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Food

18 DC-Area Dining Trends We Love

Roast chicken and martinis. What more could you want?

Written by Anna Spiegel
, Jessica Sidman
and Ann Limpert
| Published on January 26, 2018
Tweet Share
Forget coupes, the best cocktails come in more elaborate vessels (pictured: Del Mar). Photograph by Scott Suchman

Whimsical drinking vessels 

Cocktails just taste better in a bedazzled shell.

Edible parting gifts

Forget mints. We’ve left restaurants with salad dressings, hot-cocoa mixes, herb butters . . .

The return of the martini

Think 50/50, not espresso.

Martini service at Requin. Photograph by Evy Mages

Kombu

The seaweed is the secret ingredient behind many of our favorite vegetarian dishes.

Escoffier-era dishes

Lobster Thermidor, we’ve missed you.

Cacio e pepe that goes beyond pasta

Butter and parm also does wonders for focaccia and arancini. 

Table-side preparations

Dinner and a show!

I went to Pineapple and Pearls in DC tonight and had this dish with potatoes and cheese with black truffles shaved over. It was almost like a fondu. It is called Pommes Aligot in french. Amazing to watch it pulled and stirred at the table!

A post shared by Alice Waters (@alicelouisewaters) on Jan 24, 2018 at 7:37pm PST

Appetizers and entrees 

Splitting three bao buns five ways is always onerous.

Smaller, tighter menus

Especially in the age of share plates. 

All-day service 

For those of us who like to eat at 4 PM.

Fancy roast chicken

Many chefs really can do it better.

Roast chicken with lemony panade at Kinship. Photo by Scott Suchman

Comfortable bar chairs 

No one likes dining on a stool.

Tonnato sauce

Ketchup, shmetchup—we could eat Italian tuna sauce on pretty much anything.

Ambitious wine bars 

So long, flights of Malbec.

Primrose belongs to the new breed of ambitious wine bars and is also among Washingtonian’s 100 Very Best Restaurants. Photograph by Evy Mages

Interesting vegetable appetizers

Who needs salad when you can have a local radish tartine?   

Chicharrones 

Bring on the pig skins! 

Weekday breakfast

Chefs are giving us more reasons to get out of bed. 

Live-fire cooking 

We heart the hearths.

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Anna Spiegel
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
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.

Ann Limpert
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 Logan Circle.

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