Income Tax - Tasting Collective Dinner

 

When you go to a place called Income Tax, one of the last things you might expect is good food.  If, however, you go to a place called Income Tax in Edgewater, that is exactly what you will get.  Located in a former currency exchange, Income Tax both chose there name for the former proprietor of the space and to blend in with the neighborhood.  Their sign is small and very low key and the space blends into the neighborhood.  While it still could be a currency exchange from the outside, inside it is very much a European Wine Bar with hanging lights, small tables, and a lot of dark wood.  While I had heard of it and had heard good things, it wasn't really on my radar as for places to go.  When I got an email from Tasting Collective telling me that this was a place that they had chosen, I looked at the menu and looked it up a little more and decided that I was interested and would go.  The space is divided into two dining rooms, both nearly identical in design with hanging lights and a lot of dark wood.  The big difference was that one room had the bar and a table for larger parties in the back.  I was seated at a table of 8 (two four tops) near the front of the smaller room.  As the restaurant is serving an extended tasting menu to a large number of people, drink lists are generally abbreviated with a few beers, wines, and cocktails.  In this case, there were a few wines and beers offered, though there were no cocktails.  I decided to start things a Whiner Miaou, a Barrel Aged Dry Hopped Belgian Wheat Ale.  I had had it before so I knew that I would like it.  It is lightly tart with tangerine and citrus flavors and a mild hoppiness.

For our first course starting out our dinner, we started with Octopus Escabeche with Fennel, Melrose Pepper, Cranberry Beans, and Dill.  Escabeche means pickled and the dish have a certain tartness which was enhanced with the dill.  The octopus was chewy and flavorful, the cranberry beans gave the dish some body, and the peppers provided some sweetness.  Melrose Peppers are sweet Italian peppers that look similar to Jalapenos, but have a Scoville rating of 0 (for reference, a jalapeno runs in the 2500-8000 range and scotch bonnet peppers are in the 80,000-400,000 range).  Thaey are good for cooking and provide a nice pepper flavor without the heat.  The dish had a lot of flavor anf it was a nice start.

For our next course, we had more peppers, though these had the potential for having a little spice.  Referred to on the menu as Tempura Fried Sweet Peppers with Tonnato and Horseradish, they are listed as Nardello Peppers, another Italian Sweet Pepper, on the regular menu.  The tempura provided a nice light crunch on the outside of the crisp and sweet peppers.  Tonnato is a tuna aioli, and then there was the horseradish.  While the peppers themselves didn't provide any heat, the horseradish did add some spice.  The sweetness of the peppers, the light crunch, the tuna aioli, and the horseradish made for a great dish with a lot of texture and flavor.

When you go to many restaurants and have a lot of different dishes, occasionally, you will run into a dish you might not like or is at least less than your favorite.  I knew that eggplant is not a favorite of mine and that it can frequently become slimy if not cooked right.  Surprisingly this dish which contained Eggplant, as well as Walnut, Mint, Charred Cucumbers, and Golden Raisins, and served with Pita Chips was not the wreck that I was expecting.  The eggplant was stewed almost to the point of becoming Baba Ghannoush and the mint, walnut, and cucumbers added a lot of flavor and contributed to the textural variety.

After 3 dishes, we were then served the salad.  I found this a little humorous because, while salads are not generally first in a multi-course meal, it generally comes early in the meal. Our Wedge Salad came pre-chopped and contained Gem Lettuce, Radishes, Parsley Vinaigrette, and Ricotta Salata.  As far as salads are concerned, it wasn't bad, but to me a salad is frequently a space filler.

The next course also could be termed a salad.  It was definitely a vegetable dish in any case, but it was very interesting.  It was Roasted String Beans with Chanterelle Mushrooms, Roasted Red Onions, and Summer Truffles.  Dishes served with truffle oil frequently have a funky flavor from the truffle that overwhelms everything else.  Fresh truffles, on the other hand, have a much more subtle flavor while still providing the acrid truffle flavor.  The beans were crisp and crunchy, the onions and mushrooms were tender and flavorful, and the truffles were plentiful.

Our first entree was a pasta dish.  It was a pasta that I had never heard of, Maltagliati, which is similar to an unevenly cut Pappardelle, which was served with Roasted Sungold Tomatoes and Edible Marigolds.  If this wasn't enough, it was spiced with Nutmeg.  I liked this a lot.  It was tender with a lot of flavor.  The marigold had a floral flavor without being flowery and tomatoes always go well with pasta.  The nutmeg added an interesting spicy twist at the end.

Our final savory dish was a favorite favorite of mine because I enjoy pork belly in any incarnation.  We were served Crispy Slow Cooked Pork Belly with N'Duja (a spreadable salami which was actually turned into a sauce) and Grilled Broccoli.  The pork belly had a crispy outer crust and an inner texture and sweet flavor similar to a well cooked ham.  The N'Duja added a spicy tang similar to barbecue sauce, and the bitterness of the broccoli, which was amplified by being grilled, mellowed the sweetness of the dish.  It was nice, flavorful, and very good.

We finished things off with a Dark Chocolate Tart with Lavender, Blueberries, Almonds, and Anise Hyssop.  There were a lot of things to like about this.  I really like dark chocolate and this was seasoned with sea salt.  Lavender and blueberries are a great combination and these were combined as a marmalade-like sauce, and the anise hyssop, a wildflower in the mint family with an anise flavor was added to the whipped cream.  The tart was good on its own or in any of the several combinations in which it could be eaten.  I really enjoyed it and thought it made for a great finish.  I really enjoyed this dinner and will definitely have to try things out on my own.