Vidalia - Southern Hospitality in D.C. from Northerners and a Bulgarian

Vidalia is #1 so far!  See all my restaurant ratings

..............Taste...Creativity...Ambiance...Service...Price...Total
Vidalia......9..........10................8.......10.........7......44
............................................................Menu



In 1835, writer Jacob Abbott observed that, in the South, “the gentleman of the house sees a traveler’s approach and is ready upon the steps. Conversation flows cheeringly, for the Southern gentleman has a particular tact in making a guest happy. Such is the character of southern hospitality.”
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The same description applies today at Vidalia, Jeffrey Buben’s southern-style restaurant in DuPont Circle.
There’s no plantation involved, but Buben’s underground rooms are spacious, the green-and-gold interior sleek and welcoming.
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And when you walk in they don’t hand over a big plug of grandpa’s chewing tobacco; they do however offer a couple pairs of reading glasses for the hard-of-sight to read the menu – a savvy accommodation for Vidalia’s noticeably older crowd.

Yep, basically just an updated version of the South – except, of course, that neither Buben or Chef de Cuisine R.J. Cooper are actually from the South.
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Cooper grew up in Detroit.

And Buben says Washingtonians only started thinking of Vidalia as a Southern restaurant when his wife took up answering the phones. Customers heard her South Carolina accent and demanded Southern soul food!
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Yet, for a pair about as Southern as Giuliani and Trump, Buben and Cooper have a knack for applying down-home ingredients to New American cuisine – and the James Beard awards to prove it.
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Which brings us to the most important acts of Southern kindness, the ones performed in the kitchen, and you don’t find more charming food in the District than Vidalia’s three tasting menus. 

Unlike most restaurants, Vidalia lets you can pick and choose from all three menus to form your own signature tasting menu.  Peter, our Bulgarian waiter, said he liked our orders so much that he planned to recommend adding our repertoire to the menu.  Apparently, when it comes to hospitality, Chefs Buben and Cooper aren't the only quick studies in the house.
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Must-haves:

st. canut farm piglet variation - cornbread pudding, fiddlehead ferns, blueberry gastrique, rye emulsion

Eggs and avocado

chicken fried orchard morel mushrooms - 18 month cured country ham, black pepper gravy

Jumbo lump crab and big eye tuna – cucumber, grapefruit, horseradish, seaweed gelée

Other good dishes at Vidalia:



Grilled baby octopus – green chic pea hummus, piquillo peppers, smoked lemon emulsion

roasted vidalia onion bulbs – sage, brown butter, smoked salt