Scarcely any restaurant had greater anticipation and buzz over the last year than the newly opened Bourbon Steak. Located in the just-renovated Four Seasons hotel in Georgetown, Bourbon Steak is by renowned chef Michael Mina, joining the emerging group of celebrity-chef-owned DC steakhouses, like Charlie Palmer Steak and BLT Steak. This is Mina’s fourth Bourbon Steak and just the latest in his growing army of restaurants, most of which are in California and Las Vegas. This might not be Mina’s first steakhouse, but Bourbon Steak is certainly a first for DC with an unmistakable scene, an ambitious and exciting menu, and a novel approach to cooking meat.
I might as well spit this out now, I love the concept of Bourbon Steak. I am a serious carnivore so I naturally love places that specialize in steak (hence the blog title) and I’m usually most impressed by restaurants that show real finesse in their cooking. In theory, Bourbon Steak combines both of these: it pacifies the meat-gorging carnivores often happiest with larger-than-life portions and next to zero ambience, while also satisfying the more particular eaters and scene-goers only interested in unique and refined foods and ambience. I’m exaggerating, but you get the point. In practice, Bourbon Steak lives up (and exceeds) many of those expectations, while in others, notably the steaks, it falls short.
The foie gras appetizer
Once past the new Four Seasons lobby, you have the option of two utterly different experiences at Bourbon Steak: the dining room in front or the lounge to the right. Graced by a beautiful long sleek bar, the lounge is a more casual and trendier choice for drinking, eating and watching. The area is dark and slender with only limited seating that can be nearly impossible to snag due to an open seating policy, especially on weekends. But if you do, you might mistake it for a South Beach hotel lounge, with an attractive mix of diners in suits, cocktail dresses and designer T’s with jeans casually enjoying cocktails and appetizers. The lounge menu includes most of the dining room’s appetizers, as well as fun snacks like truffle popcorn ($9), lobster corn dogs ($14) and fried pickles ($8) and has lounge-only entrees like a dry-aged steak burger ($19) and fish and chips ($16).
The other choice, the dining room, is also sleek and buzzing, though it’s considerably more formal. The room is decorated entirely by shades of brown, light brown on the walls and chocolate brown adorning the furniture, including leather tops on each table. All in all though, the decor is classic and understated, especially considering what it could’ve been in a remodeled Four Seasons.
Bourbon might be a new restaurant, but you wouldn’t know it from the service. Attentive from being seated through the check, though never overbearing, there is a constant flow of attentive waiters, busboys and sommeliers. Their wine list is, well expansive, but their “secrets of the sommelier” pages offer a group of reasonably priced bottles ($40 and up), a detail much appreciated given the food prices.
House-made pate with pork shoulder
As for the food, it was different from the start. The amuse-bouche is three types of french fries, crisped well in duck fat, served alongside three different sauces. The fries, one seasoned with herbs, one with salts and one without, are both delicious and addicting but are more a side dish than anything else. But that’s not all. Following the fries comes a skillet of hot rolls with truffle butter that frankly are hard to put down. Needless to say, this opening act puts BLT Steak’s gruyere popovers squarely in second place.
The appetizers that follow are both a highlight and hardly normal steakhouse fare. They include fluke sashimi and ricotta cavatelli as well as a few industry regulars like bibb salad, ahi tuna tartare, a gigantic shrimp cocktail and a large raw bar. Their meat appetizers really surprise and shine with options like beef tartare ($21), veal sweetbreads ($16) and red wine-braised oxtail ($17). The foie gras terrine ($22) with a tangerine gel on top is as creamy and delicious as it should be, although it hardly seems worth the price with a portion smaller than a snickers bar. A better value is the housemade pate with pork shoulder ($13). But the real winner is the braised oxtail with bone marrow custard, served with toasted bread and frisee lettuce. Like short ribs, the long-cooked shredded oxtail meat is extremely deep in flavor while the bone marrow custard underneath, loosely appearing like watery scrambled eggs, is buttery, rich and so satisfying. Together, it comprises some of the deepest, most time consuming to produce and utterly soul-satisfying flavors the cow has. I love it and I wish more restaurants served both more. Fortunately, Bourbon Steak offers marrow bones as an accompaniment for steaks too ($12).
Braised oxtail with bone marrow custard underneath
Their entree selections are similar in spirit, refined classics interspersed with modern dishes. From the sea there are dishes of scallops, striped bass, an over-the-top lobster pot pie ($85), seared tuna ($39), Tasmanian sea trout ($32), Florida cobia and more. If nothing else, their menu’s seafood diversity is equal with plenty of seafood-dedicated spots. While I haven’t had the heart for an $85 pot pie, yet, the Tasmanian sea trout, seared tuna and cobia each have elicited oohs and ahhs. Consider the trout for a more delicate fish and the cobia for a firmer and more flavorful fish.
Their entree selections are similar in spirit, refined classics interspersed with modern dishes. From the sea there are dishes of scallops, striped bass, an over-the-top lobster pot pie ($85), seared tuna ($39), Tasmanian sea trout ($32), Florida cobia and more. If nothing else, their menu’s seafood diversity is equal with plenty of seafood-dedicated spots. While I haven’t had the heart for an $85 pot pie, yet, the Tasmanian sea trout, seared tuna and cobia each have elicited oohs and ahhs. Consider the trout for a more delicate fish and the cobia for a firmer and more flavorful fish.
The dry-aged NY strip
Sadly, the gushing compliments mostly taper off from here. The steaks, the central focus of the restaurant, simply don’t measure up to the rest of the meal. Their steak-cooking process, poaching the meat in butter before adding to the wood-burning grill, is different, but not for the better. Each steak I’ve had, four so far, have been for the most part juicy, cooked exactly to my liking, presented beautifully and basically flavorless. The 14-ounce dry-aged NY strip ($46), served alongside a hot red pepper sauce and with sauteed shallots atop is attractive yet bland, lacking any of the robust earthy flavor a dry-aged strip should boast. It was prim and proper, not qualities I want in a strip. I’ve also sampled two ribeyes and found neither earthshaking. The dry-aged ribeye ($59), a special only sometimes offered, does have a naturally saltier and deeper flavor than its brother, though for $59 I expect a pretty godly piece of meat - it isn’t. On the other hand, the 16-ounce ribeye ($49), suffers from a similar syndrome as the strip: plenty thick, juicy and beautifully cooked yet lacking the prime rib flavor. The one exception to this trend was the 10-ounce skirt steak ($29), which was robustly flavored and rather tender for a meat that’s often chewy. Although I’d prefer hanger steak, it was a success, especially given it’s lower price tag.
Sadly, the gushing compliments mostly taper off from here. The steaks, the central focus of the restaurant, simply don’t measure up to the rest of the meal. Their steak-cooking process, poaching the meat in butter before adding to the wood-burning grill, is different, but not for the better. Each steak I’ve had, four so far, have been for the most part juicy, cooked exactly to my liking, presented beautifully and basically flavorless. The 14-ounce dry-aged NY strip ($46), served alongside a hot red pepper sauce and with sauteed shallots atop is attractive yet bland, lacking any of the robust earthy flavor a dry-aged strip should boast. It was prim and proper, not qualities I want in a strip. I’ve also sampled two ribeyes and found neither earthshaking. The dry-aged ribeye ($59), a special only sometimes offered, does have a naturally saltier and deeper flavor than its brother, though for $59 I expect a pretty godly piece of meat - it isn’t. On the other hand, the 16-ounce ribeye ($49), suffers from a similar syndrome as the strip: plenty thick, juicy and beautifully cooked yet lacking the prime rib flavor. The one exception to this trend was the 10-ounce skirt steak ($29), which was robustly flavored and rather tender for a meat that’s often chewy. Although I’d prefer hanger steak, it was a success, especially given it’s lower price tag.
The 16-ounce ribeye
Now don’t get me wrong, the steaks weren’t bad. They were somewhere between fair and good, but given the prices and the rest of the meal, they simply didn’t meet expectations. The only real advantage Bourbon’s steak business has is an admirable diversity of meat. It includes: two ribeyes, a dry-aged NY strip, a wet-aged porterhouse, skirt steak, filet mignon, two selections of wagyu beef, all the aforementioned appetizers, and entrees with beef shortribs, lamb, pork and roast duck. Most importantly (to me), they have numerous dry-aged selections, a distinction their rival BLT Steak notably lacks. Side note: Obviously cut and aging choices are entirely personal preference but I find it infuriating and bordering on criminal when so-called “steakhouses” don’t offer dry-aged cuts.
The 10-ounce skirt steak
Now don’t get me wrong, the steaks weren’t bad. They were somewhere between fair and good, but given the prices and the rest of the meal, they simply didn’t meet expectations. The only real advantage Bourbon’s steak business has is an admirable diversity of meat. It includes: two ribeyes, a dry-aged NY strip, a wet-aged porterhouse, skirt steak, filet mignon, two selections of wagyu beef, all the aforementioned appetizers, and entrees with beef shortribs, lamb, pork and roast duck. Most importantly (to me), they have numerous dry-aged selections, a distinction their rival BLT Steak notably lacks. Side note: Obviously cut and aging choices are entirely personal preference but I find it infuriating and bordering on criminal when so-called “steakhouses” don’t offer dry-aged cuts.
The 10-ounce skirt steak
All in all, I really do enjoy Bourbon Steak, a steakhouse with the refinement of a fine dining establishment. There’s a really admirable diversity of food, flavor and scene that make it inviting for a variety of palettes and occasions. And the food, for the most part, is done with the precision that you expect at world-class restaurants, not a chain steakhouse. My suggestion: head to the lounge and snack on fries and appetizers without spending a fortune, or do the opposite in the dining room, sans the steaks.
Something sweet to finish with: warm bitter chocolate cake with hazelnut ice cream
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