The 1950 movie All About Eve offered a glimpse into the Claw-Your-Way-to-the-Top goings-on in the rarefied world of New York theater, where fresh young things have no problem elbowing stars out of the way to take center stage.
A movie, yes, but chefs and restaurateurs know what that’s like, too. No matter how hot a spot or dish may be, there’s always a contender waiting to take its place. Today’s signature could be tomorrow’s forgotten memory. Right now, it’s standing room only for a taste of the miso-glazed sablefish at Proof, the house-cured pork belly at Restaurant Eve, the wine-dipped, grilled New York strip at Buck’s Fishing and Camping and the fried spinach at Rasika. But watch out: There are plenty of understudies ready for their turn in the spotlight.
To make the point, Flyer lets you in on some of the best-at-the-moments followed closely by the newest of the new, proving the best is yet to come.
MEAL PRICES INCLUDE:
Cost of a Bombay martini
Average cost of a glass of house wine
Average cost of an appetizer
Average cost of an entrée
Average cost of a dessert
Tip (20 percent)
Sales tax (10 percent in D.C.; 5 percent in Virginia and Maryland)
Average cost of a glass of house wine
Average cost of an appetizer or dessert
Average cost of an entrée
Tip (20 percent)
Sales tax (10 percent in D.C.; 5 percent in Virginia and Maryland)
American
Chef Robert Wiedmaier is on a roll. He took over the West End digs of chef Yannick Cam in 1999 to open Marcel’s and then toned down the fancy and upped the casual with Brasserie Beck in 2007. Now he winks at both concepts with Brabo (1600 King St., Alexandria, Va.; 703/894-3440; www.braborestaurant.com; $75 per person, all inclusive) and its Tasting Room in the Kimpton’s new Lorien Hotel and Spa.
Skate: Skate with brown butter sauce and endives at Westend Bistro
Pork shank: Braised pork shank with French lentils at Marvin
Brabo, named after a mythical Roman god, is the more upscale dining room headed by chef de cuisine Chris Watson. The décor is luxe casual with low lights; white tablecloths; satiny, chocolate-hued upholstered chairs interspersed with baby blue spindle backs; luxuriant draperies; hammered copper pendants over the bar and little white-shaded lamps reminiscent of a 1940s supper club. For starters, the wild mushroom and foie gras ravioli, seared scallops with chanterelles and carpaccio of smoked salmon are of a quality that separates the men from the boys where chefs are concerned, and the prosciutto-wrapped medallions of Caesar salad are clever without being overwrought. The entrées are solid versions of currently fashionable bistro items writ large: braised pork shank with baby bok choy, roasted duck breast with green peppercorn sauce, bistro filet with Belgian fries, skate wing with lemon-thyme butter, and pepper-seared ahi tuna with fennel slaw.
The more casual Tasting Room is next door to Brabo, with brick flooring and a wood-burning oven that produces scrumptious tarts (braised pork belly and caramelized onions). I could easily bypass Brabo and dine here every day, whether on a big pot of mussels with chorizo and fennel or with a bowl of onion soup and an endive salad or, better yet, a vast charcuterie platter with an addictively creamy chicken liver mousse and a lush Belgian stout.
Seafood
Next to the Lansburgh Theatre in Penn Quarter, Nancy Koide and Errol Lawrence, the team behind Oya, opened Sei (444 7th St., NW; 202/783-7007; www.seirestaurant.com; $65 per person, all inclusive), a 73-seat Japanese jewel box lined in white ostrich leatherette, ceiling included. The chairs and menus follow suit, with the addition of gold cord corseting on their respective backs and covers.
Sushi interpretation of fish ’n’ chips: Sushiko’s take with flounder and sweet potato crunchies
All-white decor: Lush white leather seatbacks and marble interior at Oya
There are two centers of attraction here: a cozy lounge buzzing with the Twitter set and a sushi bar manned by sushi master Noriaki Yasutake and chef Avinesh Ranav. They bill the food as modern Asian, which means that along with traditional sushi and specialty rolls, you’ll find Kobe sliders with tomato jam and toro tuna tartare with stripes of wasabi guacamole, salmon roe and lemon soy foam. The spicy tuna roll with miso aioli and snow white of eel, roasted apple and avocado, and smoked salmon with wasabi yogurt and radish feature clever twists, but the clear standout is the fish ‘n’ chips roll of flounder with malt vinegar, crisp potato threads and wasabi tartar sauce. Yasutake makes a special tuna marinated in red wine and soy, which is buttery rich, fresh and utterly splendid. Steamed pork bun pillows filled with barbecue pork and shiitakes could be a tad less sweet for my taste. Among the specials, nigiri, hamachi with olive and basil, and nikiri are my favorites.
In addition to a small but clever selection of wines, sommelier Andrew Stover has put together an extensive list of sakes and shochus, Japanese neutral spirits made from grain or sweet potato. Sei is ultra-fun; the service is spot-on and friendly, not at all what you’d expect in a place that’s as hot as this one.
French
Timing is everything in the restaurant business. Chefs Jon Mathieson and Jonathan Krinn, who made a name for themselves creating innovative, inexpensive food at 2941 Restaurant (2941 Fairview Park Dr., Falls Church, Va.; 703/270-1500; www.2941restaurant.com), put their heads together and opened a new joint venture: Inox (1800 Tysons Blvd., McLean, Va.; 703/790-4669; www.inoxrestaurant.com; $125 per person, all inclusive).
Best duck in town: Lacquered duck with lo mein noodles and blood oranges at Wolfgang Puck’s The Source
Blueberry dessert: House-made blueberry pie at Tackle Box
The 126-seat dining room, built and designed by the New York firm CMS Architecture and Design, reflects the current idea of modernity: glass walls, high ceilings, a color palette that runs the gamut from light beige to dark beige, Calder-esque pendant lighting and stainless steel. In fact, “inox” is French for “stainless steel.” The lower-level kitchen faces a chef’s-table peninsula surrounded on three sides by walls holding excellent wines chosen by chef-turned-sommelier John Wabeck.
The food rivals and resembles the superlative at favorites such as Restaurant Eve, CityZen, Citronelle and Marcel’s, where the best ingredients are finessed into artistic, multi-component dishes. A first course of butter-poached lobster with ravioli of braised short rib is a divine rendition of surf ‘n’ turf and deserves instant star status. A roasted rack and lamb loin duo comes with a cunning packet of chard that holds a treasure of pine nuts and golden raisins. Black trumpet mushrooms are the perfect foil for Krinn’s house-cured pork belly and tenderloin. I’m not usually a fan of entrées served in broth, but the seared red snapper in lemongrass bouillon works splendidly. Desserts flirt most with the molecular gastronomy trend but, thankfully, don’t go all the way. A lush buttermilk sorbet and blueberry confit resting on a shimmering elderflower sherbert borders on genius.
Southern
Chef Gillian Clark and partner Robin Smith broke a lot of hearts when they closed Colorado Kitchen last year, but since they opened the General Store and Post Office Tavern (6 Post Office Rd., Silver Spring, Md.; 301/562-8787; $20 per person, all inclusive), happy diners are on the mend. The restaurant is a renovated 19th-century post office that seats about 50, and service is counter-style.
Macaroni and cheese: Gruyere, black truffles and panko at Equinox
Lemon chess pie: Rich lemon custard and chantilly cream at Vidalia
If you haven’t saved room for dessert, take home a slice of lemon chess pie. Its custardy filling is lemon-zesty and just plain sublime. Go on a Saturday afternoon and take your time, then bring something home for dinner.
Comfort Food
Ben’s Chili Bowl on U Street has been getting a lot of attention since President Obama crossed its door, and co-owner Nizam Ali knows how to strike while the iron is red-hot. He also knows how to back winners. He nabbed Rock Harper, who managed to endure a browbeating and take top prize on Gordon Ramsay’s reality TV competition Hell’s Kitchen, and set him up at Ben’s Next Door (1211 U St., NW; 202/667-8880; www.bensnextdoor.com; $65 per person, all inclusive).
Eamonn’s: A Dublin Chipper in Old Town Alexandria
Reality TV contestant-turned-restaurateur: Spike Mendelsohn at Good Stuff Eatery
French fries: Fries in clarified butter at Citronelle
Next Door is an overnight sensation, and comes at no better time as the Chili Bowl celebrates 50 years of countermen on display in the window ladling cheese sauce and chili from vats onto French fries, sizzling half-smokes or both. Navigating your way through Next Door’s long bar room jam-packed with revelers into the small dining room in the back can be tricky, but it’s worth the effort. The menu is not huge, but what’s there is supreme. The brined fried chicken features a light crisping on the outside and juicy, succulent flesh inside, and its sides of braised kale and mashed potatoes stand up to the main attraction. Braised short rib glistens with molasses glaze, and crispy-skinned salmon with chive butter was cooked with aplomb. A special of red snapper fish ‘n’ chips induced compliments from the whole table, but the macaroni and cheese in a silken sauce topped with crunchy panko crumbs won the night. Ben’s doesn’t take reservations, so belly up to the bar and enjoy the show.
When longtime chef/owner Fabio Aielli and his wife, Ingrid, left D.C.—and their Italian restaurant, Teatro Goldoni—for New York in 2007, D.C. diners lamented the loss of a favorite downtown haunt. But, after closing and reopening under new management and the same name, Teatro Goldoni (1909 K St., NW; 202/955-9494; www.teatrogoldoni.com) is making headlines again—and for good reason.
After taking over in April 2008, famed executive chef Enzo Fargione has lent his eclectic, innovative touch to many a dish here and created an entirely new menu using traditional ingredients in an experimental way. “Moms always tell you when you’re a little kid, ‘Don’t play with your food,’” says Fargione. “I encourage you to play with the food. Because the way it looks, the way it’s done and prepared, people think, ‘This is not what I expected.’”
Dinner alone is an exciting experience, and the new chef’s table is a compelling addition, and not to be missed here. Fargione typically serves anywhere from 14 to 16 courses at the chef’s table. Dishes range from lobster risotto with cherry tomato confit to veal tenderloin carpaccio presented on a frozen marble slab with citrus dressing or baked Chilean sea bass with fennels and a saffron broth. Desserts include a vanilla panna cotta, constructed to look like an egg sunny side up.
The real entertainment begins with Fargione’s cigar box branzino. “I am a cigar aficionado myself,” says Fargione. “I love to smoke cigars, and over the years, I always collected the boxes and began to wonder what I could do with them.” He’s found a unique solution: Fargione slices Italian branzino very thin, places the slices into a cigar box with wood chips and lights the chips on fire. He then closes the cigar box. After four minutes, it’s ready for the table. When it’s opened before the diner, smoke is released and creates an enticing aroma. “The time wouldn’t be sufficient to alter the flavor of the fish,” he explains. “However, when you open the lid and the smoke starts to come out, the smoke stays with you and accompanies you through the consumption of it.”
The vibrant colors and dramatic cuisine are a welcome escape from D.C.’s traditional Italian restaurants, and add up to a place worth celebrating as long as Fargione is at the helm. “[My food] is a fun thing to eat but then when you do eat, you concentrate on the taste because that’s the thing that really carries you and stays with you,” he says.