100 Very Best Restaurants 2017: Tail Up Goat

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Tail Up Goat's brown-rice bread with yogurt, turnips, hazelnuts, and mint. Photo by Scott Suchman

About Tail Up Goat

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Location(s)
1827 Adams Mill Rd NW
Washington, District of Columbia 20009-2399

Chocolate and sardines sound like a pairing out of What to Expect When You’re Expecting, but when chef Jon Sybert served it—in the form of cocoa-rye bread with butter and meaty, salt-baked fish—it felt downright natural. In fact, we’d be happy fronting a meal with any of Sybert’s whimsical loaves. The rest of the menu at the macramé-accented Adams Morgan bistro meanders from canapé-style snacks to pastas and platters of roasted meats and fish, all meant for sharing. (Bring friends and order as much as possible.) Beverage director William Jensen—who, like Sybert, spent years working at Komi—deserves as much credit as the chef for making this a place we can’t wait to return to. His list is a fascinating collection of house-made shrubs (tart, fruity drinking vinegars), bracing cocktails, and offbeat wines. Expensive.

Also great: Grilled rabbit sausage; cavatelli with pork-belly ragu; goat lasagna; stuffed porgy; cannoli.

Carrot ravioli with apricot. Photograph by Scott Suchman.
Carrot ravioli with apricot. Photograph by Scott Suchman


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.

Food Editor

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.

Jessica Sidman
Food Editor

Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.

Kristen Hinman
Articles Editor

Kristen Hinman has been editing Washingtonian’s features since 2014. She joined the magazine after editing politics & policy coverage for Bloomberg Businessweek and working as a staff writer for Voice Media Group/Riverfront Times.