100 Very Best Restaurants 2017: Maketto

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Photograph by Scott Suchman

About Maketto

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Don’t let the minimalist space fool you: There’s a lot going on at Maketto. The self-described “communal marketplace” is home to a coffee shop/bakery, a men’s boutique, and 60 seats spread out for chef Erik Bruner-Yang’s Southeast Asian restaurant. An A-plus meal relies on time and location—dim sum brunch in the courtyard is magical, while dinner upstairs can feel like Siberia. Thankfully, the kitchen’s lively flavors energize any table, as do the showstopper presentations. We dream about the Flintstonian portion of bone marrow, mounted on rice and heaped with a larb salad of spicy ground pork, chilies, and fresh herbs. Bruner-Yang isn’t afraid to kill his darlings, so while you may not always find the pork bao buns, you’re in equally talented hands sampling his latest wares. Moderate.

Also great: Flash-fried broccoli with peanuts; whole grilled fish; Gruyère dumplings in spicy Chinese chili; cumin lamb; duck-breast bao platter; fried chicken.


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.