Monkey Valley – The original yumski.

Our Friday afternoon chat went exactly like this:

Jean says:
so, dinner?
Michael Lowell Cat says:
well. I am happy to take lady somewhere. but I don't want to have to pick.
Jean says:
i wish monkey valley was open
Michael Lowell Cat says:
its not? weird.
Jean says:
AJ warned me. closed for vacay
Michael Lowell Cat says:
ah.
Jean says:
i'm calling Monkey Valley
Jean says:
DUDE! MV is open
Jean says:
please please please
Jean says:
please!
Michael Lowell Cat says:
ok
Jean says:
please please please
Jean says:
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Michael Lowell Cat says:
AJ is FALSE!
Jean says:
ohmygod you made my entire day
Michael Lowell Cat says:
what what!

Ristorante Machiavelli has only recently become my favorite restaurant. I had gone there a few years ago and it was good, but I wasn't addicted. Soon I discovered that Poppy ranks it as her favorite place, and during our discussion about it, HP misheard "Machiavelli" as "Monkey Valley." Please note that Monkey Valley is heretofore the name of this lovely restaurant,thankyouverymuch HP.

Poppy recommended the tuna carpaccio (She doesn't share. Order your own. No joke.) and the chicken piccata. The chicken is everything a piccata ought to be, with a light lemon caper sauce. But the carpaccio--this is something you dream about when it isn't on a plate in front of you. Unless you don't like raw fish, like HP, who bravely gave it a taste anyway. It is ice cold sashimi-grade tuna, pounded flat and drizzled with balsamic-dijon dressing, capers, parsley, parmesan, cracked black pepper. Squeeze a little lemon juice over it.

Heaven!

I always order the fettucine carbonara as an afterthought, because I don't feel like I am allowed to order plate after plate of the tuna. Incredibly, I always eat every last bite of the creamy, bacony, noodley goodness. This is the only place I have ever finished an entire restaurant plate of pasta, so that tells you something about the reasonableness of the portion sizes here.

One of the reasons I love introducing friends to this place is to see what they will order. That's the only way I'm able to try new things, as I am compulsively loyal to my two favorites. Vicky let me sample some of her melt-in-your-mouth Chicken al Forna, roasted with whole garlic cloves and rosemary. I was worried at first that AJ wouldn't find something sufficiently non-dairy, but the spinach shells with Italian sausage in marinara are phenomenal, with just the right amount of heat. Michael, like me, always goes with the carbonara, though he favors salad over the tuna as a first course.

Someday I want to try their Lasagna Bolognese, something seafoodie, or the filet mignon. They always have delicious sounding specials as well. And pizza. Did you know they have pizza?!

So, what is the appeal? Is it the simple and delicious Italian menu? The reasonable price? The phenomenally convenient Capitol Hill location of Melrose & Pine? The inexplicably nice servers who are helpful without ever being intrusive? All of the above. Poppy is right. It is just straightforwardly good place to go, over and over again.