French Kiss Cabo Superbly Blends French Cuisine With Californian Cooking by Rachel Hunt and Stephen Qualiana A friend of ours who lives in Norfolk, Va., gets so envious when we tell her about all the exotic ethnic restaurants at which we dine in Washington, D.C. We give her descriptions of delicious dishes from Thai, Indian, Russian and Brazilian restaurants, and she just sighs. ìYou donít know how lucky you are in D.C.,î she says. ìTheir idea of exotic food down here is Tex-Mex.î We have to agree with her that we are indeed fortunate to live in Washington and be able to take advantage of the huge diversity of restaurants here, possibly second only to New York. In how many cities can you get a wide sampling of Ethiopian, Pakistani or Korean cuisine? But strictly ethnic restaurants were a wave from that last centuryóremember the 20th century? Now in the 21st century, we are learning how to mix things up. Fusion is where itís at now: blending ethnic cuisine with American ingenuity. Itís seems to be the latest hot trend in restaurants. In the first floor of the Westin Fairfax, conveniently located in Embassy Row, is Cabo Restaurant, which is French cuisine kissing Californian cook ing. Cabo is in the former site of the well-known Jockey Room. As with the menu, the decor has been completely redone. The interior was spare and elegant, the atmosphere stylish yet restrained. The walls were painted off-white and the few paintings on the walls were eye-catching because they were so colorful. The ceiling-to-floor taupe curtains and the tables and chair were modern. One thing that impressed us was that the tables were remarkably far apart (by maybe six or seven feet)ósomething rarely seen in many high-rent Washington bistros. You could actually stretch out, get comfortable and talk without worry of being overheard by your fellow diners. The mix of candlelight and small track lighting created a touch of romance, something that needs to be induced a little more everywhere in Washington. The waiters were highly trained and very professional. They were also very well spoken and dressed in formal black-and-white waiter attire with short coats, white shirts and ties. Our first waiter served us a choice of either homemade olive loaf or sun-dried tomato loaf from the breadbasket. The roasted wild mushrooms with truffles ($9.50) were remarkably fresh and tasty, and extra-thin fried potato slicesóalmost like potato chipsóaccompanied them. The appetizer was served on an unusual plate, more like a white porcelain pedestal. The tequila shrimp ($8.75) was four jumbo shrimp sautÈed and served with a terrific tequila sauce, peeled limes wedges and bean sprout mix, an obvious California influence. It was an incredibly savory combination. Caboís menu was small and the only salad offered was a Caesar salad ($9). The menu says that this salad was ìprepared, as it was where it began, at Alex-Caesar Cardinisí Restaurant.î So it was an attempt to stay true to the original concoction, using fresh Romaine lettuce and croutons and grated Parmesan. It was a much lighter version, with less anchovy and garlic than the typical salad of this sort. The entrÈes were served on large white plates. And although the presentation was not elaborate, it was effective and appealing. The sautÈed veal chop with chanterelle mushrooms ($27) had an irresistible aroma. It was a very large and thick but tender chop masterfully cooked with a pool of sauce on one side and served with baby carrots, beets and radishes. The chanterelle mushrooms were resilient and chewy with a mellow, woody taste. The thick slab of gulf red snapper ($25) was perched on a mound of mashed potatoes with a layer of sliced sautÈed leeks between the two and surrounded by mushrooms and a thick, rich, highly reduced brown sauce, which was described in the menu as a three mustard sauce. The snapper was grilled golden brown and slightly crispy on the outside and was tender, juicy and flavorful on the inside. We thought the combination was subtle and striking with the mustard sauce unifying everything on the plate. The presentation of the desserts was excellent, probably because of the use of colorful fruits and flowers on large white plates. For chocolate aficionados, there was the triple chocolate decadence ($8), which is a semi-sphere of cool and creamy chocolate mousse sitting on a disk of chocolate cake and encased in milk chocolate. Chocolate syrup is drizzled in a lattice over it, making it quad chocolate decadence but whoís counting? The Cabo signature dessert was flight of crËme brulee ($8), which was another threesome, this time with three flavors of crËme brulee served in three small white bowls accompanied by a couple of cookies. The velvety smooth dessert was also vibrantly flavored with blueberry, vanilla and caramel. The mascarpone ($8) was served in a ground nut tuile shell with mascarpone at the bottom and covered with fresh strawberries, blueberries and blackberries. This was another winning combination. So weíre waiting for our friend in Norfolk to call again and bring up dining and fusion cooking, so we can tell her that Tex-Mex is actually fusion food and her city is at the cutting edge of dining. We know she will sigh. Cabo is at 2100 Massachusetts Ave. NW. The telephone number is (202) 448-2226. Dress is business to urban elegant. All major credit cards are accepted. Open daily, the kitchen serves breakfast from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and dinner from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Rachel Hunt and Stephen Qualiana are the restaurant reviewers for The Washington Diplomat.