Cuisine on the green
Chevy Chase Country Club’s restaurant and social amenities are very playable
By Dan O'Heron 06/10/2010
Lately, I’ve wanted to join a country club so that I might drink and eat with people who could appreciate my Claiborne suede jacket, which costs about $35 to dry clean.
But that might mean I’d have to play golf. At my age, with my swing dearly departed, I’d either be stumbling around looking for balls or cheating nature by putting the cart before the course.
But then — presto, voila — I was invited to buy a “Summer Social” membership at Chevy Chase Country club for $1,100. This would entitle me to play golf if I chose to (for a guest fee), but mainly it was an offer to drink and eat at its new restaurant or engage in a wide range of more or less informal social activities. These include movie nights, wine-tasting dinners, holiday barbecues and day and night swims in an Olympic-size pool. Even without a membership, the bar and restaurant is always open to the public.
The invitation was splashy enough to change my perceptions of golf clubbing. Visiting Chevy Chase recently, I caught some echoes from long ago when I played there — like the “thonk” of my ball hitting an oak tree and the “boink” of it hitting a car. But sipping on a fragrant, light-bodied dry red Valpolicella ($6), Italy’s version of a French Beaujolais, and munching on penne Bolognese, a full-bodied meat sauce that is the staple of northern Italy’s Bologna, made for a tingling reverberation.
Before checking out the new menu, I toured the club house. Totally remodeled, it has made a huge comeback. Under previous owners, the locker room was little more than a place to change one’s shoes then make a quick escape. Now, with new lockers, shower stalls, vanity tables and mirrors, it’s a place where one might choose to loiter.
Like every fine country club, Chevy Chase has rules of dress and decorum. I can live with most of them. But prohibiting diving in shallow water and towel snapping — and asking men to wear ball caps in the forward position only — is asking a lot of this resident of mainly working-class Eagle Rock.
New owners obviously have felt the need to bring the facilities to a comparable level of major country clubs. Although the pool, with diving boards and new deck lounges, may surge with summer activity, it’s maintained to look as though it is waiting for its first splash.
I resolved that next time, I’ll drink and eat by the pool. Patrons at the bar told me they really eat up the new menu, the stars of which are salads and sandwiches. Among the favorites: a Southwest salad, made from the fresh, crispy, crinkly, green-tipped leaves of Napa cabbage, tossed with romaine, jicama, black beans, tomato, corn and avocado, and tanged with cilantro dressing ($9.50). There is also a hot roast beef sandwich with mayo and smoky, melted provolone, ribboned with caramelized onions and peppers on a French roll and served with a side of au jus ($9.50).
Kathy Sessinghaus, director of food, beverage and social events, said that for special holiday events, private parties and wine-tastings, special entrees will suit finicky gourmets — “cuisine on the green,” if you will. Her scorecard of previous positions in the industry — Cheesecake Factory, Warner Bros., Universal Studios, Monte Carlo Hotel in Las Vegas, BB King Blues Club and the Toluca Lake Tennis Club — points to a winning way with food, drink and diverting amusement.
On Wednesday, there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony with civic leaders and business people attending. The activities should make the country club an ideal situation for business networking. But caution to golfing biz types from Eagle Rock: Throwing clubs can damage your career prospects.
Before changing the scenery — a well-manicured fairway, no bumps — I spotted a gentleman on a distant green who was showing a young lady how to strike the ball. I remembered in the movie “Tin Cup” Kevin Costner’s frustration at trying to get things across to Rene Russo. Finally, Costner shrugged, “Just grip it and rip it.”
The scene also brought back memories of the time I was in a bunker and my golf instructor warned me to not deepen my stance. “Stay on top of the sand,” he said. “Top of the sand.” I replied. “Then what? Walk on water?” With that, I promised that the next time I come to Chevy Chase to drink and eat, I’ll leave the clubs at home and bring my trunks.
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