Morrison-Clark Inn

Open for dinner:
Sunday 6 to 9 p.m., Monday through Thursday, 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 6:00 p.m. to 10 p.m, brunch Sunday 11:00 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Open: Year round

Metro:
Two blocks from Metro Center

Parking:
Complimentary Valet

Reservations:
Required

Service:
Worth the wait

Food:
American-with Southern and regional influences: lunch appetizers $5.50 to $7.50, dinner appetizers $5.50 to $8.75 entrees range from $18 to $23, Full dinner with wine, tax and tip $40 to $60 per person.

Smoking:
Prohibited

Credit Cards:
All major accepted

The mansion is really a double home, built circa 1865. The 1015 L Street residence was owned by David L. Morrison, who sold flour and feed to the government during the Civil War. Reuben B. Clark, a land investor who lived at 1013 L, was a grocer as well as the DC jail commissioner. In 1917 M. Frank Ruppert bought the house and brought to it an Oriental influence after his trip to the Far East. The house was restored in 1987 and much of the original interior work was preserved, including the intricately carved Carrera marble fireplaces.

Chef Susan McCreight Lindeborg became chef at the Morrison-Clark in 1990, and her restaurant has been rated among the top fifteen in Washington by Gourmet magazine. Chef Lindeborg was nominated as 1996 "Chef of the Year" by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington. She has cooked professionally for over twenty years, beginning in the kitchens of Santa Fe, New Mexico and working her way east. The restaurant will be open year around, and for the holiday traveller or kitchen-weary cook, the inn offers a charmingly historic and graciously elegant environment.

My meal at the Morrison-Clark was fit for a holiday feast. To my delight we were presented with a tiny bowl of spiced pecans to munch on before dinner, toasted dark and salty with worcestershire sauce. As a first course, I chose pureed roasted butternut squash soup. The soup is faintly sweet and creamy, the perfect way to beat the winter chill. Chef Lindeborg takes the soup another step and stirs in a lemon-hazelnut butter, adding some earthy toasted parsnip slices as a garnish. For mushroom fans, the mixed mushroom napoleon has knockout appeal. Prepared in an Armagnac sauce with herbs, the pungent mushrooms are stacked between three layers of crispy wontons, which absorb much of the sauce.

As soon as the first courses were politely whisked away, our salads were waiting. Here I saw the beginnings of Chef Lindeborg's southern regional influence appear. Waldorf salad is not always my preferred choice, but I could not resist the sound of the southern style cheese straws that came with it. I ended up loving the crisp, sweet apples and crunchy celery in the refreshing, slightly saline dressing. The cheese straws were chewy and nutty.

I was intrigued by the east Indian style sweet potato and spinach salad with its unique cumin vinaigrette dressing. The whole cumin seeds infused a wonderful, exotic aroma throughout the salad and combined well with the mounds of sweet potato cubes arranged around the fresh spinach leaves. Although the flavors made a strong first impression, I had to put my fork down now and then and come back to the salad as the salt and cumin became a bit overpowering after a few forkfulls. But I didn't leave a single leaf.

When it came to my main course, I was tempted to get something roasted and gamey, in keeping with the upcoming holiday season. But I opted for the rockfish, and loved every morsel. It wasn't too fishy, and it had a slightly crunchy, buttery coating. Made with a preserved lemon-caper sauce, the dish's predominant flavor is citrus. But the rockfish is unmasked and buttressed nicely by colorful julienned vegetables, looking much like a holiday wreath. My companion chose a more festive roast pork loin with spiced pecan sauce, which he imagined could have been eaten in England 500 years ago during the yuletide season. The spicy-sweet pecan sauce mixed with the meat juices is mellow and a perfect compliment to the pork slices. A slab of tender potato apple pancake soaks up the sauce. The pancake has a wonderful texture. The apples make the inside grainy and moist and the browned outside is crisp and fried to perfection. Baked winter squash and fresh, bright green beans are worth mentioning as they topped most versions of the obligatory vegetable side dish; my companion not only finished them, but commented on how perfectly cooked and well-seasoned they were.

Desserts were a high point of the meal -- the pastry chef piqued my interest even after all that food. The double crusted apple tart was the best apple pie I've ever had (short of my grandmother's). Chock full of soft baked apple slices, plump raisins and lots of cinnamon, the pie is held together by a fabulous flaky crust that bends with your fork, moist inside with the cinnamon and sweet apple juices. Together with the pie the spiced creme fraiche is a nice diversion, but is a bit too heavy to palate after a big meal. Also recommended is the lemon chess pie. The crust is nutty and buttery and the lemony inside has bits of lemon zest mixed in to give it a chewier texture with a more intense citrus flavor. It is served with a blackberry sauce which presents a slightly less acidic, bittersweet taste to cut through the sweet-tartness of the lemon pie. For those whose sweet tooth is better served with an after dinner drink, the list of dessert wines, ports, cognacs and armagnacs will keep you well satisfied.

Throughout dinner, the waiters obligingly took our plates, politely answered questions about the meal, and were indisputably gracious. By eight o'clock in the evening, there was only one empty table left -- not bad for a Tuesday night. The crowd usually consists of a mix of both locals and guests of the inn, restaurant manager Sheryl L. Hoar told us. It is the kind of restaurant where the regulars are remembered, served their favorite drink and then left to relax.

Photos by: Axel Martinez