100 Very Best 2017Chef Thomas Cardarelli, late of the Modern and Marea in New York, has taken over at this Old Town dining room. His warm salad of roasted squash, maitaike mushrooms, maple, and egg yolk is a yin/yang of flavor and texture, while Cheshire pork loin is enlivened with braised cabbage and Berliner weisse. Creatively flavored ice creams—such as winter-squash-and-sage—are the way to go for dessert. For optimum people-watching, request a table upstairs overlooking bustling King Street. Expensive.
Also great:beet salad; pickled mackerel; pork-and-cherry terrine; cavatelli with Bolognese; cobia with sunchokes.
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.
