A bowl of ramp risotto from 1789 (Photo by 1789 restaurant).
Dish of the Week: Ramps
Where to find it: 1789, Bibiana, BLT Steak, Ripple, Pizzeria Orso, Restaurant Eve:,
Birch & Barley
The cherry blossoms are past their peak and spring is in full swing in the District, which means now is the time to get your ramp on. Native Americans and Appalachian cooks have been enjoying this miniature wild onion in their kitchens for centuries, and there has been a growing food cult around this pungent spring green in recent years.
As food writer Josh Ozersky wrote, “The Church of the Ramp is one of the fastest-growing denominations in the religion of seasonality,” and for good reason. With a flavor sitting right between onions and garlic, adding ramps to a dish packs a delicious punch to the palate. But ramps are only available for a few short months each year in the Eastern U.S. and can only be foraged from the wild, which means eager eaters are grabbing them up while they can.
D.C.’s chefs are already embracing ramp season, which means the wild onion is appearing on a variety of local menus, albeit largely on the pricier ones. In Georgetown, 1789 (1226 36th St. NW) is combining wild ramps with seven-year-aged acquerello rice, coddled egg, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese to make a hearty wild ramp risotto. The bar menu at BLT Steak (1625 I St. NW) serves the green guys over dry aged beef kefta kaboabs with preserved blood orange and dill yogurt.
At Restaurant Eve (110 S Pitt St., Alexandria) you can get ramps on your sashimi (as part of a five-course tasting menu), while at Pizzeria Orso (400 S Maple Ave, Falls Church) they come on a Neapolitan pizza. There’s an amazing ramp Cacio e Pepe (cheese and pepper pasta) currently on the menu at Birch & Barley (1337 14th St. NW), and an Alaskan halibut with black garlic, green asparagus, and wild ramps at Ripple (3417 Connecticut Ave. NW). And at Bibiana (1100 New York Ave. NW) you can have your ramps two different ways, either ground into a pesto and smothered over stinging nettle and ricotta stuffed ravioli or as a topping for polenta crusted soft shell crabs with tonnato sauce.
Ramp season is over before you know it, so get your fill of little wild onions while you can.
