DC: Pineapple and Pearls (February 2019)

Pineapple and Pearls - We Wanted to Be Wowed

My spouse and I visited Pineapple and Pearls (P+P) on a Saturday evening in mid-February 2019. Pineapple and Pearls is open for dinner only on Tuesdays through Saturdays. The restaurant accepts bookings online up to 1 month in advance using the Gift Rocker reservations system. P+P is a popular restaurant, so be sure to access the system as soon as your desired day becomes available (generally 10:00 am EST). You might even want to set up a Gift Rocker account in advance, including your contact and credit card information so that your info is ready when you snag that spot. Pineapple and Pearls charges a 50% deposit, which is refundable if cancelled five days in advance. (Due to impending weather, we actually had to cancel our initial reservation and choose another date, and the refund process was seamless.) On the morning before you dine, the restaurant will charge the remaining 50%, which covers beverages, taxes, and gratuity; at the end of the evening, you can depart without needing to pay or sign for anything.

Pineapple and Pearls is located in the Union Station area of the city on a street that offers many other bars and restaurants on the street level, with housing above. (We arrived early for our reservation, and because we knew there was nowhere to wait at P+P, or at neighbor/sister restaurant Rose’s Luxury, we popped into Finn McCoole’s next door to have a drink and pass the time.) When we arrived at P+P, the host/barista took our coats, asked us to wait in the coffee bar area near the front window, and then offered us hot towels and hot white tea. (This would have been a lovely gesture; however, at the same time, she offered champagne-filled crystal flutes to a foursome waiting right next to us; so we don’t know why they received bubbly while we only got tea!) We were quickly whisked past the L-shaped bar area and through the dining room (with table and booth seating) to the chef’s counter. The counter seats eight patrons at a time, which was one or two seats too many for the allotted space. The bar stools were immovable, so guests were seated much closer together than we have ever experienced at another chef’s counter. (As a comparison; we dined at another chef’s counter in NYC just two weeks later, and their seats were arranged so spaciously!) As a result of the close quarters, every single time that a server delivered food or drink (usually from behind us, rather than across the counter in front of us), or set down silverware or removed courses, we had to lean toward the side to allow the server’s hands/glasses/plates/utensils to be set down. (With the arrival of 10 courses, 10 sets of silverware, 8+ beverages, water refills, 10 removals of courses, it was a lot of leaning – which was not at all comfortable in relation to what we have experienced elsewhere.)

Pineapple and Pearls serves only a blind tasting menu for $325 per person. Our ten courses follow:

1.        Hot milk punch (cognac, citrus, thyme) and cocktail snacks (smoked Wagyu tallow tart with red onion gelee and rosemary), Peconic escargot (with creamed parsley and garlic)

2.        Toasted rice custard with blood sausage (burnt caramel and preserved fish peppers)

3.        Monkfish en papillote (Charleston ice cream, mussels, and etoufee)

4.        Live scallop mille feuille (with kohlrabi and mushroom cream) THIS WAS A FAVORITE DISH

5.        Black and white mole with house-nixtamalized tortillas (huitlacoche and black truffle, benne seeds, spices, and vinegar) THIS WAS A FAVORITE DISH

6.        Beef tongue (wrapped in shiso leaf and served atop miniature smoker) FAVORITE

7.        Beef (with braised endive dusted with beef heart and Parker House rolls) ANOTHER FAVORITE, MINUS THE ENDIVE

8.        Grapefruit sorbet (topped with amaro)

9.        Butternut squash ice cream cake (molasses, squash caramel, and toasted seeds)

10.     Mignardises (one piece of chocolate and one candied gooseberry)

With the exception of the braised endive that accompanied the beef dish, the food was tasty; however, we weren’t served anything revolutionary that we hadn’t seen before. Even the bubbling vacuum infusion device used to create the hot milk punch was something that we’ve seen used at NYC’s The Aviary (Grant Achatz). An add-on upcharge for an additional dish of truffle ice cream with accompanying beverage was offered, but we didn’t participate.

Before we departed, our server delivered two envelopes that contained a list of our food and beverage pairings and a note indicating that instead of providing a take-home snack, the restaurant has instead made a donation to feed the hungry, which was a nice gesture!

Although we enjoyed our meal at Pineapple and Pearls, the wow factor just wasn’t there for us, and the cramped counter seating was difficult to overlook.