100 Very Best 2017
100 Very Best 2019Like his mentor, the French Laundry’s Thomas Keller, Eric Ziebold is obsessed with perfecting the tiniest details. Check out the sumptuous napkins, the custom plates, and the wee hammers for cracking peanut brittle. And this is all at his more “casual” Shaw restaurant above the tasting room Métier. Ziebold’s menu is split into categories such as “history” and “indulgence” (the latter including potato chips with caviar). You can treat each section like its own tasting menu or graze across all. Our move is to order smaller dishes, then one of the shared entrées, such as a superlative whole roast chicken with lemony panade tucked under its bronzed skin. On the side: those Parker House rolls Ziebold made famous over a decade at CityZen. Very expensive.
Also great: Mushroom torchon; sautéed foie gras; lobster French toast; salted-caramel peanut bar.
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.
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.
Kristen Hinman has been editing Washingtonian’s features since 2014. She joined the magazine after editing politics & policy coverage for Bloomberg Businessweek and working as a staff writer for Voice Media Group/Riverfront Times.
