100 Very Best Restaurants 2013: Trummer’s on Main

Cost:

Scott Suchman

About Trummer's on Main

Cost:

Location(s)
7134 Main St
Clifton, VA 20124

Dinner in the French-door-lined dining room at this restaurant in postcard-perfect Clifton is worth the trip—but there are highs and lows.

Topped with fresh herbs, a smoked-salmon-and-citrus salad was a stunning start to a recent meal. So it was a surprise when it was followed by flavor-starved “butter-roasted chicken” with an oily heap of peppers. (Choose instead the silky mahi mahi with mussels and chorizo froth.)

For a more casual experience, the stone-pillared downstairs bar has its own rollicking appeal. Co-owner Stefan Trummer’s cocktails rival some of Washington’s best—we love the Titanic, with vodka and sorbet, and the bourbon-based Main Street.

Don’t miss: Scallops with oxtail, piquillo purée, and Serrano ham; shrimp and grits; frozen banana mousse with molasses ice cream, Oreo crumble, and olive-oil powder; Old
Fashioned dessert (whiskey ice cream, orange shortbread, and bitters rock candy).

Open: Tuesday through Saturday for dinner, Sunday for brunch and dinner. Bar open Tuesday through Friday for dinner, Saturday for lunch and dinner.

Expensive.

100 Very Best Restaurants 2013


Ann Limpert
Executive Food Editor/Critic

Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.