Every Friday, we fill you in on what’s been happening in the local restaurant world.
• Richard Blais, a Top Chef season-four finalist, announced that he’s bringing his Flip Burger Boutique to DC’s Penn Quarter next year. The slogan for the restaurant, which Blais would like to make a nationwide chain, is “fine dining between two buns,” and the first location is in Atlanta. The menu there has 20 burgers, which include such ingredients as Japanese Kobe beef, foie gras, kimchee ketchup, and pickled apples. Sides include vodka-battered onion rings with beer honey mustard and veal-sweetbread nuggets. The molecular-gastronomy fanatic also has liquid-nitrogen milkshakes whose flavors include Krispy Kreme, pistachio-and-white-truffle, and foie gras.
Back in 2007, The Washingtonian food critic Todd Kliman examined the pizza boom that had started to take over Washington. Since then, the boom has transformed into a full-fledged golden age—one which we recently celebrated with our Pizza Pool contest.
One of the frontrunners of the area’s pizza renaissance is Café Pizzaiolo, owned by former Smithsonian culinary director Larry Ponzi. The Crystal City pizzeria has built a reputation on its crisp crusts and unfussy pies, which are more street than boutique. Ponzi’s spicy spin on the New York-style pizza, the Diavala, is one of the most popular items on the menu. The dough is prepared with a sourdough starter and later topped with whole-milk mozzarella, Italian sausage, and roasted peppers. If reading this is making you hungry, just wait until you see Ponzi demonstrate how to make the pizza in our video below.
Vidalia chef/owner Jeff Buben has experimented with lots of macaroni-and-cheese recipes since the restaurant opened in the early ‘90s, but he and chef RJ Cooper didn’t settle on one until 2½ years ago. Since then, this version laden with creamy Mornay sauce has been a staple at the restaurant—Cooper takes it off the menu only in July or August because he feels the creamy side dish is too heavy for summer. The reader who requested the recipe isn’t the only fan: Cooper says he sends out about 40 orders on a Saturday night.
It’s crucial to make sure the cream doesn’t boil or scorch, Cooper says. Otherwise, “you’ll just taste burnt flour.” He also suggests trying fillings other than smoked ham—good options are lobster, crayfish, and this time of year, black or white truffles.
There's been a flurry of new-restaurant openings in the last couple months—Masa 14, Bibiana, Kellari, Birch & Barley/ChurchKey, Againn, Souk, Masala Art, and more—and we're having trouble keeping track. Although restaurants always need awhile to settle in, we want to know which ones have impressed you right out of the gate. What's your favorite just-opened restaurant? Let us know in the comments!
Meet the Redskins, hobnob with a tequila ambassador, and slip inside Roberto Donna’s house in our top food bets of the week.
Monday, November 16
Eat away your case of the Mondays at the Reston Morton’s (11956 Market St.), which will host an informal meet and greet with players from the Washington Redskins from 7 to 8. Fans can chat with the Skins, get autographs, and celebrate Sunday’s victory over the Broncos. For more information, call 703-796-0128. Free.
Tuesday, November 17
Meet Richard Sandoval, the chef/restaurateur behind Modern Mexican Restaurants (locally, he’s got La Sandía, Masa 14, and Zengo), when he hosts a tequila dinner at Zengo from 5 to 10. Tequila Herradura will find its way into each of four Latin/Asian courses, and guests will have an opportunity to chat with Ruben Aceves, the Tequila Herradura ambassador from Mexico, following the dinner. The dinner is $45 a person. For reservations and more information, call 202-393-2929.
This year’s Taste of Dupont takes place on Tuesday and offers $5 tasting tickets.
Fifteen restaurants are taking part in this year’s Taste of Dupont, scheduled for tomorrow, November 17, from 6 to 9. The progressive-dinner-style event features $5 tastes at neighborhood spots, including Annie’s Paramount Steakhouse, Scion, and Eola.
In addition to food samples, some of the restaurants are including wine pairings or deals on cocktails. Bread & Brew is offering happy-hour prices all night along with samples of slow-roasted pork belly with jalapeño-sweet-potato or butternut-squash risotto. Annie’s will have drinks for $4 plus a special tasting menu with several food options. And Pesce Bistro will have sautéed blowfish tails paired with a glass of Muscadet or a cocktail. For a complete list of participating restaurants, click here.
Tasting tickets are $5 each or five for $20. You can purchase them here or at the Dupont Resource Center (9 Dupont Cir., NW) starting at 5 on Tuesday. All tickets purchased online will be held at will call at the Dupont Resource Center.
Every Friday, we fill you in on what’s been happening in the local restaurant world.
• White House pastry chef Bill “the crustmaster” Yosses (nickname by President Obama), spilled a few of the First Family’s eating habits. The Obamas love fruit pies, but hate meringue and don’t go for cookies. Despite the President’s earlier proclamation that “the pastry chef makes the best pie I’ve ever tasted, and that is causing big problems for Michelle and myself,” Yosses says that the health-conscious family only indulges in their favorite dessert about once a week.
Gone are the robust bureaus for the Los Angeles Times, Newhouse News, and other once-healthy news organizations. Digital media bureaus now are taking their places with as many reporters and plenty of swagger.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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