Peachy's Picks Washington DC: Boveda of the Longboard Hospitality Group in the Westin Georgetown Our Coverage Sponsored by Fresh Origins
Larry Work, Owner of Longboard Hospitality Group, which includes Boveda
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Larry greeted us the minute we stepped off the elevator!
When one leaves Manhattan and goes to another city in America, you don't always know what you will encounter because the standards outside Manhattan are different. We don't like them to be different because we think it should be all excellence everywhere (not the real world, sadly but happily the real world of what is published on Whom You Know!), and we align ourselves with the most intelligent, hardest working businesspeople who excel in their discipline. To that end, we are thrilled to introduce you to Larry Work, a Destin, Florida native who was been influential in the Washington DC culinary sphere since 1990 when he was one of the original creators of Sam and Harry's, which closed in 2010. We met Larry through the amazing Westin Georgetown, where we stayed and highly recommended.
Though we are convinced Larry is one smart cookie in a business sense, he has also proven to be a highly likable personality: the name of his restaurant group is after his favorite hobby, Paddleboarding (Steve Carrell just said on The Tonight Show this week that his wife bought him a paddle board for Christmas. Uber popular sport if you don't know it...) and he's also active in the French community of Washington DC. We are glad to say that Boveda supports the Gary Sinise Foundation which we think is terrific.
Today, Longboard Hospitality Group operates three restaurants in Washington DC and Boveda is one of them. It began in September 2012 and has a Latin/Central and South American concentration. We like how the pig is broken down on the menu, and it is only one example of how detail-oriented Larry and his team are:
The name Boveda is derived from the fact that there are quite literally vaulted ceilings there:
The bar is well-stocked and highly impressive:
The day we went to Boveda, it was literally in the middle of the afternoon as Peachy Deegan was covering a Washington Capitals game that night, and Boveda was entirely accommodating.
The booths are spacious and everything was pristine and clean.
The lounge area can double as more seating for dinner. It is beyond us why anyone would go to Boveda and only drink when the cuisine is as convincing as it is-so certainly order food when you frequent Boveda.
Our readers know that in our Best of 2013 list the garlic shrimp at Solera was Day Ten. So we just had to try the Gambas at Boveda! We found they were seared to perfection, and Larry tells us that they use Gulf Coast. In a party of capers, oranges and cilantro, these shrimp were a great start.
The imaginary angel on Peachy's shoulder, still named Bloomberg, always whispers in Peachy's ear how she'd better order a green salad. The tomato salad was just spectacular: heirloom tomatoes, queso fresco (mild cheese from Mexico), arugula and balsamic were super fresh and tasty. Nicely dotted with pepper, even that angel applauded silently.
As an entree, Peachy Deegan ordered the Chicarron: pork belly, sweet potato and red onion. This absolutely hit the spot and was the perfect size if you are a bit hungry. Particularly in this freezing weather now we think this will be quite popular. As you can see the presentation is beautiful as well and note that everything is made from scratch at Boveda.
We sipped this fantastic red from Argentina made by the French! Malbec Cuvelier Los Andes, Mendoza, Argentina 2011 was a robust winner and versatile enough to go with anything you'd order at Boveda. We'd order it again!
Our last edible entry at Boveda were the Carnitas. This number was suggested by Larry, and they are a must at Boveda. The pork is cooked slowly for over four hours to tenderize it well and it's shredded by hand. This pulled pork in guacamole and red cabbage are essential latin fare and sure to give you energy for the dancing:
If you are into Latin dancing - know that they have that as well at Boveda. (Peachy is more the ballroom-dancing Downton Abbey type-one of her best friends and her took ballroom dancing as a sport at Miss Porter's as they thought men would be imported-no such luck and they had to learn both parts.)
Even the ambiance is inviting:
Peachy Picks Boveda!
Boveda is Recommended by Whom You Know.
