If you already thought it was tough snagging a table at Mintwood Place due to local popularity, consider booking well in advance now. Condé Nast Traveler just named the buzzy bistro one of the Best New Restaurants 2013, alongside 69 other international hotspots such as Mission Chinese Food in New York and Shanghai’s Mercato. While most Washingtonians consider themselves more mid-Atlantic than the “American South,” as the magazine calls it, Mintwood was listed as a top destination in that category with eateries in New Orleans, Atlanta, Memphis, and more. One thing we can all easily agree on: Chef Cedric Maupillier’s goat cheese mountain pie is a must-try.
Read the full writeup below, and check out the 70 best new restaurants on CNT’s website or in the July issue, available June 25.
The scene: Rife with loud-and-crowded restaurants, bars, and clubs, the Adams Morgan neighborhood has long appealed to congressional aides and interns. But this smart 80-seat bistro has brought in a much broader swath of Washingtonians, including the Obamas, who have joined the exceptionally diverse clientele in crowding into the coffee-colored leather booths and shouting over the considerable din.
The food: Elevated Franco-American comfort fare. Steak tartare perks up with the crunch of finely diced fried potatoes, while seasonal shad roe comes anointed with a melting sheet of lardo rather than the expected bacon and veal reduction. Even with such upscale bistro offerings as cast-iron Amish chicken and duck breast au poivre, there’s still place on this menu for a delicious flame-grilled bacon cheeseburger.
Dish to get: The beet and goat cheese “mountain pie,” pressed between slices of bread and cooked in a wood-burning oven (1813 Columbia Rd., NW; 202-234-6732; entrées from $17).
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.
