We said RIP too many times this year, Heck, this month (goodbye Convivial, Crisfield, and Virginia’s Darling, among others). It’s time to pay our respects.
Almeda
Petworth
The cycle of very good restaurants opening and quickly closing in a tiny space on Upshur Street—Magpie and Tiger, Little Vietnam—unfortunately continued into this summer, when Danielle Harris shut down Almeda. When it debuted, Harris called the place “a celebration and exploration of the diaspora for me, and what it means as a Black woman to cook Black food.” Her Afro-fusion plates—fried catfish and spaghetti, jollof risotto—stood out for their originality and often, their deliciousness. Harris is also the founder of Little Food Studio, but she recently stepped away from the tiny pastry and sandwich shop.
Bar Spero
Judiciary Square
Johnny Spero’s Basque dining room at the Capital Crossing development garnered plenty of praise during its two year run. Both Esquire and Bon Appetit anointed it one of the country’s best new restaurants, and last year, it landed on Washingtonian’s 100 Very Best Restaurants list. But that applause never really translated to stable numbers, and the restaurant called it quits in September. You can still find Spero’s seafood-heavy cooking at Reverie, his Georgetown restaurant.
BLT Steak and Charlie Palmer Steak
Downtown DC and Capitol Hill
It’s hard to shed any tears for expense account dining rooms and lobbyist magnets, but these two restaurants epitomized a very specific time in DC’s food scene: when celebrity chefs planted their stakes in our city by… playing it safe and opening “modern” steakhouses. Remember J&G (Jean-Georges Vongerichten)? Or Rural Society (Jose Garces)? I’ll credit both BLT and CP Steak for great people watching—Michelle Obama was a BLT regular—and solid happy hours. Plus, Taco Bamba’s Victor Albisu got his start at BLT. Next year, he’ll open a steakhouse of his own.
Convivial
Shaw
Cedric Maupillier’s bistro will shutter on December 22 after a nine year run, and though the city is currently awash in good French restaurants, this one hurts. Maupillier, who came up under the late Michel Richard, was quietly putting out some of the most consistently great cooking—from canonical bistro fare to baguettes to desserts—in DC. Happily, he’s got a plan: he recently told Tom Sietsema that he’ll oversee the menu at the forthcoming Barbouzard in downtown DC, where the cuisine will lean more French/Mediterranean.
Crisfield Seafood
Silver Spring
This Eastern Shore-inspired seafood counter—run by generations of the Landis family for nearly 80 years—is closing December 22. The place was one of this area’s rare time-capsule spaces—nothing changed, ever. Not the faded headshots of local celebrities on the wall (Arch Campbell, Chuck Brown), not the tiny glasses of unfashionably light beer, not the jug of Andes mints that I lived for as a kid, and certainly not the straightforward menu of buttery crab Norfolk and baked stuffed shrimp. Another rarity: a clientele that felt like a cross-section of the city, with suits next to ‘Skins jerseys.
Firehook Bakery
Dupont, Alexandria, Chantilly
It was easy to overlook this chainlet of bread shops in its later years—Washington is not hurting for bougie bakeries—but 32 years ago, Firehook and Marvelous Market were the two biggest games in town when it came to fresh loaves. Hillary and Chelsea Clinton were reportedly Firehook fans, and the business at one point had eight area locations. The business was bought by a private equity firm in Connecticut earlier this year, and its remaining three stores will shut down on Christmas Eve. The news isn’t all bad. The company’s line of excellent grocery store crackers isn’t going anywhere, and Firehook employees are taking over the Dupont store and turning it into a coffee shop come January.
Marcel’s
Foggy Bottom
Robert Wiedmaier’s lace-curtained French dining room, a staunch bastion of formality and fine dining, closed in May—and it felt like the end of an era. Wiedmaier was part of an older guard of DC chefs who flourished in the ‘90s and early 2010s, before small plates, no reservations, and servers in Chucks took over. Now, Michel Richard and Bob Kinkead are no longer with us, and Yannick Cam and Roberto Donna have taken their craft to the ‘burbs. Actually, Wiedmaier’s remaining restaurants—a pair of more casual Mussel Bars—are there too, in Ballston and Bethesda.
Mi Cuba Cafe and El Sapo
Mount Pleasant and Silver Spring
DC’s Cuban food scene has never exactly been thriving, but now, it feels like it’s crumbling. First, Mi Cuba, a reliable Mount Pleasant stop for Cuban sandwiches and ropa vieja, closed over the summer. And just last week, Raymond Mendizabal told the MoCo Show that Silver Spring’s spiffy El Sapo Cuban Social Club has already poured its last mojito.
Virginia’s Darling/Mae’s Market
Old Town Alexandria
Quirky little wine bar Virginia’s Darling aspired to feel like a nightly dinner party. And, with its easygoing menu and wonderfully accessible wine list, it often did. Still, owner Nicole Jones announced on Facebook Wednesday that December 28 would be its final day, due to failed lease negotiations. Jones is also closing the adjacent gourmet shop Mae’s Market, but you can still find Mae’s terrific sandwiches at its new Arlington location.
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.
