Watermelon Soup with creme fraiche, cilantro oil and edible flower

Home made duck prosciutto, mache and grape salad with shaved foie gras torchon

Coconut rice pudding, banana mousse and tuille

What Kliman had to say about Maple Ave:

Maple Avenue, Vienna

“Some diners might be skeptical of splurging for $20 + entrees in a tiny, repurposed diner where the 8 tables are wedged together so closely the room can feel like one big dinner party when the drinks are flowing. Others might be skeptical of the menu, which bends in a dozen different directions, implying a kitchen with a scattered, be-everything-to-everyone vision — which is to say, no vision at all. But this is a surprisingly focused restaurant — and a surprisingly rewarding one, too, a place that feels like a personal statement, backed by an amiable staff that clearly aims to send you away smiling. The chef and owner, Tim Ma, does his part, too. He makes a mean shrimp and grits, and his beef cheek sandwich with beer battered fries is one of the best simple plates around. Don’t miss the bread pudding.” Todd Kliman, April 24 2012

About the Todd Kliman chat:

Where can you get a three-star experience at one-star prices? Which hot new restaurant merits the scorching hype? The answer to all these questions and more can be found Tuesdays at 11 AM on Kliman Online.

From scoping out scruffy holes in the wall to weighing the merits of four-star wanna-bes, from scouring the ‘burbs and exurbs to hitting the city’s streets, Todd Kliman covers a lot of territory. Winner of a James Beard Foundation Award in 2005 for the country’s best newspaper column about food, Kliman is food and wine editor and restaurant critic for The Washingtonian. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, The Oxford American, The Daily Beast and Men’s Health, among others, and he has been selected four times for inclusion in the Best Food Writing anthologies. He is the author of The Wild Vine, a literary exploration of two entwined mysteries: an obscure grape that rose to prominence, only to disappear, and its present-day evangelist, a foul-mouthed transgendered multi-millionaire vintner on an obsessive quest to restore the legend of an antebellum southern doctor.

Click here for full Kliman chat.

Maple Ave Restaurant serves eclectic American Cuisine in the heart of Vienna blending American with Asian, Latin American, French flavors and techniques. Recently named top 50 restaurant by Northern Virginia Magazine. We are currently hiring for the following positions: hostess and servers. We also have 2 culinary internships available. Please send resume to joey@mapleaverestaurant.com

SERVERS and HOSTESS
-Efficient, responsible and punctual
-Excellent customer service skills
-Organized/good time management
-Clean-cut and have a good personal presentation
-Must be available on weekends and available for at least 4 shifts per week
-Minimum 1 year at casual fine dining
-Wine/beer knowledge is a MUST

INTERN
-must commit to 20 hours a week
-must have passion for the culinary arts

Never in a million years did Tim and I expect to be reviewed by The Washington Post.  After all, we are a tiny and I mean tiny restaurant in a building that has seen so many restaurants come and go and a building that we believe was built by Christopher Columbus.

But, it was a nice surprise for all of us at Maple Ave.  Kind of like when Thomas the Train gets to a destination he never dreamed of….the little engine that could.

Tasting Table March 7th at 6:45pm

Four courses with wine pairing $59pp

Course 1: Gnocchi-stuffed Tortellini, sauce basquaise
Course 2: Charcuterie, house-made accompaniments
Course 3: Seared duck breast, roasted bone marrow, carrot puree, clementine jus
Course 4: The return of Red Velvet Cake, or variation thereof
Complimentary wine pairing for first 3 courses. Coffee pairing for last course.

Call 703 319 2177 for reservations. Only 4 seats left.

February 13th 2012

Maple Ave. Restaurant (Vienna) – There are so many things about Maple Ave. Restaurant that I like – it’s a true mom-n-pop, owned by Chef (and pop) Tim Ma, and GM (and mom) Joey Hernandez, a lovely young couple – and relatively new parents – who have taken a decrepit building, and turned it into something charming, not unlike Pupatella has done. Actually, more than any restaurant I can think of, this feels to me like Element in Front Royal (and if you’ve been to both, you know why). Matt and I arrived at 6 PM on a Friday evening. Following the laws of supply and demand, this teeny-tiny restaurant with Tim’s ambitious cooking seems like it’s almost always full – we were lucky to snare a table that needed to be released at 7:15. I wish the wines by the glass here were $1-2 less expensive, but the food is reasonably priced and the money needs to come from somewhere. A glass of 2009 Zaca Mesa Viognier ($9) paired very well with our first two courses: a composed Beet Salad ($8) with thinly sliced, poached beets, spiced walnuts, red wine vinaigrette, a touch of Himalayan salt, and the bond that tied it all together: Laura Chenel chèvre. The star of the meal, and the single best dish I had all week, was the Salsify Soup($8), thoughtfully divided into two small bowls for us to share. I don’t know the recipe for this soup, but I enjoyed this as much as anything I’ve had on my three visits here. A bottle of Terrapin Moo Hoo Milk Stout ($6) accompanied our next two courses which I felt were slightly weaker than the first two: Shrimp and Grits ($9) with jumbo tiger shrimp, venison blueberry sausage (!), red onions, piquillo peppers, and stone ground grits was a little out of balance with the almost chocolatey-tasting sausage (but both the shimp and the grits were good), and Steamed Mussels ($9) were PEI’s, with saffron coconut broth, thai chills, Chinese chorizo, and grilled crostini – worth ordering, but caught me at the wrong moment as I’m getting a bit musseled out (just as I was with scallops a couple of years ago). These were both perfectly fine dishes (and look at the prices), but after that titanic salsify soup, pretty much anything is going to be a letdown. For 24 hours, I had it in my mind that Maple Ave. Restaurant was going to be restaurant of the week, but after letting the joy of the moment fade, I just can’t forget what a solid showing Masala Art made during the Super Bowl – it truly could have gone either way this week, and I can’t imagine anything other than long-cooked Indian food being a candidate for such a thing on a delivery-only basis (it excludes the entire front of the house aspect which is arguably just plain wrong). Enthusiastically recommended as Very Good to Excellent, and Noteworthy for being such a cool, funky little dive mom-and-pop with the audacity to have aspirations of fine dining, as well as for being the number one ranked restaurant in the Vienna-Oakton area. I really like Maple Ave. Restaurant, and if you care about small, family-owned businesses with character and soul, then this is a restaurant that you should be supporting.

For full article please visit DC Dining.