Welcome back, Smackdown fans! The bread bowl continues on this (ugh) snowy spring day. Yesterday’s round was one of the biggest sweeps yet, with the Italian Store garnering nearly 85 percent of the votes over Market Lunch. We’re sorry to see one of our favorite breakfast spots go.
Today brings another toughie. We love Jamie Stachowski’s eponymous Georgetown shop, which churns out indulgent, oversize turkey clubs, roast beef on rye, and Italian grinders, all stuffed to capacity with house-prepared meats. Our affection for Banh Mi DC in Falls Church is equal, but for different reasons. The Vietnamese baguettes—particularly the #1, filled with ham, bologna, head cheese, pickled vegetables, and fresh herbs—are perfectly balanced specimens, equally soft and crunchy, rich and bright, with a fine ratio of filling to bread. Who will surge ahead? Only you can decide.
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.
