“The one thing to definitely expect is change.” This could be an adaptation of Heraclitus of Ephesus’ famous quote about the constancy of inconstancy, a truism if there ever was one. But in this case, the speaker isn’t an ancient Greek philosopher, but Sam Schnoebelen, co-owner and general manager of Evelyn Rose. The Vienna restaurant that he opened with chef Nick Palermo in June is squarely aimed at the neighborhood diners who filled the same room for 18 years when it was Bazin’s on Church. But don’t expect any warhorses on Palermo’s menu. The bill of fare at Evelyn Rose changes daily, adapting to what’s new and delicious from regional farms.
“Stylistically, we’re not reinventing the wheel,” Palermo says. “It’s not tied down to anything other than the ideas of seasonality, sustainability, and quality.”
Translation? Your favorite dish may not be on the menu next time. After all, change is the only constant, in life and at a locavore restaurant. But that can be a very good thing. For example, one night, you might dine on caramelized day boat scallops over a nutty pistachio-potato purée. Two weeks later, pan-seared shrimp paired with sweet pistachio-parsnip purée. The only limitations are product availability and Palermo’s boundless imagination.
After all, this is the man who invented the Nick Rib, one of my favorite sandwiches ever, a sous-vided, then chicken-fried pork rib-eye cap with blackberry–Carolina Reaper pepper barbecue sauce on airy housemade brioche. That was at Clarity, the beloved Vienna restaurant where Palermo and Schnoebelen met and toiled together for many years. In fact, they began planning Evelyn Rose five years before it finally debuted.
The dining room is filled with fans of the pair from their Clarity days. Those guests are rewarded with freshly baked focaccia, house pastas, and creative platings of unusual proteins. But this isn’t Clarity redux. The cozy brick dining room and the restaurant’s name, the monikers of the owners’ grandmothers, both suggest something homier and more relaxed.
Many of Palermo’s best dishes are plays on classic Americana. French onion rings feature brandied alliums fried up to a crackling crisp. That would be enough to make most diners happy, but the kitchen improves upon near-perfection with red-wine-braised beef (the cuts vary from night to night) and a layer of smoked cheese, intensely conjuring the flavors of French onion soup.
A duo of capon one night is one of the least boring chicken dishes a chef could create. A juicy seared breast sits alongside a fried thigh, both bodaciously flavor-packed and served atop a highly concentrated chicken jus. Braised collards are ripe with bacon but profit just as much from a dousing of vinegar.
The $20 burger is a steal. Served on the same shiny, cartoon-perfect brioche as the Nick Rib (sans sesame seeds), the dry-aged Roseda Farms beef is ground in-house using trim from the rib-eye steaks. Beneath a layer of milky fontal cheese, the fatty meat gets even more beefy flavor from smoked beef-fat aioli. Caramelized onions add a hint of sweetness. Unfortunately, the side of bronzed, skin-on Kennebec fries were more soggy than crisp.
But not all is American. Guests at Evelyn Rose would be remiss to skip a pasta. The ricotta-and-spinach cavatelli resembles chunky fava beans in shape and color. But the al dente “beans” are lusciously glutinous. Even better? The Sunday gravy, which Palermo says he indeed ate on the Lord’s Day growing up. The tomato-based sauce features both braised brisket and pork shoulder, meaty strands that melt in your mouth.
Vegetarians have more than one noodle option, including double egg yolk pappardelle with funky fermented mushroom ragout and hand-rolled potato gnocchi with seasonal ingredients. Half the starters are also meat-free, and Schnoebelen adds that one of Palermo’s greatest assets is his flexibility to cook around any diner’s restrictions.
Pacing and service are exemplary. As someone who’s at a restaurant every night, I prefer multicourse meals that take less than two hours. I was out of Evelyn Rose in less than one and a half hours each visit but never felt rushed.
Early in its life, the only major downside that I found to Evelyn Rose was its desserts. A granular chocolate custard was visually pleasing with spritzes of cream around the plate, but chocolate-coated peanuts were drowned in salt, making the dish taste like a Reese’s cup gone terribly off-kilter. The chocolate chip cookie sundae was similarly off-balance, with far too few bits of double-chocolate cookies, which would have been more appealing served warm.
Though I might skip the sweets, my final impression is that Evelyn Rose exceeds its goal of being a neighborhood restaurant. I don’t live in Vienna, but I’m looking forward to seeing what’s new on the menu whenever I can.
See This: Portraits of the owners’ grandmothers, Evelyn and Rose, greet diners in the brick entryway. Once seated, watch proteins bob in the immersion circulator on the counter of the partially open kitchen.
Eat This: French onion rings, ricotta-and-spinach cavatelli, Goffle Road Poultry Farm capon duo
Appetizers: $14–$20
Entrées: $20–$42
Dessert: $13
Open for dinner Tuesday through Sunday. 111 Church St. NW, Vienna, evelynrosevienna.com
Feature image by Jeff Heeney
This story originally ran in our September issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
