April 21, 2023

Located in the second tallest building in Washinton D.C., The Bazaar encompasses what is grandeur and elegance. From the world-renowned chef and humanitarian, José Andrés, The Bazaar serves innovative and beautiful dishes in an enchanting backdrop. 

This restaurant is located inside of the new Waldorf Astoria Hotel in the Old Post Office and Clock Tower Building. Built in the Romanesque style of 19th century United States, it's a timeless and celebrated building of American architecture. If you have a chance to go up the clock tower, you will be greeted with amazing 360º views of Washington D.C. As it is located in a hotel, The Bazaar has both breakfast and dinner options, and the restaurant completely transforms its ambience. Honestly, I love The Bazaar at both day and nighttimes. 

The design is breathtaking with marble, golden, and handmade tile detailing. Spanish interior designer Lázaro Rosa-Violán is known for mixing and expressing all styles in a classic, refined way. Every piece of furniture, every plate of the Bazaar is placed and chosen with intention in order to cultivate a welcoming image of exciting exploration and beauty. For me, it's the little details that really makes a restaurant, and the Bazaar certainly has these elements that make it all the more special. There are P.O. boxes behind the bar and metal arches, preserving the memory of the 123 year old building. There are also longer tables, nodding to José Andrés' dream for longer tables and not higher walls and people coming together because of food. 

There is also range of options for vegetarian eaters to pescatarian eaters to meat eaters. And every dish is heavenly. Starting off with breakfast, I want to talk about the plates because they are gorgeous. The colors compliment the colors in the dishes, and I love the wildflowers. They feel unique, and it makes you feel as though you are eating breakfast in a romantic little garden.

There are a couple of different dishes that I want to highlight. The first is the pink glow pineapple. It really is the cutest pink and is so thin and smooth. The next dish is the vanilla and chocolate xuxus pronounced (chuchos). Imagine a croissant mixed with a churro, filled with sweet cream. Perfection. Another favorite dish is the sweet waffle. With banana, maple-syrupy goodness, this waffle is unlike any other. Finally, the huevos"el camino" egg dish with caviar and the avocado english muffin are creamy and light. The breakfast at the Bazaar is the ideal way to start your morning.

For dinner, the first thing that I have to feature is the Emerald Coin mocktail. The edge has a raspberry-tasting sweet tart flavor and the juice is refreshing and better than any pressed juice that I've had before. It has seedlip grove (which is a non-alcoholic blend), honeydew, lemongrass, lime, and celery in it. The first bite we had was the crab louie cones. These are shaped just like mini ice cream cones and have that satisfying crunch and fresh seafood flavor. We also had José's taco, Ibérico ham, caviar, and gold leaf on top of a piece of seaweed to make a mini taco sized to be eaten in a bite. There were also sweet plantain chips at our table to go with a greek yogurt espuma which is like a foam or cream. We next tried the white asparagus, which had Idiazábal cheese and caviar to give it a salty taste. We also had the liquid olives which are a definite must-try. They explode and melt in your mouth like savory popping boba and are irresistible. These olives were inspired by Ferran Adrià, José's mentor and the Spanish chef that started the restaurant El Bulli.

Finally, we had four different desserts: the carrot cake, José's key lime pie, el cafecito (coffee tasting meringue dessert), and the polvoron (Spanish hazelnut, banana, shortbread dessert). Every dessert is constructed or deconstructed in such a way so that you can try these classics differently than you are used to. You can enjoy the flavors of each while trying many new components and textures.

Overall, your mind will be blown by the Bazaar, which is a place to share amazing food with the people that you love. Every dish they bring out was chosen very carefully to craft a story in front of you. If you are located in Washington D.C. or any of their other locations (Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles (coming soon!), Miami, and New York City (coming soon!)), I highly recommend checking it out to have a thrilling experience. 

Breakfast:

Dinner: