Darko Zagar

Burrata, asparagus, spring garlic at Mintwood Place

Follow the Pros

When it comes to investments, I always remember my grandfather’s advice: “Blue chips, my boy. You can never go wrong with blue chips.” In other words, you can’t go wrong by sticking with the known entities—they pay off in the long run.

Darko Zagar

Chef Fabio Trabacchi is the mastermind behind Fiola. He is among the top chefs in Washington.

Great Plates 2012

If the dining trends around town are any indication, money must still be a bit tight out there, because the restaurants that recently opened seem to fall into three categories: eateries spearheaded by headliners (Isabella! Black! Monis! Andrés! Cooper!) who could take their names and reputations to banks and backers; gussied-up fast-food concepts (sushi, soups, salads, sandwiches and burgers! burgers! burgers!) and hip, low-frill, taste bud-tantalizing destinations that are so space-challenged you sometimes have to leave your name on a list and go elsewhere to wait out the wait list.

Darko Zagar

Chef-owner Jeff Black has another hit on his hands with Pearl Dive Oyster Palace.

5 Restaurants to Make You Forget Resolutions

I know this is the time of year for resolutions that usually involve going to the gym, cleansing, cutting back the carbs, and other forms of torture and deprivation. But I’m just not down with that. My waistline might whisper, “Salads! Vegetables! Fruit!” but my brain screams, “Steaks! Burgers! Oysters!”

If you’re wondering who won that battle, read on.

Darko Zagar

Crispy suckling pig with pickled walnut puree at Ripple.

Best of New Holiday Dining Spots in D.C.

It’s that time of year when gift-giving and the thought of Tiffany-blue boxes are on our minds. Well, maybe your mind. For us food folk, a gift card to a new restaurant kicks in the endorphins as much as any diamond does. The rocks that interest us come under a smartly concocted cocktail in a lounge full of D.C. luminaries.

All story images by Darko Zagar

Lobster ravioli at Fiola.

Comeback Kids: Best Second Acts in Washington Dining

In Washington, we love a good comeback in whatever form it takes, and recent additions to the restaurant scene prove the point. Chef Fabio Trabocchi’s career here took him to Virginia and New York, only to have him wind up taking over the Penn Quarter space where he got his start. Chef Todd Gray turned his Equinox rise from the ashes near the White House into a Watershed victory in NoMa. Roberto Donna’s Sisyphean tale has him giving it another go with a third Galileo, while local-boy-turned-entrepreneur Marc Glosserman came back to his D.C.

Darko Zagar

Sea bass and stir-fry vegetables at Smith Commons

Spring & Summer Dining: Best (New) Out-of-the-Way Places in Washington

I’ve always heard there’s a system for keeping yourself on the right track in grocery stores: Avoid everything in the middle and stick to the outlying sections, where items are fresh and unprocessed.

Applying the same theory to my recent dining rounds, I turned my back on the congregated masses of Penn Quarter, downtown D.C., and the 14th and U corridor and headed toward the fringe to check out what’s happening off the beaten path, from Mount Vernon Square to West Dupont Circle, Clarendon, Capitol Hill and the farthest reaches of H Street.

Darko Zagar

Hot new Spanish restaurant Estadio put its stamp on the tapas trend.

Washington's 100 Favorite Restaurants

If you really want to know the current state of affairs, don’t bother consulting the Council of Economic Advisers; the people who write about restaurants have the answers. We are out there, day and night, on the front lines (read: banquettes), chronicling the trends and reporting them to a public hungry for knowledge—or just plain hungry.

So what’s in and what’s out? Well, let’s put it this way: Heard of any great steakhouses opening in Washington lately? No, we haven’t, either.

Darko Zagar

Pulled pork with orange mojo at Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar

5 Restaurants to Fall in Love With This Winter

For food devotees, love is in the air. But that has little to do with Valentine’s Day just around the corner and everything to do with the new restaurants popping up all over the Washington area.

Darko Zagar

Chef de cuisine Robert Gadsby (left) and Chef Robert Wiedmaier at Mussel Bar in Bethesda.

Fall & Winter Dining in D.C.: Great European Cuisine

We know the story: Between the bills for that lovely summer vacation you haven’t yet paid off and the seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time gifts you just splurged on, the coffers are running low. Well, not to worry—there’s still good news for you.

Put those thoughts of costly trips behind you and get ready to embark on a trip to Europe for the holidays in some of Washington’s zippiest eateries. But leave the passport behind—all you need is a dinner reservation to take you to Spain, Belgium, France and beyond.

Gary Landsman

At Agora, beet salad with lemon mashed potatoes, garlic and orange.

Fall Dining in D.C.

Restaurateurs know, perhaps better than anyone else, that everything old can be new again. There’s nothing quite like the high of opening that first, dream-of-a-lifetime place, but what to do when the buzz stops buzzing or boredom sets in?

Washingtonians know the answer to that: You start fresh, branch out or rise from the ashes, but whichever it is, you never look back. Just ask any member of Congress. Or, better yet, let Flyer’s dining columnist let you in on the new arrivals, new additions and happy renewals.