Lighthouse @ Prequel: Lobster, Burgers and FRIES, oh my!
A couple of weeks ago, I was looking for a central spot for a lady friend and I to catch up over a glass of wine and discovered 4th Floor Wine Bar. We were among only a handful of people there on a Tuesday night, but you can’t beat half-priced bottles of wine! I left quite happy about spending less than $20 on our bar snacks and a bottle of Prosecco and happened to notice that the beautiful building seemed to be shared by a number of funky looking establishments. When I hopped online, I discovered Prequel, an incubator space for short (1 night) and longer-term (6-9 months) pop-ups that allows restaurants, bakeries and bars to test out their concept while fundraising to establish their future permanent home. The other unique thing I discovered is that Prequel is partially owned by hundreds of D.C. residents who have invested anywhere from $100-$25,000 as part of a crowd-funding effort. Anyways, the hubby and I were looking for a fun spot for a long-overdue date night, so when I saw that one of their current pop-ups Lighthouse is specializing in lobster paired with burgers, we had to try it!
We were greeted with a ginger bellini and told a bit about the concept. I was surprised that we were one of only four tables on a Saturday night, but it made for an intimate setting. For the first course I chose to pair with a pinot noir blanc (while I don’t usually care too much for white wines, they let me sample this one first and it was wonderful!) and Courtney a light and fruity Kolsch. The chef came out and described our first course, which then magically appeared and was set in front of all the diners at once, a very nice touch. The half-lobster – sourced from Maine, was glazed in garlic butter and served with a side salad with a light lemon-terragon dressing.
This was definitely a nice appetizer, but for me would have left something to be desired as a full meal. I think Courtney and I have finally come to terms with the fact that with lobster, as delicious as it is, you have to work so hard for a little bit of meat that you work up more of an appetite than you fulfill! Luckily, we knew we weren’t going to leave hungry. Once they thoroughly cleared away everyone’s lobster mess (which for me, of course, was abundant!) the chef came back out to tell us about our next course: a burger and fries, which I paired with a Shiraz and Courtney with a stout. It sounds like a simple concept, but they really do nail it.
The burger is ground in house and served on a homemade brioche bun with gem lettuce, maple-smoked cheddar, and tomato jam. I asked for mine medium-rare, which they nailed to perfection unlike most restaurants in the U.S. This actually sparked a debate between me and Hubby, who is used to his medium coming out what is in actuality medium-well, but of course we later established via the internets that I was right. The burger was so juicy and absolutely delicious, definitely one of the better burgers I’ve had.
But the star of the show was the fries. For the record, you’ll almost never hear me say that. I’m incredibly picky about my fries and won’t even eat them unless they’re awesome. These were house-cut incredibly thin and prepared in what ends up being a three-day process of cooking and marination… and is worth every single bit of labor, because they were absolute “all fry, no potato” perfection. I ate all of mine, and some of Courtney’s.
I feel like I am betraying my Yankee heritage in saying I liked the burger and fries better than the lobster, but I’m an honest lady.
The final course was coconut and passion fruit sorbet with fruit and granola. This was tasty and refreshing, but at that point I was so full (see above: I ate all of mine and some of Courtney’s) that I probably would have preferred a small piece of dark chocolate and a nightcap.
Luckily, we were able to get the latter in the downstairs cocktail bar, Brick and Mortar! We’ll definitely be back to try future pop-ups, but if you want to try this one act fast – it’s only here through August 1st!
