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Daily dispatches on the Washington, DC area's food, restaurant and dining scene.

Category: Holiday Eats

Washington Bakeries Offering King Cakes for Mardi Gras

By Jessica Voelker

Here’s where to find Louisiana-style brioche rings and traditional French galettes des rois.

Louisiana-style king cakes get a sprinkling of sugar dyed in the traditional Mardi Gras colors.

Louisiana-style king cakes get a sprinkling of sugar dyed in the traditional Mardi Gras colors.

Best Bites blog received a request last week: “Can you tell me where I can get a king cake in Washington?” Of course we can, but first a clarification: All king cakes are not created equal. Associated across various cultures with the celebration of both the birth of Jesus and of Mardi Gras, the cakes vary from region to region. There’s the French version—an almond-paste-filled puff pastry known as galette des rois (usually available only through the end of January). Then there’s the ring-shaped king cake eaten down in Louisiana around Mardi Gras time, a cinnamon-laced, brioche-style iced confection decorated in green, purple, and yellow sugar. Traditionally a porcelain or plastic baby was baked into the king cake; it was considered lucky to find it in one’s slice. These days, this is rarely done at commercial bakeries due to choking hazards, but many cakes do come with a baby on the side.

Here’s where you can currently find king cakes around Washington. 

 

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Category Tags: Holiday Eats

Wu-Tang Flan, 10 Types of Foodies, and Squirrel for Supper: Eating & Reading

By Todd Kliman , Ann Limpert , Jessica Voelker , Sophie Gilbert , Anna Spiegel

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

The omnivore's dilemma, indeed. Would Michael Pollan eat squirrel? Photograph courtesy of Alia Malley

Todd Kliman, food and wine editor

• Mmmm, just what I want to dig into on a cold, winter day: ash, the new It ingredient. And not just ash—artisanal ash! Key Ingredient: Ash 

• Crunchy-trendy types think eating local is all about cheeses and chickens from local farms. This Seattle woman has a more traditional notion of local—one that Michael Pollan and others might turn up their freshly exfoliated noses at, but which speaks right to the heart of what they so high-mindedly champion. I can almost taste her risotto di rodentia now: Eastern gray squirrel braised in Lopez Island white wine, with mushrooms and rice. Dinner gets very local for squirrel-eating Seattleite

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Category Tags: What We're Reading, Holiday Eats, Food Media, Wine & Spirits

10 Ways to Have a Very Happy New Year’s

By Jessica Voelker

No-cover bars, Gwyneth’s hangover cure, and a brunch for everyone: a guide to living it up and keeping your cool this weekend.

We taste-tested value sparkling wines so you don't have to. Happy New Year. Photograph by Kyle Gustafson.

1) If you haven’t nailed down dinner, OpenTable has a list of restaurants that still have reservations available on the 31st, and it’s surprisingly long and full of good spots.

2) Here on the Best Bites blog, we’ve been following availabilities at special New Year’s Eve feasts around town. Last we checked, there were still spaces at these 38 eateries.

3) Oh, and we also taste-tested a bunch of sparkling wines for you. All of them are available locally and cost less than $25. Some of them are pretty tasty—including the $9 bottle.

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Category Tags: Holiday Eats

New Year's Day Brunch Guide

By Anna Spiegel

These restaurants will help you start 2012 off right—no matter what went down the night before.

Eggs Benedict is just the beginning. There's a brunch for every need this New Year's day.

If you’re headed to brunch on New Year’s day, chances are you’re a) wildly hungover, b) mildly hungover, or c) sober as a minister but accompanied by hungover people. Fortunately, Washington-area restaurants have New Year’s Day brunches designed for d) all of the above. We’ve assembled a guide to the best of these below, and heartily suggest you make reservations whenever it’s possible and call ahead to check on wait times whenever it’s not. Happy New Year!

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Category Tags: Holiday Eats

The Procrastinator's Guide to New Year's Eve Dining

By Anna Spiegel

Still seeking a dinner destination for the last day of the year? Reservations remain at these 38 restaurants.

Some early-evening openings remain at CityZen in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
Photograph by Kathryn Norwood.

Some early-evening openings remain at CityZen in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Photograph by Kathryn Norwood.

Adour
Seating(s): Tables are still available at 5:30 and 6 PM.
Price: The first three seatings are $120 a person; the second three are $195. There’s also a $60 children’s menu.
Selling point: Well, we like it. Adour received three stars in this magazine’s 100 Best Restaurants list.
Etc.: Call 202-509-8000 to reserve.

America Eats Tavern
Seating(s):
5 and 8:30 PM
Price:
The 5 o’clock seating costs $75 a head; the second seating is $150.
Selling point:
Who knows if José Andrés’s buzzy pop-up celebrating America’s food heritage will even be here next year? (Andrés recently announced it would continue operating through July 4, at least.) Also, there’s dancing.
Etc.:
Call 202-393-0812 for reservations; check out the full menu here.

Ardeo + Bardeo
Seating(s):
A smattering of tables are free throughout the evening.
Price:
$65 for the four-course menu. An à-la-carte dinner menu is available before 7:30.
Selling point:
Relaxation. At Ashok Bajaj’s adjoined Cleveland Park eateries, a New Year’s Eve dinner will still feel like a special occasion, but in a nice, neighborhood way.
Etc:
Call 202-244-6750 to reserve.

Art and Soul
Seating(s):
5:30 to 7 and 7:30 PM are still open.
Price:
The first seating costs $75; the second costs $85.
Selling Point:
Free Champagne toast and party favors.
Etc.:
Call the restaurant at 202-393-7777. A valid credit card will be required to secure your reservation.

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Category Tags: Holiday Eats

No-Cover Bar Options for New Year’s Eve in Washington

By Jessica Voelker

Avoid the madness with these easygoing imbibing destinations.

For a no-frills New Year's, head to Boundary Stone in Bloomingdale. Photograph courtesy Boundary Stone

Smug as the expression may seem, there’s a reason New Year’s Eve is often referred to as “amateur night”: Things get kinda crazy. One way to handle the insanity is to wait things out at home, but think about it this way, sane citizen of the drinking universe: With the possible exception of St. Patty’s Day, New Year’s Eve is when you and your kind are needed more than ever. So, better to venture forth in the early evening and claim a stool or table at one of these bars and restaurants, all of which are taking a low-key, no-frills approach on the 31st. Sure, some of them may get crowded, but since none charge an entrance fee, you’re free to wander at your leisure.

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Category Tags: Events, Holiday Eats, Wine & Spirits

Taste Test: Sparkling Wines

By Jessica Voelker

We sampled 11 value sparklers, discovering some new favorites and a few that fell flat.

Value sparkling wines can make or break a New Year's party. Photograph by Kyle Gustafson.

Conventional wine-world wisdom has it that the best way to discover new bottles is to head to a good vino emporium and ask the pros. With New Year’s Eve upon us, the Best Bites Blog imbibing panel put this approach to the test, soliciting staffers at some of our favorite local beverage boutiques for 11 effervescents between $9 and $23, then taste-testing the recommendations. Read on for the results.

 

NV Domaine du Vissoux Crémant de Bourgogne Brut ($22.99)

Balanced, and delicately bubbled, but with little to brag about in the way of finish, this sparkling wine struck our tasters as perfectly adequate, if not inspiring. “It would be fantastic in a mimosa” was one panelist’s verbal shrug.

 

2008 Domaine Albert Mann Crémant d’Alsace ($21.99) 

Sippers found few flaws with this white blend from Alsace—a sophisticated wine, particularly at this price point. It was our third favorite of the group.

 

 

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Category Tags: Holiday Eats, Wine & Spirits

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What to Do This Weekend: February 9 to 12

Woo at the Zoo, the opening of “Genesis Robot” at Synetic Theater, and the Washington DC International Wine & Food Festival. more

Music Picks: Jack’s Mannequin, All Things Gold, Steve Aoki

Our recommendations for the best in live music over the next seven days. more

Ann Limpert

Though Ann Limpert graduated from Connecticut College with a degree in art history and creative writing, she spent most of her time in New England debating the merits of warm, buttery lobster rolls vs. cold, mayo-y ones. She spent two years covering the internet for Entertainment Weekly magazine (highlights include interviewing the Beastie Boys and dancing to "Livin' la Vida Loca" with Penn Jillette), then left to hone her kitchen skills at the Institute of Culinary Education. She has worked as a cook at several New York restaurants, researched and edited cookbooks, and now writes about food and restaurants for the Washingtonian. more

Kate Nerenberg

Kate Nerenberg started as an editorial intern at The Washingtonian in January 2008 and became an assistant editor in September 2008. A native of West Hartford, Connecticut, she spent the first half of her writing life as a sports reporter, and was the editor of the athletics section for the newspaper and student-run magazine while at Middlebury College. A joint Spanish and Art History major, Kate graduated in 2005 and took off on a year-long journey around the world. After tasting everything from fried crickets to lavish Turkish breakfasts, she realized she wanted to devote herself to writing about food, a lifelong passion. She lives with three roommates just east of Logan Circle in a house that's often filled with the smell of sauteed garlic, warm banana bread, or fried bacon and eggs. more

Rina Rapuano

Rina Rapuano's English degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond put her on the path to becoming a managing editor of a weekly business magazine; a freelance copy editor; and assistant managing news editor—and later the lifestyles editor—at a weekly paper in Maryland. But she realized her true calling when her descriptions of meals to friends and colleagues always seemed to end with the same statement: “You're making me hungry.” Frankly, it was making Rina hungry, too. She chucked her day job in 2006 to become a full-time freelance writer focusing mainly on food, and now works as assistant food and wine editor at The Washingtonian. more

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