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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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 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 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.
