Sonoma (Washington, DC)

Had an early dinner at Sonoma the other day with Kathleen before the 7:00 pm session at the DC Independent Film Festival. It was the only restaurant somewhat near the theatre that was featured in my eat.shop washington dc (2nd edition) guide (which, incidentally, was introduced to me by Kathleen) so we figured we couldn't go wrong. Kathleen got the penne; I order the soup special - I just had to; it was curried carrot soup! - and two charcuterie plates (an eat.shop recommendation). I had a tough time deciding on which of the various charcuterie flavors to order, but feeling adventurous, as I usually am with food, I went with the rabbit rillette plus an order of the prosciutto. This may well have been the first time I've had rabbit meat, though I can't be sure. Regardless, I was pretty curious to see if eat.shop was right about the charcuterie.

The curried carrot soup was pretty good, though I thought a little salt would have made it even better:

The charcuterie, which came with grilled foccacia bread, was delicious. The rabbit rillette was topped with some sort of a red wine jello, and I ended up really liking it even more so than the prosciutto (which was good as well):

Charcuterie.

Close-up of the rabbit rillette.

The service was good though slightly too "leisurely" for my taste (probably didn't help that we were rushing to get to the film festival). Unfortunately, that meant we didn't have time for dessert. I did like the modern decor of the restaurant, and the layout is very open (it is essentially one long room with tables on either side plus a bar), which can be both a good and a bad thing. I'd love to go back and try their other charcuterie meats, though I wouldn't mind getting the rabbit rillette again either!

Pertinent info:
Address: 223 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington, DC 20003
Nearest intersection: Pennsylvania Ave SE between 2nd and 3rd Sts SE
Nearest Metro: Capitol South (blue & orange lines)