A block away from the Columbia Heights Metro on increasingly trendy 14th Street, Logan @ the Heights (3115 14th St., NW; 202-797-7227; theheightsdc.com)—more commonly known as “the Heights”—has been buzzing with neighborhood twentysomethings ever since it opened in June. EatWellDC, the restaurant group responsible for Grillfish, Logan Tavern, and Merkado, has tapped into the area’s need for a comfy neighborhood joint for something other than pupusas. Nothing against the Salvadoran snack, but if residents are in the mood for something different, they can now find maple-roasted pork loin, grilled tuna, and other Modern American dishes nearby.

Here’s how a recent round of diners rated the Heights on a scale of 1 to 10.

As summer winds down, there’s still time to find new, interesting white wines for patio dining. Never a white without a red to follow, never a red without a white before it. Why settle for the same old, same old?
 
Saint André de Figuière “Cuvée Valerie” Côtes de Provence 2006 evokes the south of France with its sunny, rejuvenating acidity and slight, enticingly herbaceous flavor. The blend is unconventional: 60 percent Ugni Blanc, 25 percent Rolle (the French name for Vermentino), and 15 percent Semillon, which gives it some body. Enjoy it by itself, with patio finger food (olives, cheese, chips and dip), or grilled seafood.
 
Imported by the Country Vintner and available for $14 at the Vineyard, 1445 Laughlin Ave., McLean; 703-288-2970.

Photo by Stacy Zarin-Goldberg.

It’s no surprise that the upbeat, periwinkle-blue storefront of Sweet Dreams Pastry Shop provides desserts to many of Annapolis’s fancier restaurants. It’s owned by former Kinkead’s pastry chef Chris Kujala, who opened the shop two years ago with his wife, Elizabeth.

Sure, you can find the carrot-cake roulade that was a mainstay at Kinkead’s, but Kujala turns out simpler goodies, too. There are chocolate-chip-pecan cookies with the right mix of salt and sugar, mildly spiced doughnut holes, and decadently fudgy devil’s-food brownies. More elegant are his macaroons, especially a French version that sandwiches soft chocolate ganache. It tastes like a black-and-white cookie fused with a fancy petit four.

Sweet Dreams Pastry Shop, 1410 Forest Dr., Annapolis; 410-268-5060.

Okonomiyaki—a pancake-like round with an array of toppings—makes its debut at Snap. Photograph by Erin Zimmer.

This isn’t the first time Margarita Uricoechea of Georgetown’s Snap has replaced her outdoor metallic sign—and each time she’s out a thousand dollars. Why? Her original business focus—crepes and bubble tea—has expanded to include Indian chaat (Hindi for “snack food”) and just a couple of weeks ago, Japanese okonomiyaki, a crepe-like dish topped with tuna flakes and seaweed. Because her clientele includes diplomats and traveling nonprofit workers and her staff hails from Russia, Pakistan, Japan, and Israel, Uricoechea hears suggestions for ethnic eats all the time. Her favorite ideas? The ones taken from sidewalk vendors around the world.

Last week we didn’t camp outside a restaurant per se. We camped inside the well-lit Mazza Gallerie in DC’s Friendship Heights waiting for diners from Rock Creek (5300 Wisconsin Ave., NW; 202-966-7625) to exit down the escalator. The month-old restaurant,  which has a sister location in Bethesda, offers low-fat, low-calorie cuisine—nutritional info is front and center on the menu—with no butter, cream, or white sugar, and only grapeseed and olive oils. The goal is to have diners leave full but not painfully so—although for at least one patron, it means leaving still hungry. (Hmmm . . . is that fast-food joint still open across the street?)

Here’s how diners rated the new Rock Creek on a scale of 1 to 10.

Agraria chef Ricky Moore gives his best intimidating chef face. Then he dissolved into giggles.

Earlier this month, we saw DC chef Rock Harper rise to victory on Hell’s Kitchen. Now another local chef is ready for the reality-TV spotlight. Ricky Moore, executive chef at Georgetown’s Agraria (3000 K St., NW; 202-298-0003)—a restaurant owned by the North Dakota Farmers Union—will head up to New York City to compete on the culinary-battle show Iron Chef. He’ll be the fourth local chef to hit the kitchen stadium (Roberto Donna of Crystal City’s Bebo Trattoria, Morou Ouattara of Alexandria’s Farrah Olivia, and Jose Andres have done it before); the episode is slated to air sometime this fall. Though he’s not the camera-hogging type, Moore admits he’s “all fired up.”

It was last Monday that the Food Network called Moore at Agraria—he wasn’t even scheduled to be at the restaurant that day. “I was just there for a meeting, but I believe in karma,” he says. “That stuff is real, man.” With one month to prepare for the taping, Moore has already pulled together his team, which includes Agraria sous chef Aaron Scales and pastry chef Todd Miller. Mondays are now “Iron Chef Academy” Mondays—which the three lovingly call ICA—and are devoted to studying old episodes, brainstorming, speed-cooking and mastering communication skills.

We chatted with Moore in Agraria’s dining room to find out what advice he’s gotten from Donna and Ouattara and whether he has any preshow jitters.