do his chicken and those Fried Chicken & Wafflers were gosh-darn amazing.
PHOTO: Pimento Cheese Burger on top and Fried Chicken & Waffles below (c) Sery Kim
Now, since you are eating a whole lot of southern goodness, you'll need cocktails and SUCCOTASH doesn't disappoint here either. I had about five of these Manhattan's over the course of four days and I can say, without question, this is my new favorite drink in D.C. -- sorry Four Seasons Bourbon Steak "Mrs. Jefferson" but this one just replaced you. Made with Bulleit Rye, Carpano Antica, Aggazzotti Nocino and Walnut Bitters, the Manhattan is slightly sweet as well as powerful. So tasty and, at $13, it is dirt cheap for a DC cocktail! Also, I should confess that I really love sweet things, and those cherries garnishing the SUCCOTASH Manhattan really made the drink extra tasty.
PHOTO: Manhattan (c) Sery Kim
PHOTO: Succotash drink menu (c) Sery Kim
Speaking of sweets, I am a huge fan of the Hummingbird cake as well as the Bourbon Milkshake. Definitely order both instead of just one to cap off a spectacular night of binge-eating goodness!!
