100 Very Best Restaurants: #18 – Blue Duck Tavern

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Blue Duck Tavern's fried chicken biscuit. Photograph courtesy of Blue Duck Tavern

About Blue Duck Tavern

Cost:

Location(s)
1201 24th St NW
Washington, DC 20037

Last summer, chef Adam Howard left his perch at Mike Isabella Concepts and landed at this Shaker-chic dining room at the Park Hyatt. Consider the kitchen—which at our previous check-in felt tired—reinvigorated. At lunch, Howard slings lobster rolls and the city’s best Reuben. Later on, look for smart riffs on Southern classics. Braised greens go unexpectedly well with white soy, while a sorghum-brined pork chop is as tender as you’d hope for. On the seafood front, we haven’t found sweeter scallops this year than the ones Howard herb-roasts and serves with burnt-eggplant purée. Very expensive.


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.