Founding Farmers - Washington, DC

Washington DC seems to be big on the farm to table movement, which I think is a really good thing.  It makes for great relationships between farmers and restauranteurs, much like the Hawaiian Regional Cuisine movement that started about 25 years ago, with noted chefs like Roy Yamaguchi (of Roy’s fame), Alan Wong and Sam Choy, just to name a few.

Entrance

Founding Farmers appears to be on the leading edge of this movement when looking at their website.  Locally sourced products, very well priced dishes, and great reviews on Yelp, Open Table and Trip Advisor.  Unfortunately all that hype did not live up to my expectations.

Bacon Lollis

The Bacon Lollis ($9) were nothing more than dehydrated bacon with a cinnamon brown sugar dusting.  It tasted like a slightly moist and sweet type of jerky.

Pecorino, White Bean & Bacon Flatbread

The Pecorino, White Bean and Applewood Smoked Bacon Flatbread ($8) was nothing like what I had expected.  With the term “flatbread”, I was expecting a flatbread type of pizza, not what was presented to the table.  The portion was very large, but the combination of ingredients did not meld together.  I found that the white bean spread on top of the bread covered with bacon to be the best.  The Pecorino and sliced apples seemed to be best eaten separately.  This was almost like two dishes in one.

Late Harvest Salad

The Late Harvest Salad ($7) appeared to be their take on the classic spinach salad.  I opted not have the apples in the salad, as I am not a big fan of sweet things in savory dishes.  The combination of ingredients went well together, the produce was fresh, the bacon very meat, and the egg was cooked well.  The only downside of the salad was that it was over dressed, and the spinach was on the verge of being soggy during consumption.

Skirt Steak & Enchiladas

The Skirt Steak & Enchilada ($19) is an interesting combination, and not one that is usually seen at Mexican restaurant.  Two chicken enchiladas were topped in a mound of shredded lettuce and some sliced pickled radishes.  The enchiladas got sort of lost underneath all of that produce.  The enchiladas were somewhat dry, as there was either not much sauce or it got mopped up by the lettuce.  The chicken was also slightly overcooked, dry and crumbly.

The skirt steak was cooked to perfection, and a very generous portion was served.  It was also seasoned well.  I did not eat the corn, so I do not know if it was the classic corn with mayonnaise, cotija cheese and chile.

Founding Farmer’s seems like it tries to appeal to the Georgetown crowd, as there were many college students.  Portions are generally very large and affordable.  The combination of ingredients got lost on me, and I just didn’t “get it” compared to the many favorable reviews on Trip Advisor and Yelp.