D.C. has always had a reputation as a drinking town. Maybe it's because of all the lobbyists, lawyers, and politicians, but in the heyday of the cocktail, before Prohibition, residents of the District supposedly out-drank their counterparts in other areas of the country several times over. We even have our own cocktail that was named after a lobbyist. These days, many of the top restaurants in the city now have extensive cocktail programs to match their ample wine lists, and a number of places focused solely on making a truly great cocktail have opened in the last few years. more ›

Dish of the Week: Butternut squash more ›

This post was written by DCist contributor Andrew Schneider more ›

Disoriented and Seeing Stars WaPo reviewer Tom Sietsema has released his 2007 Washington Post Dining Guide online. You can catch it on newsstands this weekend. At the top, Cathal Armstrong's Restaurant Eve has broken through to the four-star category, and his revamped Majestic also made the list. Newcomers Central Michel Richard (3 stars), Proof (2.5), Farrah Olivia (2.5), and Hook (2.5) also made it onto the list. A surprising omission was Brasserie Beck, which Sietsema... more ›

With the ink barely dry on the 2007 RAMMY nominations, we pored over the list of nominees searching for one that hadn’t already been reviewed to death or hadn't already been visited by every serious eater in the city. Who wants to read one more critique of Restaurant Eve? Citronelle? They’re amazing, we get it, and as soon as we get that advance from Doubleday we’ll go check out those damned tasting menus. more ›

Written by DCist Contributors Gayle S. Putrich and Mike Roscoe Awards season: long gone in Hollywood; just getting started for D.C.'s restaurants. If you don't believe us, just ask Cathal Armstrong of Restaurant Eve, Eamonn's, and the forthcoming Majestic. Armstrong has been named a contender for two awards in as many days: Best Mid-Atlantic Chef from the James Beard Foundation on Monday and now Chef of the Year by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington.... more ›

Editor's Note: After a lengthy hiatus, DCist's Eating In feature makes its triumphant return. Now written by married Culinary Institute of America graduates Amanda and Ben Page, each Eating In post will feature simple yet impressive recipes that anyone can make at home. We'll focus recreating winning restaurant dishes and on putting together meals from local ingredients and interesting items that you can find around the area. You know, just as we explained when the popular feature made its very first appearance almost two years ago. But better. more ›

By DCist contributor Spencer Ackerman It's pretty appropriate for a cooking expo so near the Chesapeake Bay that the first olfactory experience greeting a visitor to the Metropolitan Cooking & Entertaining Show is a powerful blast of salty, baking fish. No one is going to mistake D.C.'s answer to the New York Fancy Food Expo -- a 100-stall extravaganza of middlebrow-to-high-end cooking, oenophilia, celebrity chefs and cheap wares -- for the food-porn original. But with... more ›

WaPo Food Gets BoGlo Editor With all the turmoil and upheaval at the Post's food section over the past couple of years, we were waiting for news that Tom Sietsema and Walter Nicholls would just take the thing over and rule it a la Tenacious D's two kings in City Hall. This is not the case, though. WaPo announced (good get, fishbowl!) that Boston Globe food writer Joe Yonan will be the new editor for... more ›

Fish and Chips and Drinks and Fried Mars Bars After months of waiting, it appears that Eamonn's, A Dublin Chipper (from the makers of Restaurant Eve) is almost ready to fling its doors open wide to welcome the unfed masses clamoring for fried fish, fried potatoes, and malt vinegar. Originally slated to open on Monday but now scheduled to open within the next two weeks, the place will also feature a bar called “PX” fashioned... more ›

Wasabi Wa-opens I have been searching for a good cafeteria-style Japanese place for a while. Since I'd be happy to go to Kotobuki every single day for lunch if it weren't in Outer Mongolia, the opening of Wasabi gives me great joy. Conveniently located at 17th and I Streets, NW, for you downtowners, it's a welcome addition to a scene dominated by places like the Park Place Gourmet. While my lunchtime map is roughly bordered... more ›

Our pal Amanda over at Metrocurean reports that West Coast import Cowgirl Creamery's opening is imminent. And although we look forward to the cheese purveyor's landing in the Penn Quarter, excellent cheese shops -- such as Philadelphia's DiBruno Bros., Greenwich Village's Murray's Cheese Shop, and local fromagerie Cheesetique -- often present to us a paradox of choice. That is, faced with too many good options from which to choose, we run the risk of choosing... more ›

What’s going on with the Post’s Food Section? Between last week’s piece on the Warehouse District and this week’s articles on soft shell crab and RFD’s Brooklyn Brewery tasting, it appears the WaPo's Food section has improved from the days of Christmas cookie spreads and brunch for beginning entertainers. Still. Isn’t the section about to fold? And if so, when? Rumor mill tells us it’s within a matter of weeks -- and that the paper... more ›

Puck Picks Penn Property for Newsy Noshing The second time I ever visited D.C., I saw a sign for the Newseum on I-66 and thought that it was the New-seum. I figured it was some kind of reverse museum that showcased all the stuff that was new, as in the latest in technology, science discoveries, and what have you. It turns out that it's a museum about the news (as if those elitists in that... more ›

If you don't like sweets and sparkling wine, you're a Communist. Well, you could be a diabetic-slash-recovering alcoholic, which is frankly the only understandable alternative explanation for not liking sweets and sparkling wine. For everyone else, Equinox's Todd and Ellen Gray are putting on their fourth annual Sugar and Champagne Affair on Wednesday night (Jan. 25) at the Ritz-Carlton at 22nd and M Streets NW. Benefiting the Washington Humane Society's Humane Law Enforcement Team (which,... more ›

Eamonn, Brother There is no stopping the Armstrongs, proprietors of Restaurant Eve in Old Town. Not only are they whizzes in the kitchen, their fecundity (both physical and entrepreneurial) has begot another place to eat. According to Tom, Cathal and Meshelle plan to open Eamonn's/A Dublin Chipper sometime this summer. The place will be a casual joint, unlike the formal (and so worth it) affair that is Eve. It looks like fish and chips will... more ›

Sometimes, the local boy makes good. Chesterfield, Md.-native Nathan Beauchamp has picked up the knife to direct the nightly deliciousness that is tradition at 1789. He's no stranger to the D.C. scene either, having worked at both Bistro Bis and Restaurant Eve, two of DCist's favorites. more ›

Whether it’s Corduroy's scallops with mushroom and potato puree, 2 Amys' cod fritters, or Restaurant Eve’s mojitos, DCist indulges in good food and drink about town over the holiday season. Among those of us who focus on all things culinary, we also use the holidays to think about what we’d like to cook, where we’d like to eat, and how we’d like others to dazzle us with their kitchen concoctions. With less than a week until Christmas and Hannukah are upon us, we asked the District’s food mavens—restaurant owners, food critics, and industry professionals—what they’re wishing for this holiday season, both for themselves and for our beloved city. more ›