Welcome to the past year in District dining, where long lines, Asian-fusion everything, and hyperlocal produce reigned supreme. In a city where eating out is practically a competitive sport (and certainly a status symbol), 2015 actually saw a bit of a slow down in new restaurant openings. Still, many already established chefs finally struck out on their own this year or made good on the promise of opening a D.C. outpost that wasn’t a steakhouse. Below we outline our top new spots of 2015, just in time to book a table during the post-holiday dining doldrums.
Photo by LaTur.
MAKETTO: More than two years in the making, Erik Bruner-Yang’s hotly anticipated restaurant and retail space is unlike anything else in the city—starting with the fact that you enter through a fancy sneaker store. A mean cocktail menu, upstairs coffee bar, and a quirky vending machine help dial up the cool quotient to eleven, and a stunning open courtyard and catwalk-style second story patio cinch Maketto’s status as one of the District’s most transportive dining experiences. Then there’s the food, which weaves together dishes from Bruner-Yang’s Taiwanese background with the flavors of Southeast Asia. The result is a host of vibrant, often piquant dishes, like the fabulous Taiwanese five spice fried chicken, doused in sweet-savory sauce tingly with Sichuan peppercorns. It’s one of the most memorable things I’ve eaten this year, though I also wouldn’t say no to a big stack of Maketto’s scallion pancakes with a slick of melted butter. —Alicia Mazzara
Maketto is located at 1351 H St NE.
CONVIVIAL: It seems like all sorts of well-established chefs have recently added another restaurant notch to their belts. Convivial, the second offering from Mintwood Place’s Cedric Maupillier, is a fine example of this trend. The menu deftly blends French and American favorites, like the fried chicken “coq a vin”, a juicy fried chicken thigh drizzled with a red wine reduction. Fans of Mintwood Place’s exceptional five grain risotto will find lots to like in a lemony barley and sunchoke pilaf enriched with creamy goat cheese. Dishes are “medium sized”—slightly smaller than an entree but larger than an appetizer—and designed for sharing. It’s a different menu and a different dining room, but the same delicious, well-executed food. Here’s to hoping that 2016 brings more of the same. —Alicia Mazzara
Convivial is located at 801 O St NW.
Tallarín Zhen Fe (rice noodles with egg, tomato, and black garlic) at China Chilcano. (Alicia Mazzara)
CHINA CHILCANO: Enter this visually vibrant space on 7th Street and you are about to feast on the ultimate fusion food: Chinese-Peruvian-Japanese. This trio of cuisines represents Peru’s contribution to the multi-ethnic foodways that have captured so many restaurant goers. Part Chifa (a fast food Chinese restaurant that abounds in Lima) and part sushi bar, China Chilcano brings together all the elements of what has now become part of the new food branding of Peru. As the number one culinary destination country in the Americas according to Travel and Leisure and a UNESCO World Heritage cuisine, it is no wonder this Jose Andres’ spot is packed all the time. There is something for everyone on the fascinating menu, whether it is dim sum, ceviche, sushi rolls, or noodles. And if you are longing for a quintessential Peruvian dish, try Aji de Gallina, a stew of chicken, nuts, chiles, and cream. Eating at China Chilcano made me long for the real Chifas of Lima. —Johanna Mendelson Forman
China Chilcano is located at 418 7th St NW.
THE GARRISON: Chef Rob Weland’s newest venture has been making waves almost since the moment it opened, collecting a number of nods from prominent food writers, including the Post’s Tom Sietsema. Offering beautifully executed New American cuisine in a streamlined but cozy space, the Barracks Row fine dining spot seems to straddle an interesting line between local hangout (a large number of people at the bar were clearly regulars) and upscale American bistro. The vegetable-heavy menu offers a lot of nice choices for diners, and presentation is top notch. Dishes are expensive though, and when we ordered our server actually warned us that portions are small. Despite the elevated price tag, it’s definitely a spot worth checking out. Also, do yourself a favor and order the gourgères: they’re kind of life changing.—Jacob Dean
The Garrison is located at 524 8th St SE.
L’HOMMAGE BISTRO FRANCAISE: Like the name suggests, L’Hommage Bistro Francaise is an homage to French café dining and the perfect way to get your Francophile fix. What you’ll find here is the best the home country has to offer. Compared to the Americanized bistros on Paris’ Avenue des Champs-Élysées, l’Hommage seems more French than France: from the café style seating and music to the large selection of regional wines and traditional French dishes. Get an appetizer of escargot or duck terrine with figs and pistachios while sipping a glass of Louis Jadot Pouilly Fuisse and making sure to enjoy the pronunciation of the vintner. I recommend the salade de betteraves for a rustic root salad with pistachio butter, crème fraiche, and micro greens. My favorite dishes are like comfort foods, served in bowls of rich red wine sauce—The coq au vin, chicken, pearl onions and baby carrots, and the boeuf bourguignon with baby vegetables. The cocktail menu is continuously reinventing itself with new French liqueur-heavy drinks for every season and a batched cocktail offered daily. —Nathan Wilkinson
L’Hommage Bisto is located at 450 K St NW.
Peanut butter cake with celery ice cream at The Dabney. Photo by LaTur.
THE DABNEY: Chefs and their wild foraging adventures have become food writers’ favorite fodder in recent years. So when Jeremiah Langhorne announced that he would open his debut restaurant in The District, The Washington Post wasted no time in asking if he would be “the Mid-Atlantic’s answer to Rene Redzepi?” (the Danish chef with two Michelin stars to his name and a slew of critic-follows-chef-around-the-forest pieces). I have no idea the answer to that question, but I can certainly tell you that it was the best meal I ate in D.C. this year. I also can’t really tell you much about the menu, since it changes frequently based on season and produce availability. But I can tell you that—with the help of historic recipe books and a secret ramp nursery in the forest—Langhorne has cultivated a cuisine based on local flora and fauna that is truly spectacular. Even the most mundane-seeming of dishes was intriguing; a plate of grilled flowering brassicas, for example, defied the dullness of its description. Equally imaginative cocktails and desserts were just the frosting on the peanut butter cake with celery ice cream and barley crumble. And despite the lofty goal of trying to make mid-Atlantic cuisine a thing, the interior vibe feels cozy and intriguing, rather than the contrived cool of so many other new restaurants. —Rachel Sadon
The Dabney is located at 122 Blagden Alley NW.
PENNSYLVANIA 6: Seafood lovers are likely still rejoicing over the November opening of Pennsylvania 6 D.C., a vast but elegant new addition to McPherson Square. Indeed, culinary director Brian Cooke has put together an impressive raw bar, and the fork-tender charred Spanish octopus appetizer is not to be missed. But carnivores will also celebrate the dry-aged steaks and duck fat fries, lamb shoulder ragout over rigatoni, and hefty Berkshire pork chops. —Bridget Dicosmo
Pennsylvania 6 is located at 1350 Eye Street NW.
PURPLE PATCH: It’s like choosing between children. Bad Saint is the bold, innovative, cozy, and long-delayed newcomer; its dishes artfully played, its homeland decor old-world and stunningly new at the same time. And its cocktails are every bit the potent, deliciously unfamiliar elixirs you expect from a Nick Pimentel joint. But when I have a hankering for Filipino food, I’m more likely to go to Purple Patch. After hiring a new chef, the menu is better than ever, with minor tweaks to old staples like pancit bihon and the sizzling comfort of breakfast dishes like sisig (and there’s a brand new pork dish I’m told is amazing). Their compatriots in Columbia Heights make a great date place, but this Mount Pleasant restaurant is, for me, like an old-school family diner. —Pat Padua
Purple Patch is located at 3155 Mount Pleasant St. NW.
Tiny canoli at Masseria. Photo by LaTur.
MASSERIA: Hidden among the warehouses near the Union Market, this pricey beauty of a restaurant reminded me of how destination is destiny in the food business: Hide it and they will come! And that is what has happened since the restaurant’s spring opening. Masseria does not disappoint; just bring your GPS. A tasting menu offers three and five courses that are generous and supplemented by an amuse bouche (excellent arancini), a palate cleansing ice, and, after dessert, the tiniest chocolate cannoli and fruit gelees. Chef Nicolas Stefanelli has outdone himself with menus that capture his love of Italy’s slow cooking and local specialties. Brown butter sauce with corvina was exceptional, as was the foie gras—worth every dollar for this decadent mouthful. Wine pairings with the menu are fine, but there are also excellent choices by the glass and good local beers on tap. Save this place for a special occasion. —Johanna Mendelson Forman
Masseria is located at 1340 4th St NE.
THE RIGGSBY: The Riggsby, from the team behind Tico, transports guests into an upscale American dining room with a comforting, retro feel. There are few better places in the city to sip a Manhattan or a sazerac while snacking on a plate of cheese and crackers or deviled eggs topped with crispy chicken skins. The supper menu features everything from the classic burger to hearty roasted chicken with broccoli rabe. There are also plenty of fresh seafood options and desserts like strawberry shortcake and an ice cream sundae. Cocktail hour runs weekdays from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and includes several $6 aperitifs and $4 local draft beers. —Travis Mitchell
The Riggsby is locate at 1731 New Hampshire Ave NW.
Those pork buns. Photo by LaTur.
MOMOFUKU CCDC: I didn’t think it was possible, but the restaurant hype machine rose to stratospheric new heights with the opening of Momofuku CCDC, David Chang’s first foray into the D.C. restaurant scene. Perhaps you heard about those lines around the block, this kind of insane/kind of awesome interview, or those sweet, sweet pork buns. And while I don’t think any restaurant could ever live up to such extreme anticipation, those pork buns are pretty darn tasty. But not as tasty as the flaky biscuits with Sichuan peppercorn butter, which I would eat to sickness if money or decorum were no object. Aside from buns, the current menu is mostly focused on Chang’s signature noodle dishes, inspired by his time in Japan. The ramen and beef soup broths are mind-blowingly meaty—imagine drinking a steak or a pork chop and you get the idea—but there are also lighter items to be had, like spicy Korean fried catfish with lettuce wraps. Look, no pork bun is worth waiting two hours for, but once the furor dies down, I’m looking forward to seeing what creative ideas Chang has in store for us. —Alicia Mazzara
Momofuku is located at 1090 I St NW.
SALLY’S MIDDLE NAME: When Sally’s Middle Name opened this June, it appeared to be just another trendy new H Street bistro. But several things set it apart quickly: a relentless focus on seasonal ingredients that changes daily on the chalkboard menu and bold leadership in terms of paying a fair, living wage to all their employees with a flat 18% fee instead of tips. The intimate dining room and handsome bar are charming and unbelievably warm for a place that used to serve pizza by the slice. There are larger, protein-based items like braised beef brisket with parsley root and whole grain horseradish mustard. And then there are vegetable-based dishes like sunchoke soup with gremolata and fried sunchokes. Hopefully next year will see Sally’s with a liquor license so they can serve more than beer and wine. Either way, I look forward to familiar veggies coming back in season to see what they can do with them. —Josh Kramer
Sally’s Middle Name is locate at 1320 H St NE.
