Cork Wine Bar was among the RAMMY winners, taking home an award for Best Wine Program. Photo by LaTur

At a boozy ceremony last night at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park hotel, the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington announced the winners of its annual RAMMY Awards, fêting the area’s best restaurants and the chefs and businesspeople who fill our gullets.

The theme for the evening was hats—as in “Hats off to Restaurants,” with many, but not most, in attendance donning creative headgear. (Though a Nationals cap with a tuxedo was also a popular combination.) While alcohol flowed from open spigots for most of the night, there was an hour-long break during which the actual awards presentation happened.

NBC4’s Tom Sherwood and City Paper publisher Amy Austin presented the first three awards, a podium appearance that provided Sherwood with an opportunity to show off his snark. Though some members of the D.C. Council were in attendance—Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) and Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6)—Sherwood noted a few absences.

“Harry Thomas Jr. would be here but he’s having his own RAMMYs party,” Sherwood said, and, “Kwame Brown would have been here, but he’s still getting fitted for an orange jumpsuit.”

Meanwhile, Jeff Black, the evening’s biggest winner with prizes for BlackSalt, Black Jack and Restaurateur of the Year, made a stir when he dissed food bloggers in an acceptance speech. “It’s great to see respect being given to people that work in the business that do the long hard hours, not the bloggers,” Black said. Jessica Sidman at Young & Hungry has a bit more on the reaction to Black’s blog-knocking.

Here are all the RAMMY winners from last night:

Chef of the Year: Vikram Sunderam – Rasika
Rising Culinary Star: Ed Witt – 701 Restaurant
Pastry Chef of the Year: Fabrice Bendano – Adour
Restaurateur of the Year: Jeff & Barbara Black – Black Restaurant Group
Fine Dining Restaurant: Bourbon Steak
Upscale Casual Restaurant: BlackSalt Fish Market & Restaurant
Casual Restaurant: Mitsitam Native Foods Café (National Museum of the American Indian)
Wine Program: Cork Wine Bar
Beverage/Mixology Program: Estadio
Neighborhood Gathering Place: Café Saint-Ex
Power Spot: Founding Farmers
Hottest Restaurant Bar Scene: Black Jack
Manager of the Year: Reagan Corbett – Jackson 20
Employee of the Year: José Alex Medrano – B. Smith’s
Associate Member of the Year: Adams-Burch, Inc.

Filed Under: food bloggers, Jeff Black, rammy awards, Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, Tom Sherwood,