Lisa was in town for the weekend, so in addition to all the other running around doing Chicago-ish and Arlington-ian things, we did a Chef’s Tasting at Nacional 27.
As always, it was awesome. The food was matched with some great wines, and there were a few unexpected twists. It’s all on the next page.
Afterwards, we did our best on the Salsa dance floor. It was crowded enough that even if we did look dorky (which I’m sure we didn’t) nobody would have noticed.
Thanks again to Randy for a great dining adventure.

Nacional 27 Chef’s Tasting Menu: 31 July 2004
▪ Spanish Goat Cheese with Cherry Tomatoes, Cipollinis, and Aged Sherry Vinaigrette. Matched with Bodegas Grupo Garvey San Patricio Dry Fino.
▪ Sweet Corn and Saffron Chowder with Spicy Shrimp. Served with Monte Xanic Sauvignon Blanc, Baja California 2002.
▪ Grilled Shrimp Adobado. Accompanied by Passion Fruit Sangria.
▪ Dayboat Swordfish with Torpedo Onion, Tomato Jam, and House Steak Sauce. Served with Miguel Torres Cabernet Sauvignon Rosado, Curico Valley, Chile 2002.
▪ Gunthorp Farms Pork Cubano, with Sweet Plantains, Black Beans and Coconut Rice, Orange Mojo. Matched with a duo of Graffigna Malbec Argentina and Los Portones Carmenere Chile.
▪ Peaches, Blueberries, Cherries with Honied Torrontes and Coconut Sorbet. Served with Santa Julia Tardio Late Harvest Torrontes, Mendoza 2002.
Some thoughts:
Appetizer: We did an awful lot of cheese this weekend, especially at La Tasca on Friday night. This was really nice, though, and not overbearing. The sherry that came with it was interesting, in that it started off sweet but finished very dry. We weren’t so sure about it.
Soup: Much lighter than what you would expect a “chowder” to be. Very good, and the shrimp was a great addition.
Shrimp: A small portion but very flavorful. The sangria was a great touch.
Swordfish: Our favorite of the meal. Lisa called it “brave” and “daring” which nails it. I never would have expected to find steak sauce on a piece of fish, but it really worked, and none of the flavors overpowered any of the others. It was also interesting that it was paired with a cab, again something you wouldn’t expect with fish. The wine was a lighter red, though, so it worked very nicely.
Pork: This came with its own Social Studies lesson, where we learned that the traditional Cuban beans and rice dish is referred to as “Morros y Cristianos” (“Moors and Christians”). The pork in this dish is usually slow-cooked and then pulled. I don’t usually order pork, but this was very tender and very flavorful. It was matched with two wines: our server recommended we drink the Malbec with the meal since it was bolder, then finish with the much smoother Carmenere.
Dessert: The coconut sorbet was creamy and fresh. The wine was a nice sweet finish.