Tesoro

Have you ever eaten at a Days Inn? Neither had I, until we came upon Tesoro, which is actually a quite elegent restaurant hidden behind the facade of this inner-city chain motel...(I know, weird.).

The first disappointment came when we looked at the menu only to find that the prices were not the same as the prices published on the website. Still, we ordered the chicken parm along with Rob's usual white pizza.

But, to our dismay, the wrong pizza landed on our table, and the CP was served cold. Upon our request to heat it up, the chef decided to flop it onto a tray, MICROWAVE it, and put it back on the plate so as to create a soggy, chewy mess of dielectrically radiated chicken parm.

Had we not asked for the cp to be reheated, I am confident it could have tasted pretty good, though slightly tepid. So might Tesoro have the potential to produce a decent CP? Sure, but "an Italian treasure" Tesoro is certainly not.

Cost: $$$
Portion: 3
Chicken: 2
Breading: 3
Sauce: 3
Cheese: 3
Pasta: 2
Accompaniments: 3
Service: 2
Overall value: 2.5

I love DIK

Dupont Italian Kitchen ranks pretty high on our list so far, but I admit it does get extra points for the acronym (and for the awesome gay bar above it).

Cost: $$ (11.50)
Portion: 4
Chicken: 4
Breading: 4
Sauce: 4
Cheese: 4
Pasta: 3
Overall value: 4

Pines of Florence

Rob, my parmer-in-crime, was nice enough to drive us over to Pines of Florence, which is not particularly metro-accessible but was high on my excel spreadsheet of potentially-awesome chicken parm in Washington. Lo and behold, it was not bad at all! - greasy home cooking in a basement italian restaurant that looks like a dump but has pretty awesome cannolis (or bones, as we like to call them). If I had grown up in a large Italian family, I think this place would feel like my mother's kitchen (or like the place where all the male members of the family would gather for mafia get-togethers). And as for the chicken parm - cheap and delicious:

Cost: $$ (10.95)
Portion: 3
Chicken: 4
Breading: 4
Sauce: 4
Cheese: 4
Pasta: 3
Accompaniments: 4
Overall value: 4

Odeon

Our first night on the town in search of parm:

We arrived at Odeon, where we sat down and promptly ordered the pollo alla parmagiana. Although the dish temporarily hit the spot, it did not live up to the parms of Federal Hill, Jersey, or Little Italy. The single breaded cutlet came with a pile of overcooked vermicelli and overherbed sauce. All in all, it wasn't bad, but just not up to par(m) with the thinly-sliced and expertly breaded cutlets with sweet marinara and fresh mozzerella that come out of the kitchen every night at Cassie's in Englewoord (but it was definitely better than the pollo al limone!).

Here's our take:

Cost: $$ (12.00)
Portion: 2
Chicken: 3
Breading: 3
Sauce: 2
Cheese: 3
Pasta: 1
Overall value: 2.5

The Beginning of the Quest

December 2, 2008—the day Hannah and Rob’s culinary world would take a bold new form, stemming from the simple question of where to go for dinner.

The location: north side of Dupont Circle
The scene: 8 pm on a crisp early-winter eve
The impetus: Hannah had a craving

After spending a weekend in NJ, Hannah longed for the classic, family-style Italian restaurants of home. One dish in particular, the pinnacle of the neighborhood Italian spot—chicken parmigiana—called out to her (well her stomach, at least). We walked the streets, searching desperately for a menu with reasonably priced Italian specialties. Drifting from restaurant to restaurant, we noticed the overwhelming dearth of affordable chicken parm in Washington. Our calling became clear: begin a journey—a quest, even—to find the best, low-cost chicken parm in the DC area. And so begat ParmQuest, a challenge perfectly suited to two hungry yuppies.

Fortunately, our dining history prepared us for our new endeavor. We both developed deep appreciation for chicken parm (better known as CP on the street) during our respective suburban upbringings. Then during four years living in Providence, where fate brought our adventurers together, Federal Hill’s old school Italian restaurant scene further refined our palates.

But before continuing with the story, we must pause to address a fundamental question: why chicken parm? Sure, Hannah had a craving, but we could have appeased the urge with one meal rather than start a journey (and a blog!). And why not pizza, or pad thai, or any other “commodity” food for the focus of our inquiry? Ultimately, chicken parm is comfort food. Some people conjure up images of mac and cheese, or meatloaf, or mashed potatoes when they think of comfort food; we go right for chicken parm’s perfect balance of cheese, sauce, crust, and chicken breast. A great CP has that little-bit-greasy-cheesy-gooey-makes-you-feel-good-inside quality that only the best comfort foods possess. And beyond the meal itself, eating chicken parm is a nostalgic experience, taking diners back to the red-checkered tablecloths of their favorite suburban Italian spot back home, wherever home may be. See, chicken parm is more than just a meal—it’s a momentary transformation.

Eventually we found our first test case on that fateful December evening, which will be reviewed separately. During that initial meal we discussed the characteristics of the ideal CP, which informed the criteria we’ll use to review all our meals. The following metrics will guide our decisions:

• Cost
• Portion
• Chicken
• Breading
• Sauce
• Cheese
• Pasta
• Overall value

The table was set; we had our criteria in hand and embraced our charge to find the best, affordable chicken parm in DC. We hope you’ll join us on our journey, reflecting on your CP experiences, suggesting new places to try in the DC area, and commenting on our reviews. And so ParmQuest begins in earnest.