Lunch at Carter and Fitch, Washington

If you love food as much as we do, I've found the place for you!  Carter and Fitch opened in Washington at the beginning of the year and are serving up delicious American style food from their Pizzeria and Smokehouse.  I'm talking huge portions, excessive amounts of cheese and enough meat to give you the sweats.

We arrived at Carter and Fitch feeling very hungry and determined to pig out on a three course lunch.  A decision we stuck with even though each course seemed to look larger than the last.

The Starters at Carter and Fitch come in the form of "Chicetti" small dishes that would be perfect shared with friends over a few drinks.  I use the word "small" very loosely as the dishes were huge, almost a meal in themselves.

Simon went for the Albondigas Casseras - Braised Latin American meatballs glazed with cheese.  I think "glazed with cheese' is possibly a typing mistake in the menu, try "dripping with cheese".  This was just the start of our Carter and Fitch cheese party, and boy was it a good start.  I managed to grab myself a fork full and it was beautiful.

I decided to order the Bruschetta con Funghi for my starter.  I love Bruschetta so when it appears on a menu I always have to have it.  I will admit that the Bruschetta at Carter and Fitch was completely different to any I'd ever had before.  It came covered in a layer of cheese that was so thick you couldn't see the bread or mushrooms.   Don't worry though, they were there, just hidden in gorgeous cheese. Luckily I'm a cheese fiend so was thrilled but I'm not sure it would be for everyone.

The menu at Carter and Fitch is made up of pizza and meat from the smoker.  With so much choice of delicious sounding dishes we decided to order from separate sections of the menu so we could food swap.

Simon opted for a pizza and ordered the Chorizo di Pollo.  It was the biggest pizza I've ever seen and my great pal, Mr Cheese was back, this time completely smothering the pizza.  My eyes were out on stalks and I knew immediately that no matter how much of a professional eater Simon is there was no way on earth he was ever going to be able to finish off the pizza.

I was right.  Three slices in and he was already struggling and even with me pinching a slice off his plate he only managed to work his way through half the pizza.  He was a little gutted as it was so delicious, but the attentive waitress suggested we box it up and take it home which we really appreciated (who doesn't love a large slice of cold pizza in the morning!)

I decided to order from the smoker and had Pulled Pork smoked low and slow served in brioche with BBQ bourbon essence.

My brioche was stuffed completely full of delicious tangy pork and unlike Simon's pizza was a completely manageable size so I managed to demolish the whole lot, quickly followed by the chips which were some of the best I'd ever tasted.  I kept telling Simon he needed to try them but the poor guy was too busy sulking about not being able to cram in more pizza.

My friend Sarah had recommended that I try the Mocha Ice Box Cake for dessert and as a lady with great taste I knew it'd be a winner.  Despite being so full from my earlier cheese overload I decided to push on and ordered it.

Layered chocolate cookies with espresso mascarpone cream - tell me that doesn't sound perfect!  I love the combination of chocolate and coffee in a dessert and this was the absolute highlight of my meal.   So delicious I'd happily eat at Carter and Fitch every day, just to have that dessert.

So if you love your portions on the large size and are as addicted to cheese as me, make sure you head to Washington to check out Carter and Fitch.  Just make sure you dig out your elasticated toursers, you'll need them!


Thank you to Carter and Fitch  for inviting us for lunch. Our meal was complimentary, but all opinions are our own.