Milk Bar opened its first-ever branch in DC today, and we couldn’t help dropping by—hour-long lines aside—for a first taste. Chef/owner Christina Tosi was behind the counter, serving slices of her crack pie, compost cookies, and cereal milk soft serve. Though the classics are just as tasty as at the New York flagship, one of our favorite items is a savory find: the Thanksgiving croissant.
The fall special has been on the menu in NYC for years, but it’s currently only available in DC (New Yorkers can order it next week). Tosi makes a savory croissant using “stuffing-flavored” butter with black pepper, celery salt, and herbs. The pastry is filled with tender shredded turkey, homemade gravy, and cranberry sauce, and warmed in an oven to-order. The result is one of the best Thanksgiving-inspired dishes we’ve tried—crisp on the outside and beautifully moist within, thanks to what we guess is a generous amount of stuffing-butter. Make it a complete holiday with a pumpkin cake shake, made with whole pumpkin pie truffles.
The croissant goes for $7, or $10 as part of a meal combo with a side and a drink, and is only available through November. After Thanksgiving we’re going back to another early favorite: the bagel bomb, a warm bun stuffed with bacon-scallion cream cheese and sprinkled with everything seasoning.
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.
