Blue Duck Tavern Blog

Santa Lucia Estate Coffee

Did you know that Blue Duck Tavern, in addition to sourcing its menu ingredients locally, also uses coffee from a boutique coffee company, based in Washington, DC?  Santa Lucia Estate Coffee is a full-service coffee company, bringing their premium High Mountain, shade grown Arabica Coffee beans from Nicaragua, straight from the farm to the restaurant.

Green and sustainable, from a crop's annual harvest Santa Lucia uses the best 20-25% of the beans available to offer a consistent, high quality product.

On Friday, we are changing our current VIENNA ground coffee to CLASSIC ROAST, a full bodied, medium roast of beans knows for their creamy and chocolately flavor with a touch of earthiness. The decaf version is a tasty, medium bodied from raw green beans that are decaffeinated using a completely natural mountain water process to remove over 97% of the beans' caffeine.

New Seasonal Desserts

As the temperatures outside keep getting cooler, our seasonal menus keep getting hotter! Today, Pastry Chef Peter Brett will unveil a selection of new winter desserts, bound to satisfy your sweet tooth.  These new treats will be available on Blue Duck Tavern's lunch, dinner and weekend brunch menus. 

Banana Walnut Upside Cake, White Chocolate Cream - Banana cake baked with brown sugar, butter, bananas, cinnamon and walnuts.  Garnished with whipped cream, sweetened with white chocolate and a banana tuile.

Chestnut Honey Cheesecake, Crispy Phyllo, Brandied Cherries - Traditional cheesecake sweetened with clover honey and flavored with chestnuts, wrapped in phyllo and browned in the oven. Served with cherries preserved in brandy.

Mango, Cranberry and Macadamia Nut Crumble, Creme Fraiche  - Diced sweet mango and cranberries tossed with orange and brandy syrup.  Topped with macadamia nut streusal, baked to order. Served with whipped creme fraiche.

Have a Drink and Be Merry

Take a break from the cold and retreat to the Lounge where you can enjoy one of our nine, new seasonal cocktails made from the freshest ingredients. The arrival of these new handcrafted cocktails, including the Campari Mojito, housemade orange infused rum, Campari, orange, mint leaves and lemon juice; Copper Fox Martini, Wasmund's single malt whiskey, dry vermouth, sweet vermouth and orange bitters; Grapefruit Gimlet, housemade grapefruit infused vodka, lemon juice and agave nectar, and Spice Pomegranate, housemade orange oranged infused vodka, pomegranate juice, spiced syrup and lemon juice, will liven up the dreariest winter nights.

Campari Mojito

Grapefruit Gimlet

Other seasonal selections this winter include Early Tonic, housemade Earl Grey infused gin, cinnamon syrup, lemon juice and tonic water; Pear & Bubble, Plymouth gin, pear syrup and Maschio prosecco; Espresso Romano, Fernet Branca, Sambuca, Santa Lucia espresso and housemade espresso bitters; Hot Toddy, Glenmorangie scotch whisky, Hays Apiary honey, Drambuie, lemon, cloves and cinnamon; and the decadent Peppermint Chocolate, peppermint schnapps, Creme de Cacao and housemade hot chocolate.

Early Tonic

Pear & Bubble

All of our new cocktails are priced at $14.

Our New Seasonal Desserts

Straight out of Blue Duck Tavern's Pastry Pantry are Chef Peter Brett's handful of new seasonal desserts. Enjoy these sinfully delicious treats, whether dining in the restaurant for lunch or dinner, or simply relaxing over a glass of wine in the Lounge.

Pecan and Date Tart, Vanilla Bean Custard  - Traditional pecan pie filling in a shortbread crust, toasted pecans and fresh dates, served with vanilla custard sauce

Sweet Potato Pudding, Five Spice Marshmallow, Rum Raisins - Oven roasted sweet potatoes mixed with eggs, brown sugar, butter and orange rind, topped with a freshly toasted marshmallow flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom and clove, and garnished with dark and golden raisins marinated in Meyer's Dark Rum

Brown Sugar Brioche, Winter Fruit Compote - Rich yeast dough made with eggs and butter, baked in a mixture of brown sugar and cream, and served with a compote of dried fruits, including apples, apricots, cherries, cranberries, currants and raisins

BDT Peppermint Ice Cream - Vanilla ice cream flavored with peppermint oil and handmade, crushed candy canes from Zoe's Chocolates in Pennsylvania

Pear Sorbet

Pomegranate Sorbet

New Seasonal Desserts

Today, Pastry Chef Peter Brett unveiled his new seasonal dessert menu showcasing the best ingredients of fall.  We offered a tasting for our staff this morning and everyone was in awe of these new treats, available for lunch and dinner.

Pear, Blackberry and Almond Crumble - pears roasted with vanilla bean, orange and lemon zest, 
mixed with blackberries and topped with almond streusal; garnished with creme fraiche

Shaker Lemon Tart - shortbread crust filled with candied lemon peel and a delicate lemon, butter and egg custard, served with buttermilk custard sauce

Pumpkin, Cranberry and Walnut Cake - very moist pumpkin cake topped with cranberries and walnuts, roasted in butter and brown sugar; served with 'Bliss' whipped cream and pumpkin seed brittle

Cheesecake Stuffed Figs, Crispy Phyllo, Pomegranate - fresh figs filled with lemon cheesecake, wrapped in phyllo and baked to order; served with pomegranate glaze

Homemade Chutney & Jam

Lauren Weissman is our new Cheese & Charcuterie Expert at Park Hyatt Washington.  Lauren is  
  busy, nightly in the Lounge, overseeing our artisan cheese display.  Enthusiastic to share her knowledge and love of all things food, she is now making her own chutneys and jams to complement our selection of cheese and charcuterie.

Her first two creations are Apricot Chutney made with dried apricots, onion, raisins, white wine vinegar, dark brown sugar, and a variety of spices; and Onion Marmalade made with onions, sugar, red wine vinegar and dry red wine.

Both pair well with the eight varieties of handcrafted cheeses we offer, including Oma, Bayley Hazen Blue or Bandaged Wrapped Cheddar, which was awarded the 2007 Wyke Farms Trophy and the 2007 World Cheese Award for "Best Nature Cheese in the World."

Summer Brunch Dishes

The un-official start of Summer begins this weekend with Memorial Day, so we found it to be the perfect time to unveil several new dishes on our Brunch menu.

Nutella & Banana Crepe - A 14" crepe, lightly coated with Nutella and filled with a sliced ripe banana.  The crepe is then folded into 1/4 sections and garnished with candied hazelnuts and whipped cream.  Delicious as an entree or even as a dessert!

Fried Chicken & Waffle - The name says it all! A light waffle served with fried chicken. The chicken is brined in buttermilk, lemon and garlic, then battered and fried. The dish is served with Steen's Pure Cane Syrup from Abbeville, LA.

Belgian Waffle  - A traditional Belgian waffle, replacing our former Liege waffle.  The Belgian is yeast-based dough with less sugar and is much lighter because of whipped egg whites - ideal for warmer summer months. The waffle is served with a peach preserve, made with fresh peaches, sugar, vanilla, lemon juice, and cream (to provide a peaches and cream taste) and whipped cream on the side.

Guanciale Omelet - Guanciale is an un-smoked Italian bacon made from pork jowl and seasoned with black or red pepper, rubbed with salt, and cured for three weeks. It has a stronger flavor than Pancetta, but is much more delicate. The guanciale is rendered so that it is crispy, and then mixed with caramelized onions, pimenton and sherry vinegar.  It is then added to an omelet along with Gruyere Cheese and served with crispy potatoes tossed with shallots, garlic and thyme, and a small salad. 

Masters of Food & Wine: Caymus Vineyards Winemaker Dinner

 
Yesterday, I blogged our menu for the Masters of Food & Wine Barboursville Winemaker Dinner, kicking off this special weekend.  Today, I'm sharing our menu for the Caymus Winemaker Dinner on Friday, June 3.  For this dinner, I will working with Executive Chef Joshua Hopkins from Abattoir in Atlanta, GA.  We have created a five-course menu to complement an incredible selection of wines from Caymus Vineyards in Napa Valley. 

First Course

Roasted Scallops, Cellia's Little Vegetables, Sweet Curry Mussel Jus

2010 Belle Glos Pinot Noir Blanc

Second Course

Poached Steel Head Trout with Beef Tongue and Star Anise

2009 Conundrum

Third Course

Roasted and Stuffed Guinea Hen Leg and Ravioli, Morel Mushrooms and Country Ham

2009 Belle Glos Taylor Lane Vineyard

Fourth Course

Riverview Farms Grassfed Beef Rib Eye, Sweet Onions, Bone Marrow Puree

2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

Fifth Course

Stawberry Melba with Lime Cream and Strawberry Ice Cream

2004 Mer Soleil Late

Masters of Food & Wine: Barboursville Vineyards Winemaker Dinner

 
 
We are less than one month away from the start of our Park Hyatt Masters of Food & Wine.  To start this gastronomic weekend, we are partnering with our friends at Barboursville Vineyards in Charlottesville, VA to host a five-course dinner with wine pairings, led by winemaker Luca Paschina.   Take a look at the menu Luca and I put together for this dinner on Thursday, June 2 at the Blue Duck Tavern Chef's Table & Semi-Private Dining Area. 

First Course

Chilled Maine Lobster with Carrot Broth & Basi

2002 Viognier Reserve

Second Course

Black Sea Bass in Parchment with Lemongrass, Shishito Pepper and Cilantro

2009 Viognier Reserve

Third Course

Smoked Buddhist Style Duck Breast with Pheasant Foie Gras Ravioli, Date Cumin Puree

2001 Octagon

Fourth Course

Braised Grayson Farms Beef Cheeks, Anson Mills Polenta, Atomic Carrots

2006 Octagon

Fifth Course

Wood Burning Oven Caramelized Apricots with Almond Cream

2002 Malvaxia

A Collection of Seasonal Cocktails

Blue Duck Tavern welcomes the arrival of Spring with a collection of new, handcrafted cocktails available in the Lounge.  Priced at $14 each, new additions to our menu include: 

Green Leaf, made with Blue Coat Gin, lime juice, simple syrup, a dash of Angostura bitters and mint leaves

Spritz Milano, created with Maschio Prosecco, Aperol and topped off with soda water and a slice of orange

Sakura, made with Prairie Organic Vodka, cherry puree, cherry syrup, cherry bitters, Va de Vi sparkling wine, and garnished with a cherry

Bubble Sour, created with housemade, lemon-infused rum, maraschino, lemon sour, egg whites, Angostura bitters, and Va de Vi sparkling wine

Peach & Basil Collins, comprised of gin, peach puree, basil leaves, lime and peach bitters, topped off with soda water

Fields of France, made with gin, Rooibos syrup, lemon juice and simple syrup

Derby Days, comprised of Buffalo Trace Bourbon, honey bourbon, mint leaves and garnished with a cherry

Additionally, the Peach & Basil Collins, Spritz Milano, Sakura, Green Leaf, and Field of France are all available on our weekend brunch menu.  The perfect complement to Lemon Ricotta Souffle Pancakes, Homemade Croissants and Jams, and Sunnyside Eggs with Cod Cakes.