Colvin Run Tavern (VA - Tysons)

Many restaurateurs grudgingly participate in Restaurant Week. They view it as something they have to do (for fear of bad press) or worse, they use it as a loss leader to get traffic into their restaurants in hopes of up-selling guests to pricier regular menu selections or higher margin alcohol sales.

Chef Kinkead does none of the above. He embraces Restaurant Week and uses it as a showcase to win over new diners.

Rather than hand his diners the regular menu with a Restaurant Week insert that makes them feel like second-class citizens, Kinkead winnowed down his usual menu to a half dozen each of starters, mains and desserts and presented that as the ONLY menu option.

After making our selections, we received the chef's amusee of chilled melon soup and mint chiffonade. This was summer in a cup.

Starters included heirloom tomatoes with idiazabal cheese, pesto and balsamic vinegar and a plate of yellow fin tuna tartare with crispy yucca, yuzu lime vinaigrette and guacamole.

The heirloom tomatoes were brilliant and were a classic pairing with the basil pesto and balsamic. The use of idiazabal in lieu of the traditional capresse accompaniment, mozzarella, lent a bit of spine to the dish and stood up against the acidity of the balsamic.

The tuna was gloriously fresh and when accompanied by the yuzu lime vinaigrette made for a sort of short order seviche. The guacamole mellowed out the zing of the citrus and the salted yucca crisps both added some crunch to the dish and served as a good backstop for the fork for those who wanted to get some of each flavor in each bite.

For main courses, we had grilled salmon and braised short ribs. The salmon was perfectly cooked (for me at least), with a cool pink center, and served astride a parsnip puree with a bit of herb butter. Not the most creative dish, but very solid.

The braised short ribs arrived with some wilted greens, pan jus and what looked like long potato fritters (a cross between a French fry and a churro). The ribs themselves were sticky-sweet, like the ribs you get as take-out from a Chinese restaurant (you know, the ones in the foil bag), boneless, and melted in our mouths. The fritters were a good - albeit bizarre - accompaniment and the wilted greens did an admirable job of cutting the richness of the meat and glaze.

For dessert, one of us ordered the cheese course and the other ordered the white peach cobbler with caramel ice cream. The cheese course consisted of brie, a hard cow's milk cheese (maybe cheddar - very sharp) and a soft, almost runny, blue. These were served with champagne grapes and some raisin and walnut bread. All three were excellent and I found both the portions and the presentation to be generous - especially in light of Restaurant Week.

The peach cobbler was excellent. This dish was fresh peaches in a ramekin with butter and a cinnamon crust - very little, if any, sugar added. The result was a not too sweet expression of the peach itself, with the bulk of the sweetness coming from the caramel ice cream sitting next to it. The combination worked beautifully.

While none of these dishes were the most creative, they were all well prepared and honest expressions of what is peaking in DC right now - tomatoes, peaches, melons, basil and mint.

Kudos to chef Kinkead for bringing his "A game" even during Restaurant Week.