Logan Tavern (DC - Logan)

Last Sunday, I stopped into Logan Tavern for brunch. I have been to Logan Tavern dozens of times - brunch, dinner, post-theater - but I have never gotten around to writing it up.

A testament to the burgeoning popularity of this 14th Street corridor eatery, there was a 30 minute wait for a table of four at 11:00. We put our names on the list and elbowed some space at the bar.

My favorite part about brunch at Logan Tavern is the "choose your own adventure" approach to ordering a Bloody Mary. Here they have devoted the entire back page of the menu to that beloved hair-of-the-dog staple and in so doing, made it the primary focus of the meal.

You begin by choosing an alcohol (gin, tequila, six or so types of vodka, etc.) and then move on to your choice of mixer (tomato juice, spicy, extra spicy, etc.). Upon this foundation, you are then free to build your beverage with selections from a myriad of condiment choices (Tabasco, clam juice, wasabi, etc.) and garnishes (lime, lemon, celery, etc.). For an additional charge, you can even add crab meat or shrimp cocktail. Whatever you concoct, it arrives in a pint glass rimmed with crab seasoning.

Some critics think this is too gimmicky and other purists make claims like, "if it is made of gin, it is a Red Snapper, not a Bloody Mary. . . with tequila it becomes a Bloody Maria." Save your semantics for Cambridge and New Haven.

Others, like my father, curmudgeonly complain, "I just want a plain Bloody Mary." Any of the bar tenders or wait staff will be happy to select one for you.

By the time we had grabbed our drinks and settled up, they were ready to seat us. We attacked the bowl of raisin multigrain and rustic sourdough bread while we perused the menu, which is a mix of breakfast and lunch - with more of the latter.

Our party ordered a chopped salad, a smoked salmon frittata, an omelet and eggs benedict. I only sampled the smoked salmon frittata and the chopped salad, but found both to be sub-par. I have never had the chopped salad at Logan Tavern before, but have had the smoked salmon frittata countless times and on every other occasion, been happy. Chalk it up to a "bad day" in the kitchen.

The salad was a blast of vinegar that drowned out every other ingredient - reducing them to textures, more than flavors.

The frittata looked promising - and they even entertained my request that it be made with egg whites - but it was a lumpy mess. All of the salmon was on one side, there was a mountain of capers in the middle and closest to me on the plate was an ice cream scoop sized mound of cream cheese. When incorporated in the eggs, these three ingredients are fantastic, but this presentation left a lot to be desired.

Next time I will specify that, like my Bloody Mary, I would like my frittata stirred, not shaken.