This Christmas season, X and I were treated to an absolutely fantastic meal at Seven Reasons in DC. M had pre-booked The Chef Table Experience, which features their most exclusive dining experience – the Chef Tasting Menu at one of their two Chef Tables, next to the open kitchen. The Chef Tasting Menu features six delicious courses – five savory and one sweet – and is a selection of their best dishes.

To start off the night, I had one of their house cocktails, Saturn #7, made with  J. Riegers Gin, Chinola Passion Fruit, Cacao Nib, Tonka Bean, Almond, Lime, and Chocolate Bitters. The result was a tangy and refreshing cocktail that pair perfectly with the savory dishes. 

After an amuse bouche of a warm and creamy soup, our first dish of the night arrived at our table. One of their signature dishes, the Seven Reasons Ceviche features ají amarillo leche de tigre, purple sweet potato, crispy quinoa, and red long peppers.

Our second dish of the night, the Tartare de Lomito Argentino, was absolutely stunning to behold. Featuring kombu mayo, cured egg yolk, and caramelized sesame seeds on top of a crispy sweet plantain brioche, it was downright decadent. 

Our next dish was one of my favorites of the night – the Hokkaido Scallop with Red Curry. Paired with taro purée, coconut red curry sauce, watermelon radishes, crispy shallots, chives, and black garlic dressing, it was one of the most complex mix of flavors I have ever eaten in my life. The scallops were super fresh, offering its own natural sweetness to the dish. 

The next dish to arrive was the Crispy Octopus, with green tomato mojo, chile ancho romesco, octopus, crispy chickpeas, lemon zest, and chives. It’s completely amazing how they managed to make the octopus taste almost like a crispy pork belly. 

Our last savory dish of the night was the Lamb Loin Palo-a-Pique, with coconut curry sauce, black palo’ a pique, and Venezuelan hot sauce. The lamb was cooked to perfection, but the highlight was the palo’ a pique, which is a very traditional Venezulan dish made with rice and meat. I loved the use of black rice instead of a more traditional yellow rice. 

The tasting menu called for a sesame-based dessert, but we ended up with three of the desserts on their main menu. 

Seasonal Sorbets: Pineapple Basil, Coconut, Fig, Strawberry Thyme, Mango Tajin, Guanabana, Guava 

Crispy Banana Bomb, Banana-dulce de leche tequila mousse, spicy milk chocolate ice cream & banana ashes.

The Melting Cloud, Lemon-coconut pie our way, lemon custard, almond crumble, limoncello marshmallow, butter cookie sorbet, cotton candy

We had a lot of fun trying to guess the seasonal sorbet flavors – they told us, of course, but we didn’t remember half of them! My favorite dessert was definitely the Crispy Banana Bomb. The mousse inside was absolutely sinful – sweet with just a touch of tequila. 

Service was absolutely perfect and we felt super safe dining indoors. All the tables were spaced out and they checked temperatures prior to sitting tables. Each table also had individual hand sanitizers for guests and I noticed that they were wiping down trays between serving each table. 

It was the best meal we have had all year – and we did manage to get some good tasting menus in before the pandemic started! I hope I get the opportunity to dine at Seven Reasons again once the pandemic is over!