Food

Charlie Trotter’s Career Change and An Oscar Drinking Game: Eating & Reading

Every week, we'll let you know what the Washingtonian food staff is reading in the blogosphere and off the bookshelves.

Charlie Trotter, philosophy student. Photograph courtesy of Charlie Trotter’s.

Todd Kliman, food and wine editor

• A restaurant where the fish is so fresh, it literally jumps off the plate. A Ten-Course Tempura-Only Meal at Tsunahachi in Tokyo, Japan

• Tony Bourdain announces the first three titles in his new Ecco imprint. This is a smart move by Ecco editor Daniel Halpern, and I expect Tony will flourish in this role as a sort of foodie Barney Rosset (RIP, Barney). The Lineup For Anthony Bourdain’s Ecco Imprint: Roy Choi, Texas Barbecue, Kickboxing

• A dossier on suspected terrorists—or a guidebook to Newark’s best Muslim restaurants? Pretty hilarious. Kudos to dogged AP correspondent and big-time food lover Adam Goldman for writing this. The NYPD Zagat Guide to Newark’s Best (and Most Threatening) Muslim Restaurants 

 • Ann Limpert, food and wine editor

What’s it like to have José Andrés pop over to make a quick dinner? Leave it to Gwynnie to find out. Dinner With José Andrés

• The Wall Street Journal pays a useful homage to the mighty Manhattan with recipes and restaurant tricks (the Fatty Cue adds smoked Cherry Coke). The Manhattan Project 

• Not your everyday career change: Star Chicago chef Charlie Trotter is leaving the restaurant biz to get a masters degree in philosophy. Charlie Trotter On Closing His Chicago Restaurant 

 Jessica Voelker, online dining editor

• “I was never more Jonathan Dixon than in her company,” writes Jonathan Dixon in a Leite’s Culinaria essay that’s a little bit about wooing women with food but much more about falling in love. “We lingered, as was our way, over dinner, during which it always felt as if we had too much to say and not enough time to say it.” Yup, that’s love. How to Woo Women—Well, Kinda

• I so wish I had known all of these things when I first started playing around in the kitchen. Cooking Light totally nails it on this one. The Most Common Cooking Mistakes

• The Esquire editors always have the best drinking games. Here’s one for Sunday night. The 2012 Oscars Drinking Game® 

Anna Spiegel, assistant food and wine editor

• Even if you’re not planning to navigate the London dining scene anytime soon, critic Jay Rayner’s takedown of a pan-Asian-Italian restaurant is a pure joy to read. In short, “Don’t go to Novikov. Keep not going. Keep not going a lot.” Restaurant Review: Novikov

• These tips on sending back food—a nightmare for most people—are pretty helpful. How to Send Back Food at a Restaurant Without Pissing Off Your Waiter

• And just because: Thirteen Things That Raw Cashew Nuts Look Like, In Order

Ann Limpert
Executive Food Editor/Critic

Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.

Food Editor

Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.