"The 10 Things DC Foodies Are Talking About" in Washingtonian Magazine

[Ericandblueboy]

10 things DC Foodies are talking about according to Anna Spiegel via Washingtonian

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1. Israeli Cuisine

Is Israeli the cuisine of the moment? Sure seems like it. Restaurateur Ashok Bajaj is replacing his decades-old Ardeo with Sababa (3311 Connecticut Ave., NW), a mod-Israeli restaurant specializing in wallet-friendly share plates. On the heels of closing DGS Delicatessen, the Wiseman cousins have relocated their popular Tel Aviv–style hummus shop, Little Sesame (1828 L St., NW)—we smell a chain in the works.

I dunno.  There's only that Cool restaurant in Cleveland park that I know of.

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2. Spring Pop-Ups!

Derek Brown’s Cherry Blossom Pub (1841 Seventh St., NW) and its hours-long lines are back—this time with a ten-foot animatronic Godzilla. In Navy Yard, look for the return of Whaley’s pinktastic Rosé Garden (301 Water St., SE). Nearby, Morini Piccolo (same address) turns the dock into an Italian-style boardwalk, with fried gnocchi, gelato, and frozen Negronis.

We's not talking about any of these joints!!!  Are we not foodies?!

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3. Gravitas

Former Minibar chef Matt Baker’s Ivy City tasting room arrives with four-to-seven-course menus (priced at a relatively reasonable $75 to $98)—plus a rooftop garden and greenhouse bar. 1401 Okie St., SE.

Do we even have a thread?

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4. All-Purpose Pizzeria Expansion

If you thought the pepperoni-and-spicy-honey pizza at the original All-Purpose in Shaw couldn’t be beat, try it on this second location’s riverfront patio—along with chilled frutti di mare and clam pies. 79 Potomac Ave., SE

Other than Sietsema being out of his mind for picking this place out, what else is there to talk about?  Maybe I'll check out the waterfront joint when it opens.

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5. Buena Vida/ Tacos, Tortas and Tequila

Ambar restaurateur Ivan Iricanin leaps from Serbia to Mexico with two Silver Spring eateries: the $35 all-you-can-eat Buena Vida and a taqueria. 8407 Ramsey Ave., Silver Spring.

Everyone's opening Mexican joints.  I like to know why the sudden explosion of taquerias like overripe zits.

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6. High Side

Local brews and Taiwanese street snacks come together at this bar, where suds and ciders are matched with exactly what we want to eat while drinking: dumplings, cumin lamb, and chili-fried chicken. 4009 Chain Bridge Rd., Fairfax.

I just checked their website.  The menu is malfunctioning.

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7. New Spirits

Local distillers are looking beyond whiskey and gin. In Frederick, new American Shochu Company (4539 Metropolitan Ct.) is making the first batches of the Japanese distilled spirit in the United States. District Winery (385 Water St., SE) is behind the first DC-made wine, a rosé, after importing, juicing, and fermenting old-vine Grenache grapes from California.

8. Executive Diner

The new-wave-diner trend hits Old Town. Sequoia vet Dadisi Olutosin whips up Japanese-style pancakes, shrimp and grits, and of course breakfast. 1400 Duke St., Alexandria.

9. Reason to Road-Trip

Just in time for crab season: Hotelier John Flannigan and chef Sean Wheaton, formerly of José Andrés’s ThinkFoodGroup, have taken an aging Tilghman Island hotel and reimagined it as vintage hideaway complete with a seafood restaurant, Tickler’s Crab Shack, and a tiki bar. 21551 Chesapeake House Dr., Tilghman, Md.

10. Al Fresco Mexican

Cortez (1905 Ninth St., NW) takes over the former 1905 space for beachy Mexican eats and rooftop cervezas. At the Wharf, Mi Vida (98 District Sq., SW) boasts two water-level patios—plus a terrace—where ginger-mango margs flow and mariscos arrive by the tower

Tickler's also doesn't have a menu on its website yet.  I dunno how we can talk about these joints when we don't know what they're serving.

[reedm]

Thank goodness for DR.com. This place is an oasis in a vast sea of PR hype. I certainly don't begrudge a business for their marketing efforts, but as Don frequently points out, why do we stop hearing about restaurants that continue to produce great food? (Little Serow, Komi, etc.)

We have a great new restaurant in Ashburn. AhSo certainly advertises, but I'd put their food and drink up against just about anything DC has to offer. Heading there shortly a second trip to their Ramen, Whisky, and Kung Fu pop-up. And yes, the ramen is amazing. 

[DonRocks]

On 4/18/2018 at 6:48 PM, reedm said:

Thank goodness for DR.com. This place is an oasis in a vast sea of PR hype. I certainly don't begrudge a business for their marketing efforts, but as Don frequently points out, why do we stop hearing about restaurants that continue to produce great food? (Little Serow, Komi, etc.)

I don't begrudge businesses *or* individuals for their marketing efforts.

That having been said, would the PR reps for Mike Isabella, Spike Mendelsohn, Derek Brown, and José Andrés please write me at donrockwell@dcdining.com?

I'm thinking we have a billion-dollar commodity here (*)  - some hybrid of Yelp, Facebook, Reddit, Angie's List, Wikipedia, and maybe a few others, but I'm too busy indexing the Dining Guides to do any marketing or give a damn (really - I can't make the software look more appealing, or do any self-promotion, so financially, I'm totally hosed without help). 

(*) Okay, maybe not a billion, but all those others are, and what's the difference other than PR? Wikipedia, yes - that's a kick-ass product with substance - but the others? I'll never know, because I'm too busy trying to cultivate the Fine Arts Forums, which is where my heart is - I've been to multiple Michelin-starred restaurants in the past several weeks in Europe, and I don't have time to even think about writing about them. 

I've accepted the inevitability that I'm going to die poor and forgotten, and have decided that I don't care. Do you know how I'm going to be remembered? As Captain 20.

All this, and I'm doing to die, and be remembered as Captain Fucking 20. A beloved figure by some, yes, but ultimately a derivative hybrid of The Moonman and Count Gore de Vol. Somewhere, about three people are laughing their asses off right now.

Speaking of which, does anyone remember Clay Tyson?

[zgast]

On 4/17/2018 at 1:01 PM, Ericandblueboy said:

Everyone's opening Mexican joints.  I like to know why the sudden explosion of taquerias like overripe zits.

MBAs: What foods have the highest margins?

Cooks: Pizza, Burgers and Tacos

MBAs: Well, the first two waves didn't work so well....

[Pool Boy]

Ummm, not super excited about that, uh, list. I am excited about returning to a few places I have tried once and need to go back (Bresca, Hazel, Tiger Fork), and want to return to some where it's been to long (Kinship, Komi), and then have some fun looking for new to me places for the first try, and of course circling back regularly to Mirabelle.