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WASHINGTON POST REVIEW Rock Creek's New Branch Sticks to Its Roots By Tom Sietsema
Judith Hammerschmidt wanted to give diners a sense of the area's best-known park -- "calm, peaceful, very much about nature" -- when they walked into the Washington spinoff of her health-minded restaurant in Bethesda, Rock Creek at Mazza (5300 Wisconsin Ave. NW; 202-966-7625). Patrons get that feeling, big-time, thanks to a 5,000-pound replica of an English oak tree that rises from the center of the dining room, located on the top floor of Mazza Gallerie. Taking advantage of a 22-foot ceiling, the realistic design statement arrived in 900 pieces and took two artists and a welder four days to put together. The result is a handsome sprawl of green leaves, a bark-brown trunk and branches that let customers pretend they're eating alfresco The offshoot's menu follows the original's formula; both Rock Creeks boast "conscious cuisine" and both offer dishes that go easy on the fat, sodium and calories. The goal, explains Hammerschmidt, is a complete, "fresh, flavorful" meal for 1,000 calories or fewer, excluding alcohol. But the menus aren't identical twins. Rock Creek at Mazza reflects the experience of Ethan McKee, who was lured from Equinox downtown to create his own line of dishes here. They include potato gnocchi with basil pesto, grilled seafood with coconut curry, and veal medallions with semolina fritters. McKee's biggest challenge? "I'm not cooking with butter or heavy cream anymore," says the 30-year-old executive chef. Instead, vegetable stock mixed with arrowroot helps thicken that curry, and a beef strip loin is paired with potatoes enriched with a combination of low-fat sour cream and roasted garlic puree. The switch from Equinox to Rock Creek at Mazza was hardly radical, though. McKee says that even before he took on his latest assignment, he eschewed fast food and visited the gym five times a week. Hammerschmidt and business partner Tom Williams might open additional venues, but "you'll never see a Rock Creek chain," she says. "This is not TGIF's." If they establish more branches, the common link will be determined by a single key ingredient: "Every restaurant will be led by a first-class chef," promises Hammerschmidt. Lunch entrees, $9-$20; dinner entrees, $18-$29.
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