WASH July 2009 : Page 62
R e s t au r a n t Special Robert Wiedmaier is determined to bring Belgium to the Beltway. With the opening of Brabo in Old Town, the man behind Marcel’s and Brasserie Beck fl exes his mussels, frites and ales across the Potomac. 62 | | July/August 2009
To Live And Dine In Dc
Drop your iPhone, pick up your fork and dig into DC’s 50 hottest restaurants of 2009!
Just as the White House’s landscape has changed to accommodate the Obamas’ vegetable garden, the city’s culinary landscape has grown in all the right ways. Over the next 10 pages we call out the very best in Beltway dining and honor the city’s top restaurants, smartest chefs, most delicious dishes, dazzling dining experiences and promising kitchen newcomers. There’s plenty to report on, from the hot market for fro-yo to bakers on the rise, dessert divas delivering decadence, community-minded cooks making change, cocktail masters shaking things up and neighborhood eateries locals love. DC’s top restaurants are more sustainable, organic and fl avorful than ever before, with new spots opening every month, bright young chefs fi ring up their Vulcans and visionary culinarians mixing up unforgettable meals. Arugula or not, here we come!With his hot new trio of eateries in Old Town, the culinary force behind Brasserie Beck and Marcel’s is now making his mark in Alexandria.
Chef Robert Wiedmaier, who recently nabbed “Chef of the Year” honors at the Rammys, has a lot cooking. e gutsy gastronome crossed the Potomac to launch not one, but three new eateries: Brabo (a Belgian-American restaurant), Brabo Tasting Room (a rustic-chic bistro) and e Butcher’s Block (a gourmet market), all based at the Lorien Hotel. “Old Town locals don’t always want to cross the bridge for some DC fl air, and why should they?” asks Wiedmaier, whose next bold move will be to bring his hot Brasserie Beck beyond the Beltway to the Jersey Shore. Lorien Hotel, 1600 King St., Alexandria, 703.894.3440.
Where the Wild Things Are Washingtonians used to trade in policy. Now we spend our lives at Policy, the new restaurant and urban wonderland for the social scene. Exec chef Brian Murphy’s New American small plates dazzle in the downstairs bistro with cool red-vinyl booths (our pick: the softshell tempura crab with sherry coriander sauce). e upstairs lounge is all industrial ductwork, chandeliers and vibrant wall graffi ti by street artist Andrew Funk. Order a cocktail and live out Policy’s patriotic theme: “Truth, Love and Liberty.” 1904 14th St., NW, 202.387.7654. DC’s Cheesiest Sensation Who wouldn’t trust a woman whose fi rst word was “cheese”? DC’s oneand- only maître d’ fromage, Carolyn Stromberg, has turned the National Harbor’s Old Hickory Steakhouse into a Zen zone for grand awakenings in artisanal queso. Each evening, Stromberg presents patrons with a cart of 20 cheeses, all aged in-house.
“Every cheese has a story behind it. I always change the cheeses so there’s always something new to try,” she says. Gaylord National at National Harbor, 201 Waterfront St., Hyattsville, 301.965.2000.
On the Hook!
e quickest route to the Eastern Shore this summer is to head to Georgetown’s Hook. e bait? More than just a fab crab cake, it’s chef Jonathan Seningen’s Chesapeake Bay fl air. “Eastern Shore cooking is American cuisine at its fi nest,” he says. “My pan-seared bluefi sh with polenta and carrots, green beans and a little bit of basil pesto mixes fl avorful infl uences from the Low Country and the Chesapeake.” 3241 M St., NW, 202.625.4488. The Classiest Act Foodies who covet their hour of Top Chef TV cookery don’t know what they’re missing. At omas Circle’s CulinAerie, you can take hands-on cooking classes taught by local food luminaries. Sessions cover everything from knife skills to cooking ethnic cuisines. “We’re always coming up with new classes,” says Susan Watterson, who founded the school with Susan Holt. Lunch classes off er a tasty work break.
1131 14th St., NW, 202.587.5674.
Bourbon Steak It’s no secret that Bourbon Steak, star chef Michael Mina’s sensational restaurant at the Four Seasons, is DC’s hippest new hot spot. “We have people who have dined with us 30 times since we opened in December,” says executive chef David Varley. But Bourbon Steak puts the sizzle on steak house stereotypes. Varley’s recipe for success calls for sublime dishes with unexpected details, such as dayboat scallops with coconut curry, stir-fried long beans and puff ed tapioca. Butter-poached beef is perfection, but artful fi sh and veggie dishes and delish desserts keep the locals coming back. 2800 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, 202.342.0444.
Favorite Hidden Gem When your résumé includes stints at San Francisco’s Aqua and Gary Danko and New York City’s Café Boulud, it’s no surprise that your menu merges French technique and American ideas.
What is surprising is that chef Andy Kitko’s Cedar is serving a fab “fi eld and stream” menu in Penn Quarter.
Virginia oyster pan roast and wild king salmon with shell bean ragout are a pair of East-meets-West culinary treats. 822 E St., NW, 202.637.0012. Street of the Year All eyes (actually, all stomachs) are on 14th Street, NW, which is ground zero for DC’s gastronomic renaissance. Set to join newcomers Eatonville, Posto and Café Salsa are hot casual-chic eateries including Latin-Asian fusion Masa 14 (from Kaz Okochi and Richard Sandoval) and Birch & Barley gastropub.
It’ll take a lot more than seersucker to beat the heat this summer. So we asked the District’s three best bartenders to shake up some sunquenching sippers. PS 7’s ice queen Gina Chersevani gets her rocks off freezing everything from tonic, bitters and lime for a Geezy Teezy, to fruity Spanish punch for her take on sangria. e clever cocktailian even splashes Plymouth gin on frosty squares of tomatoes and lettuce for a liquid BLT that’s rimmed with bacon dust (777 I St., NW, 202.742.8550). e Tabard Inn’s Chantal Tseng serves the best sazerac you’ll ever savor outside of New Orleans. She coats a glass with aromatic Kübler absinthe and mixes Old Overholt rye, Peychaud’s bitters and drops in a lemon-twist fl ourish into her Big Easy elixir (1739 N St., NW, 202.785.1277). Bourbon’s Owen Thomson is a master of crisp wine coolers based on his crafty syrups, infused with fruits and herbs. Try his blackberry-sage cooler, his aromatic cherry-black pepper-thyme teaser or his citrusy grapefruit-honey-rosemary tipple (2321 18th St., NW, 202.332.0800).
DC’s Top Sommeliers Beltway oenophiles know that DC is a vintage city. Here are a few of our brightest bottle rockets: Elli Benchimol brings Northern Cal know-how to the Italian-heavy wine list at Potenza (15th & H St., NW). CityZen’s Andrew Myers is a master at demystifying one of DC’s top wine lists.
“ is is just grape juice, and it’s supposed to make you feel better,” he says (1330 Maryland Ave., SW). John Wabeck traded a chef’s toque for a wine master’s sensibility at Inox (1800 Tysons Blvd., McLean). 701’s star sommelier Will Murck says, “My goal is to show that wine is an integral part of food, life and fun” (701 Pennsylvania Ave., NW). BLT Steak’s Nicole Saladyga makes a yearly Napa pilgrimage to fi nd bang-for-thebuck bottles that off er fl avors “guests won’t forget” (1625 I St., NW).
Washington’s top tables thrive on seasonal menus. But every restaurant has a few dishes that regulars go wild for. Here are some of our all-time favorites!
CityZen: Chef Eric Ziebold’s beef carpaccio (paired with an off -dry Riesling), roasted Elysian Fields Farm lamb and grilled shoat belly are tops. Mandarin Oriental, 1330 Maryland Ave., SW, 202.787.6006. Corduroy: e duck egg and leg salad is legendary at chef Tom Power’s chic townhouse restaurant.
1122 9th Street, NW, 202.589.0699. Equinox: If it’s Mid-Atlantic, it simply dazzles at chef Todd Gray’s table. His crab cakes with “New Bay” spices are perfection. 818 Connecticut Ave., NW, 202.331.8118. Inox: e crispy red snapper with ginger-lemongrass bouillon is brilliant; duo of rabbit and roasted black bass are exquisite. 1800 Tysons Blvd., McLean, 703.790.4669. Komi: Jean-Georges Vongerichten raved that chef Johnny Monis’s crispy and confi ted shoulder of baby goat “was one of the best meals I had all year.” Enough said.
1509 17th St., NW, 202.332.9200. Oval Room: Chef Tony Conte’s obsession with micro greens elevates his dishes to an art form. We’re crazy for his crab salad with micro basil and his light-as-air parmesan custard. 800 Connecticut Ave., NW,
202. 463.8700. Restaurant Eve: Chef Cathal Armstrong is a master of invention.
Order red snapper with asparagus and braised oxtail ravioli with parsnip cream. 110 South Pitt St., Old Town Alexandria, 703.706.0450.
Trend Without End DC has become the District of Cupcakes! e prolifi c pastry continues its rise across town.
is year’s newcomers include Dupont Circle’s Hello Cupcake, Penn Quarter’s Red Velvet, the upcoming Bethesda outpost of Georgetown Cupcake, Fairfax Corner’s Cupcakes Actually and even the venerable 9:30 Club is in on the act, with choco-cakes custom-baked by Buzz Bakery.
The Italian Job Restaurateur Ashok Bajaj knows Indian cuisine—his Bombay Club and Rasika are two of DC’s best.
He’s also a master of modern American—Ardeo, Oval Room and 701 are part of his edible empire. With the September opening of Bibiana Osteria & Enoteca, Bajaj will be taking on modern Italian cuisine in a casualchic downtown eatery. 1100 New York Ave., NW, 202.216.9550. Asian Persuasion e Beltway’s borders include some of the best places to savor authentic ethnic fare. Our favorites stop for Vietnamese caramelized pork is Four Sisters (8190 Strawberry Ln., Falls Church, 703.539.8566). For Korean hanjeongsik, we head to Honeypig (7220-C Columbia Pike, Annandale, 703.256.5229). And for curry with Indian authenticity, we’re crazy for Spice Xing (100-B Gibbs St., Rockville, 301.610.0303). Cocktail Chameleon Taking a cue from her molecular gastronomy-minded boss José Andrés, Café Atlantico’s Jill Zimorski merges the arts of cuisine and mixology in her glasses.
Strawberry “caviar” is served in a tin to drop into a fl ute of champagne. Vanilla and bacon sea salt rims a vodka, sherry and cantaloupe cocktail that suggests a prosciutto-melon appetizer. 405 Eighth St., NW, 202.393.0812.
Baked & Wired: Muffi ns, cookies and cakes abound at this clever, cool Georgetown bakery.
We always leave with an oven-fresh blueberry pie (and a dozen Butter Big Ass cookies). 1052 omas Jeff erson St., NW, 202.333.2500. Blue Duck Tavern: e kitc he n that fueled DC locavores’ fantasies is equally famous for its buttery, brilliant apple pie, served with handcranked vanilla ice cream. 24th and M Streets, NW, 202.419.6755. Equinox: Pastry chef Melanie Parker nails the savory-sweet spot with homey desserts like Southern strawberry shortcake with a basil sorbet side. 818 Connecticut Ave., NW, 202.331.8118. Inox: Scot Harlan gets two snaps for his brainy and beautiful sweets, such as his addicitve tangerine vacherin with fennel fl akes and his apricot-rum baba with lemonverbena ice cream. 1800 Tysons Blvd., McLean, 703.790.4669. 1789: We get that ravenous look when pastry pro Travis Olson’s decadent blueberry crumb tarte with absinthe-apricot ice cream hits the table. All forks on deck!
1226 36th St., NW, 202.965.1789. 2941: Prepare for a carb bombé at this gourmet hideaway. Go for the vanilla-poached rhubarb, almond crêpe souffl é or seasonal herb and fresh fruit sorbets. Wine pairings top the tank! 2941 Fairview Park Dr., Falls Church, 703.270.1500.
If super-fab fro-yo turns you on, then think of the Sweetfl ow Mobile as your shaggin’ wagon.
Tart, organic frozen yogurt hits the streets this summer with the newest addition to the budding Sweetgreen salad empire. e eco-friendly can’tmiss- it truck is “super hipstered-out,” according to Nicolas Jammet, one of the three Sweetgreen founders. ese recent Georgetown grads bring a healthier and funkier approach to the Mr. Softee truck. ey serve their signature fro-yo with toppers like mango, blackberries, fresh-chopped mint (from the Dupont FreshFarm market) and other mild-to-wild sprinklers. e super-cool trio even took the old-school ice cream jingle and added an electro beat to call the chill kids to the streets. Afraid you won’t hear the music? Check Twitter for updates or hit Sweetgreen’s yummy salad cafés in Dupont Circle, Georgetown and Bethesda Lane. For Sweetgreen locations go to sweetgreen.com; to track the Sweetfl ow Mobile, hit up twitter.com/sweetfl owmobile.
Trend Without End DC has become the District of Cupcakes! e prolifi c pastry continues its rise across town.
is year’s newcomers include Dupont Circle’s Hello Cupcake, Penn Quarter’s Red Velvet, the upcoming Bethesda outpost of Georgetown Cupcake, Fairfax Corner’s Cupcakes Actually and even the venerable 9:30 Club is in on the act, with choco-cakes custom-baked by Buzz Bakery.
The Italian Job Restaurateur Ashok Bajaj knows Indian cuisine—his Bombay Club and Rasika are two of DC’s best.
He’s also a master of modern American—Ardeo, Oval Room and 701 are part of his edible empire. With the September opening of Bibiana Osteria & Enoteca, Bajaj will be taking on modern Italian cuisine in a casualchic downtown eatery. 1100 New York Ave., NW, 202.216.9550. Asian Persuasion e Beltway’s borders include some of the best places to savor authentic ethnic fare. Our favorites stop for Vietnamese caramelized pork is Four Sisters (8190 Strawberry Ln., Falls Church, 703.539.8566). For Korean hanjeongsik, we head to Honeypig (7220-C Columbia Pike, Annandale, 703.256.5229). And for curry with Indian authenticity, we’re crazy for Spice Xing (100-B Gibbs St., Rockville, 301.610.0303). Cocktail Chameleon Taking a cue from her molecular gastronomy-minded boss José Andrés, Café Atlantico’s Jill Zimorski merges the arts of cuisine and mixology in her glasses.
Strawberry “caviar” is served in a tin to drop into a fl ute of champagne. Vanilla and bacon sea salt rims a vodka, sherry and cantaloupe cocktail that suggests a prosciutto-melon appetizer. 405 Eighth St., NW, 202.393.0812. Inox’s chocolate bread pudding with olive-oil ice cream is a sweet stunner.
Andy Shallal of Eatonville Want some food for thought? Socially conscious restaurateur Andy Shallal has got a feast for you. As an artist and activist, the progressive patron of local dining has paved the way for civic pride with his lineage-laden eateries. His three outposts of Busboys and Poets (named for DC denizen Langston Hughes) are the city’s coolest neighborhood hangouts; each week brings readings, meetings and live music. Shallal’s newest hot spot is the Southern-themed Eatonville, named for the hometown of lit legend Zora Neale Hurston, a Howard grad. “DC has so much history and I enjoy unearthing it through my restaurants to educate and improve the community,” Shallal says. 2121 14th St., NW, 202.332.9672.
The Most Savory Sites You’re thirsty! You’re hungry! So where do you go to get your fi x?
For tips on DC’s top cocktail events, join the Better Drinking e-mail list (better-drinking.com). For fi rst-responder reports on openings and weekend dining ideas, go City Sifting (citysifting.
Com) and to Eat Washington (eatwashington.com). For all you want to know about DC’s ethnic eateries, log on to Tyler Cowen’s site and salivate! (tylercowens ethnicdiningguide.com).
We Adour This!
Luxe is the leitmotif of the redesigned St. Regis, and no space better represents DC’s emergence as a capital of style and infl uence than Adour, the hotel’s elegant restaurant and lounge. is mod marvel was masterminded by NYC’s Rockwell Group “to evoke a bespoke atmosphere by using a sophisticated color palette, classic modern light fi xtures, graphic custom-designed rugs, elegant marble and chromeaccented modern furniture, covered in luxurious leather,” says a member of the Rockwell Group design team. 923 16th St., NW, 202.509.8000.
Best Guilty Pleasures We’re not the fi rst to fall in love with the gougères (those richer-than- Croesus cheese puff s) at Central Michel Richard (1001 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, 202.626.0015). But the goat-cheese Caesar salad, charcuterie plate and burgers are tops, too. Reston Town Center’s PassionFish (11960 Democracy Dr., Reston, 703.230.3474) is a fresh-fi sh nosh bonanza, with a raw bar to die for, a brilliant bucket of crispy fried Ipswich clams and a spicy ceviche that will leave you smiling.
The Feast We Love anksgiving comes earlier this year.
We’re already gearing up for the FreshFarm Markets’ Farmland Feast, where the fi ve-course dinner stars local food, local farmers and local chefs and features an auction of tasty treats. Nov. 9., freshfarmmarkets.org Super Sunday Suppers!
No time to whip up a family-style Sunday dinner? No problem. At Alexandria’s .. e Majestic (911 King St., Alexandria, 703.837.9117), the menu of Nana’s Sunday Dinner changes monthly. Come hungry in July for the Summer Lovin’ menu, with barbeque chicken, corn on the cob and mixed-berry crumble.
Sundays at Columbia Heights’s CommonWealth (1400 Irving St., NW, 202.265.1400) star a Britishstyle “Sunday Roast” with Moroccan roast lamb and sticky toff ee pudding.
Like a batch of popovers, DC’s best bakers are rising to the carb-o-licious occasion. Bread is back—look no farther than the new Italian bakery at Potenza or the decadent doughs at Inox and 2941. Inspired by his New Orleans upbringing, Today Show dessert hottie and pastry chef David Guas is opening Bayou Bakery to bring his Crescent City cravings to Clarendon. For years Guas designed desserts for PassionFood’s eateries. Now he’s his own mixmaster. “I always had that burning desire to be the one who makes the decisions, so that every aspect would have a touch of me in it,” Guas says. But this is no half-baked idea: Guas chose Clarendon for its fun, bohemian vibe and his menu features both sweet and savory items. Customers can sink their teeth into hot-pressed roast beef sandwiches and shavedice snowballs. With the bakery opening in August and a cookbook, DamGoodSweet, to be published this fall, Guas is DC’s hottest hotcake. 3211 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, damgoodsweet.com.
The Source No one will force you to eat your veggies at DC’s best Asian-inspired eatery. .. e Source by Wolfgang Puck off ers a seven-course veggie tasting menu that’s nutritious nirvana. “Asian cuisine lends itself to vegetarian meals since there are lots of unique and aromatic ingredients,” says executive chef Scott Drewno. e veggie virtuoso’s menu features a progression of dishes, starting with a veggie tartare with sesame-miso cones, avocado and asparagus that will enlighten guests to dishes like crisp wontons and candied cashews, warm eggplant salad with baby pea greens and Assam-style veggie curry on Bengali tomato chutney and saff ron raita. .. e Source by Wolfgang Puck, 575 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, 202.637.6100.
Hottest Local Brunches Sunday morning in DC can only mean one thing. Meet the Press? No.
Bloody Mary? Yes! To help you plan geographically, we love the breakfast spreads at Acadiana (Penn Quarter); Art and Soul (Capital Hill); Blue Duck Tavern (West End); Evening Star Café (Del Ray); Perry’s (Adams Morgan); Redwood (Bethesda); Tabard Inn (Dupont Circle) and Seasons (Georgetown).
Where the Chefs Hang Out It’s a family aff air at Cork, the hip food-and-wine haven that’s a clubhouse for off -duty chefs. Happy couple Diane Gross and Khalid Pitts run the show at this hot eatery where Ron Tanaka drives the menu and serves plentiful small plates, while classic cocktail master Tom Brown mixes some very swell swills. 1720 14th St., NW, 202.265.2675. The Latest Scoop Fro-yo hasn’t lost its mojo, but the glory of gelato is making a hot resurgence with the arrival of Pitango Gelato in Logan Circle and Reston Town Center. Mojito, almond, strawberry and vanillalemon are a few of the 20-some fab fl avors available daily. 1451 P St., NW; 11942 Democracy Dr., Reston.
Best Recession Menu So the Jonas Brothers and Green Day come to the Verizon Center in July. Where can you eat well and still aff ord a T-shirt? Grab a tasty trio of $4 tacos and a fresh bowl of guacamole ($13) at Oyamel (401 7th St., NW, 202.628.1005). Or head to Legal Seafoods (704 7th St., NW, 202.347.0007) for the freshest, briniest raw oysters in town and a bottle of budget-friendly Albariño.
Trend We Love!
We’re green with envy over the on-site gardens that supply our best eateries, such as Bourbon Steak, Poste Moderne Brasserie and Restaurant Eve. One local pioneer in this trend is Clyde’s, which has been farming its produce for years. Taste their best at Willow Creek Farm. 42920 Broadlands Boulevard, Broadlands, VA, 571.209.1200. The Date Night Feeling romantic? Get that out-oftown feeling at our favorite date-night spots. Order fresh-grilled fi sh at BlackSalt (4883 MacArthur Blvd., NW, 202.342.9101). Savor Japanese Kobe and Dover sole at BLT Steak (1625 I St., NW, 202.689.8999). And go omakase at Dupont Circle’s newly hipped-up old-school fave Sushi Taro (1503 17th St., NW, 202.462.8999).
Good thing it’s not a speakeasy, because the city’s coolest cocktail lounge has everybody talking. e buzz comes from more than the endlessly ringing doorbell. It’s the menu of classic cocktails from the golden age of mixology that has made e Gibson such a sensation. “DC was waiting for a place like this, a place where you can learn the story and the reason for a cocktail,” says mixologist Derek Brown, one of the visionaries behind this democratic den for hipper sippers. “It’s a place for anyone who loves an adventure,” says bartender Tiff any Short. “I always say my favorite cocktail is the one you want to drink the most,” she adds.
Sounds good to us! 2009 14th St., NW, 202.232.2156.
Eventide Restaurant is ain’t no mom-and-pop shop! DC’s best new neighborhood restaurant is a foodie haven in the city’s newest culinary capital. Eventide Restaurant is Clarendon’s coolest clubhouse, a chic family-friendly eatery that traffi cs in designer details (hip local art) and deluxe dishes (chilled foie gras torchon with rhubarb mustard), but maintains a friendly vibe that keeps the locals happy. Ace chef Miles Vaden mans the pans and GM Dave Pressley says it’s a place “where people in Arlington can get a nice, downtown meal without having to go downtown.” 3165 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, 703.276.3165.
Art Smith and Common Threads America’s foremost after-school kids’ cooking program is coming to DC, and it counts some starry supporters. Chef Art Smith—who has cooked for everyone from Oprah to the Obamas—is cementing plans to open Common .. rea ds , his kitchen-based community center, next door to his Capital Hill eatery Art and Soul (415 New Jersey Ave., NW, 202.393.7777). “Children everywhere love to cook and this simple lesson becomes lifelong,” says Smith, who is developing programs with the support of e Annenberg Foundation, Mayor Adrian Fenty and DC fi re chief Dennis Rubin. “Kids learn to cook, and learn fi re safety, too,” says Smith. Commonthreads.org.
Publication List
