About Ris
Ris Lacoste eschews the hallmarks of the 21st-century restaurant interior—there’s no exposed brick, no Modest Mouse soundtrack—in favor of bouquets of flowers and a room in which you can actually hear. Her menu resists change, too, and we appreciate that she’s got the confidence to not mess with proven hits just for innovation’s sake.
Lacoste excels with bistro classics—Julia Child was a friend, and you can sense her influence. We gladly return for the textbook onion soup, pot of mussels, and freshly ground cheeseburger. So, too, anything with a New England bent, whether fried scallops with slaw or an Italian grinder with pickled peppers, among the many worthy specials at the bar.
Don’t miss:
- Scallop “margarita”
- Portuguese seafood stew
- Braised lamb shank with pomegranate seeds and yogurt
- Portobello Reuben sandwich
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.
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.
