Requin at The Wharf is an upscale contemporary French concept from award-winning restaurateur Mike Isabella that offers a modern interpretation of classic French cuisine. The restaurant has a menu that creatively reworks traditional French dishes with fresh techniques, flavor profiles and presentations. A robust wine and champagne selection matches the upscale menu. Located in District Square as the only free-standing restaurant, Requin offers sweeping views of the waterfront, with patio seating available during the warmer months. Closest Metro is L'Enfant Plaza or Waterfront-SEU.To start off our long Memorial Day Weekend, we headed down to The Wharf for an early dinner. It was hot, windy, and crowded and luckily got an early reservation so headed inside to be seated. The restaurant is a large square of windows, which lets in abundant light. The wine menu we were handed was about 12 pages of red offerings and only 2 pages of white, so I inquired if there were any other white offerings. The server apologized that they were rearranging their options of wine at the moment and realized the current menu did not accurately reflect, so he would go confer with the sommelier. He soon returned with a chilled bottle of Domaine Matthias & Emile Roblin, Sancerre Origine from Loire, France. I did not see a specific year, but he described the white wine as a staple they serve by the glass and would offer it by the bottle for $50. After tasting, I approved. The wine was very tart and acidic with a slight mineral finish. It was crisp and cold and perfect for this early summer evening.
We started with an hors d'oeuvres of Escargot Croissants topped with green chartreuse butter. They were tasty but would have been better if they were warm. It seemed like they were sitting out for a long while.
The Foie Gras Torchon was made with cocoa, and served with sweet onion jam, rhubarb and cherry granola. Served with toasted, buttered bread this was a decadent and pricey dish at $28. The flavors were classic of duck and cherry, but presented in a more creative way that I enjoyed.
Lastly, we shared the Crispy Skin Black Bass with Maryland blue crab fried rice, marinated cucumber salad, and coconut-curry emulsion. The skin was very crispy which juxtaposed the tender white fish. The crab was salty and prominent in the black rice. The coconut lended Asian flavors to this more French-style preparation.
Overall, we had a nice French meal and was happy with the white wine which paired wonderfully with each course. We skipped dessert, and while there were other items that caught our eye, the price and location were not as approachable as other fabulous places in DC.
Total Rating: 3.88
Food: 4, Price: 3, Service: 4, Ambience: 4.5, Accessibility: 4.5
