100 Very Best 2017
100 Very Best 2019In case you thought Afghan food was all rice and kebabs, Lapis sets the record straight on its menu: “Yes, Afghanistan has lettuce and other green earthy stuff.” The stylish bistro from the owners of Georgetown’s Café Bonaparte offers lamb skewers and meaty stews, sure, but vegetables star here. Creamy baked egg-plant comes draped in tomato sauce with yogurt and dried mint, and pan-seared flatbread called bolani is stuffed with leeks and cilantro. No meal here would be complete without the beef-stuffed mantu (dumplings) topped with tomato-and-yellow-split-pea sauce. Moderate.
Also great: Pakowra (vegetable fritters); okra in tomato-onion sauce; cauliflower in spiced tomato sauce; qabili palow(rice pilaf with julienned carrots and raisins); aushak (leek-stuffed dumplings with ground beef).
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.
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.
