Washington Food Critic Tom Sietsema’s monthly report from the road.

Pow! Daniel Patterson grabs us by the collar at first bite with a gift of minced radish, ginger, green apple, celery and mint nestled in the bowl of a bent spoon. The contemporary California flavors that follow (tuna-tomato tartare with a caper-raisin sorbet, guinea hen roasted with Indian spices) can be just as engaging. Dressed in shades of bark and coffee, the 30-seat Coi is a cocoon of organic comfort in North Beach; insiders know to say “kwoh” after an old French word for tranquil-which Coi is.