Contents
Welcome to Starrville
Stephen Starr is a one-man trend. A decade after turning Le Diplomate into a buzz machine, the Philly restaurateur is on a local opening spree. El Presidente, his theatrical ode to Mexico City, recently debuted near Union Market. It will be followed by a nearby spinoff of the Meatpacking District bistro Pastis with New York restaurateur Keith McNally. Further on the horizon: a massive Italian market and osteria in the heart of Georgetown with famed California chef Nancy Silverton and a glamorous classic American restaurant in the Willard InterContinental hotel.
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There’s a (New) French New Wave
Washington is no stranger to French dining—the cuisine ruled the food scene here from the Kennedy era through the ’80s. This year, a flurry of Gallic arrivals went beyond Le Diplomate wannabes. We got a French Canadian bar (Le Mont Royal), a swank dining room from a French celebrity chef (L’Avant-Garde), and an all-day destination for morning crepes and evening crawfish gratins (Petite Cerise). Even veteran Italian chef Roberto Donna got in on the action, opening Le Bistro in Vienna this summer.
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Lab-Grown Chicken Is Here
Chef José Andrés’s Peruvian restaurant, China Chilcano, was among the first in the country to serve chicken grown in a lab. Federal regulators approved the sale of cell-cultivated Good Meat, from the California company Eat Just, over the summer, unleashing curiosity and controversy about its potential to become a more mainstream no-kill meat alternative. As for how it tastes? Like chicken . . . kind of.
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Service Fees Are Rampant
It’s been a year since DC residents approved Initiative 82, the law that phases out the tipped minimum wage. Restaurants are compensating for rising labor costs by tacking mandatory service fees onto checks. The problem? They’re all over the place. (3 percent? 22 percent?) And their uses are not always transparent, causing tons of confusion about tipping expectations.
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New York Exports Are Taking Over
First, it was bakeries: During the pandemic, a crop of upscale Manhattan-born shops (Levain, Maman, Mah-Ze-Dahr) sprang up in neighborhoods like Georgetown and Bethesda. This year, the invasion continued with Brooklyn ice-cream hit Van Leeuwen, which opened three DC locations. Coming soon: more scoops at the Indian-by-way-of-Brooklyn place Malai, plus huge cookies from Chip City and bagels from H&H.
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Food Halls Are Getting Fancy
Where can you pair luxe A5 beef with a $328 bottle of sake? That would be Beloved BBQ, the steakhouse that anchors Love, Makoto, the all-Japanese food hall near Judiciary Square. That’s not the only new emporium worthy of a celebratory meal. In downtown DC, there’s the Square, overseen by Minibar alum Ruben Garcia. It’s home to Casa Teresa—Garcia’s first solo restaurant—and longtime chef Ann Cashion’s oyster-and-crabcake counter. On the way: a sushi bar from ex–Nakazawa talent Masaaki Uchino.
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Everything’s a Vibe
You’ve probably heard it: “This place is a whole vibe.” Lately, a lot of bars and restaurants seem obsessed with vibes—the scene, the buzz, the energy, the feeling. Whether the food and drinks are good or not is beside the point. It’s all about that X factor that makes people want to be in a place for the sake of being there. Think places that are a little loud, a little expensive, and full of people taking selfies.
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The Suburbs Rock
This fall, the New York Times came out with its annual list of restaurants that its food writers are most excited about. The lone Washington-area offering? Ellie Bird in Falls Church. Some of the year’s splashiest openings were over the DC border, including Joon and Jiwa Singapura in Tysons, Kirby Club in Fairfax, and Manifest Bread in Riverdale Park.
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Maximalism Is In
Dining out is more of a spectacle than ever—thanks to a TikTok boom and pent-up party energy following pandemic restrictions. Goodbye, white subway tiles. Hello, neon signs, disco balls, and gratuitous faux flowers! The cocktails billow with smoke, the dishes come with tableside flourishes, and even the bathrooms are social-media-ready.
This article appears in the December 2023 issue of Washingtonian.
