Eric and Ian Hilton’s sibling bistros look completely unrelated. The original Petworth location is cozy and creaky, while Georgetown’s Chez Billy Sud possesses an airier elegance, all pale-green walls and gilded mirrors. Though the Hiltons are masters of creating alluring ambience at places that include the Brixton and the Gibson, chefs Brendan L’Etoile and Lawrence DiJoseph bring delicious substance to the equation, too. Their menus convey a passion for the classics, including snails in garlic-parsley butter, crisp-skinned duck confit, and bright-tasting trout grenobloise. Though the offerings vary—Petworth leans rustic, Sud draws more from the sea—plenty of crossover exists, including one can’t-miss dessert: Paris-Brest, a confection of praline cream sandwiched between swirls of pastry.
Don’t miss: deviled eggs; chicken-liver torchon; bluefish rillettes;short rib with olives; duck à l’orange; semolina/Gruyère dumplings.
See what other restaurants made our 100 Very Best Restaurants list. This article appears in our February 2016 issue of Washingtonian.
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.
