Nancy and I ventured across the Potomac to have dinner with our good friend, Victoria Hebert. I met Victoria around 50 years ago when she was serving as a Federal Observer for an election in Conecuh County, Alabama. (She...
Nancy and I ventured across the Potomac to have dinner with our good friend, Victoria Hebert. I met Victoria around 50 years ago when she was serving as a Federal Observer for an election in Conecuh County, Alabama. (She was 9 years old at the time.) Victoria did a great job, and her fine work and that of the Observer Captain, Bruce Higbie, was key to the development of a voting rights lawsuit that served as a model for addressing election day discrimination across Alabama and around the country. It was one of four voting rights act suits I worked in that county before the locals focused on making the best smoked sausage in the world. Victoria’s work played a big role in building those cases.
Victoria and I worked together many times in many states over the years. She soon married Gerry Hebert, one of my colleagues in the Voting Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Gerry was a truly fine attorney and a dynamic, outgoing personality. He made a major impact on voting rights in the United States. Gerry was especially active in Texas. After I left Justice, I was on a couple of cases with him involving Texas congressional and state legislative redistrictings and voter identification. Alas, Gerry succumbed to cancer recently. The funeral service was marked by a huge attendance, by very moving statements from Victoria, their children, and at least one grandchild, and by the praise and honors heaped on Gerry for both his voting rights work and his exceptional volunteer work in Alexandria, as well as his voting rights advocacy. We are not apt to see Gerry’s like again.
Nancy and I swung by Victoria’s place after a leisurely 90-minute drive across Washington during rush hour, and we all headed to the City Kitchen, one of Gerry and Victoria’s regular haunts. City Kitchen sits in the West End Village shopping center at 330 South Pickett Street in Alexandria, a short walk from Cameron Station and a hop, skip, and jump from 395 and Van Dorn.
The entry to City Kitchen was, for me, just a little off-putting.
It’s next door to Elpaw, as you can see. Years ago, co-workers and I loved a restaurant until one day someone insisted that the meat in one dish came from a cat. A hardy few, sufficiently struck by the beauty of the manager and staff — which was indeed notable — continued to eat there. I moved on.
As soon as you step inside City Kitchen, however, you’re in a warm and friendly place. The noise level is fine, just a nice hum (not a purr) of conversation.
City Kitchen clearly is a neighborhood favorite with a loyal following, one of those Third Spaces that help tie a community together. Our visit serendipitously fell on a Wednesday, half-price night for wine bottles. We invested in a bottle of Oregon Chardonnay, sat and talked, and eventually looked over the menu.
Victoria needed but a glance. She chose the Boston chop ($23), described in the menu as sweet brined and a full 10 ounces, seasoned with a steakhouse rub, char-grilled, and served with a side of Guinness BBQ sauce, mashed potatoes, and green beans.
That across-the-table camera angle understates the thickness of the pork chop. It looked juicy, and Victoria added and relished the Guinness sauce.
I took longer to decide on my order, as I lingered through tantalizing options (the pizzas! the wings! the burgers! the scallops with pork belly!!!). In the end I chose a cup of the Bourbon Street gumbo ($7) to start,
and the Bayou Shrimp Po’ Boy ($17) — Cajun battered fried tiger shrimp, fried jalapeños, and their “kickin’ bayou sauce” on a soft sub roll.
The gumbo was good, not a great Louisiana gumbo (I’m fussy about gumbo), but flavorful and thick with sausage, chicken , rice, and vegetables. It was a hit on a chilly night. And the po’ boy was even better. The seasoning on the shrimp was excellent, as was the quality of the cooking, and the bayou sauce was kickin’ the flavor up a notch. If you look closely you’ll notice that the fried jalapeños had not been cored or seeded, which portended a lot of heat. As it turned out, the heat level was just a nice bite that lightened the dish, and much more flavorful that hot. I guess the frying does that. The fries were good, and made better by some Cholula.
Nancy ordered a cup of gumbo and a side of green beans ($5). She enjoyed the gumbo. The green beans had been blanched and then tossed or sautéed with a touch of garlic, and Nancy loved them.
The core of the evening was lots of good reminiscences about Gerry and his life and the many friends he made wherever he went. And Victoria told us of the various gatherings of college friends and others she’d attended in the weeks after the funeral in Massachusetts, where Gerry grew up and went to college and law school.
After dinner, Nancy and I dropped off Victoria, and the time for our drive home took under 30 minutes. We look forward to getting together with Victoria again frequently … for lunch. There are many places in Alexandria I’m eager to try out or to revisit. I doubt I’ll be able to get Nancy and Victoria to the Blue and White, but I’m sure that we’ll return to City Kitchen for more good food, good talk, and great memories. You should give City Kitchen a try.
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