One of my favorite dishes my wife Jun cooks at home is Spanish paella. She has really mastered her craft of putting together a beautifully aromatic combination of scorched rice (called socarrat in Valencia where the dish originated from) and a variety of ingredients from seafood to meats like chorizo and it has over time become one of our go-to dishes for dinner at home. Late last year, chef Danny Lledó from the Spanish fine dining restaurant Xiquet, opened a casual outfit by the time of El Taller del Xiquet (meaning “Xiquet’s workshop”). We had a good time at Xiquet on our last visit, and I wanted to see how chef Danny (who, according to the restaurant’s website, is currently the most awarded paella chef in America) showcases his craft toward the more approachable side of Valencia cuisine. Overall, we had a pretty satisfying dinner, with one main dish being the standout, but I felt El Taller has a bit of an identity crisis.

After we moved to the DC area, Jun occasionally complained that it is more difficult to find excellent jamon Iberico at restaurants. El Taller’s jamon (from acorn-fed Iberico), in that respect, was quiet excellent (a hefty $60 price tag with a somewhat modest portion notwithstanding). We were initially looking at one of the two paella dishes, both with meats as main ingredients, but our server convinced us to give a chance to the seafood-based fideua, which takes the form of thin noodles. It turned out to be a very smart choice on our part as we absolutely enjoyed the Fideua de Gandia accompanied by red prawn, lobster and cuttle fish. It was the most expensive paella dish at $95 for two people, but we certainly didn’t regret it. The texture of the fideua, despite the lack of standard socarrat we would’ve experienced from rice, was spot-on with red prawn, lobster and cuttle fish, and the flavor from seafood-based broth was so addictively wonderful. The size of the fideua was by no means small, but we made short work of this beauty. One other savory dish we ordered, on the other hand, was slightly off. I didn’t mind the somewhat chewy texture from the secreto Iberico pork cuts (also accompanied by pork belly), but Jun expected a bit more tenderness from the meats. We finished our meal with carrot cake accompanied by cream cheese and carrot and orange sorbet; it was in line with the above-average desserts we’ve had at Xiquet.  

Getting a reservation at El Taller wasn’t too difficult, and the dining space was fairly quiet until toward the end of our meal. There is a concise wine list with wines mostly from different regions of Spain and Portugal to complement the dinner. While we had delicious food at El Taller, I was somewhat confused by what the restaurant wanted to accomplish. If chef Danny’s goal from opening the El Taller were to show a more casual side of his culinary vision with a la carte options without a more formal tasting menu route, I thought, why not also make the entire restaurant more approachable as well, from the décor (which almost looks like an extension of Xiquet’s dining room) to the restaurant staffs’ dress codes? We have yet to visit Valencia, but I’m sure there are plenty of casual neighborhood restaurants on the streets with excellent paella dishes where people could just drop by anytime for some delicious food and wines. We would be happy to go back to El Taller to try other paella dishes on the menu, but I think the restaurant experience here would be even more compelling with an experience that does not feel stuck somewhere between casual and fine dining.   

KenScale: 8.0/10 (Jun’s Score: 8.0/10)

Address: 2404 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20007

Website: https://www.eltallerdelxiquet.com/

Reservation via OpenTable