Washington restaurants have won high praise this year from GQ magazine’s Alan Richman. The food critic recently came out with the 25 Most Outstanding Restaurants of 2015, adding to the annual ranking; Komi topped the list in 2013 when a dozen places were included. This year, Rose’s Luxury takes number one amidst the national lineup of high-achieving eateries.
Writes Richman: “The cooking is beautifully conceived, playfully amplified, the essence of what modern, casual dining should be,” even after standing in line 40 minutes for a table on a rainy night. He especially likes the warm challah bread, beef crudo (“a beaming red beacon for carnivores”), and the veal parmigiana that he dubs “the greatest and probably most massive veal parmigiana ever made.”
Richman seems equally impressed with Fiola Mare, which clocks in at number four—and doesn’t require braving the elements for delicious pastas and “gorgeous” desserts.
“In an era when dining out can feel like work—the research, the reservations, the waiting—Fiola Mare sweeps you away and reminds you that a meal can still be magical.”
While New York, Portland, and San Francisco restaurants make their expected appearances in the lineup, there’s one destination that may be surprising to see: Fulton, Maryland. Here Richman finds Ananda, a now not-so-hidden gem of an Indian eatery that he praises for its “faultless simplicity,” elegant ambience, and crab malabar.
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.
