Alta Strada pastry chef Alex Levin has a special menu of baked goods ready for Rosh Hashanah. (Photo by Alta Strada)
The ball drops for the Jewish people on September 19 to ring in year 5778. And each year, bars and restaurants across the city step up their brisket game to serve special dining menus. Here are five spots with some noteworthy holiday food.
Teddy & the Bully Bar (1200 19th St. NW) will be plating a three-course prix-fixe meal ($50) on September 20 and 21. Head chef Demetrio Zavala is cooking traditional dishes, like gefilte fish and matzah ball soup, classic grandma-style brisket, a local Virginia trout, and honey cake to finish. Reservations are recommended.
In Shaw, Dino’s Grotto (1914 9th St. NW) goes all in for the holidays, and this year is no different. Harking back to Italy’s ancient Jewish communities, chef and owner Dean Gold brings inspired internationalism with his dishes. He channels Silk Road flavors that landed in Italy, liberally sprinkling exotic spices into the meal. It begins with fresh antipasti like a fennel-orange salad, followed by duck-schmaltz matzo ball soup, mains like roast chicken with saffron, and a roasted Asian pear (instead of an apple), for dessert. The prix-fixe menu ($44) will be served September 20 and 21. The restaurant will also serve a pre-fast and break-fast meal as part of Yom Kippur observance.
Downtown, new Jewish deli On Rye (740 6th St. NW) has lots of offerings, from quiches and bagels to, yes, the shop’s famous cinnamon babka, including in French toast form. It’s bringing brunch to Rosh Hashanah to make suremMillennials feel included. Catering is available for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
And in Dupont Circle, DGS (1317 Connecticut Ave. NW), also working the Jewish deli-meets-trendy eatery divide, there’s a prix-fixe ($40) holiday dinner. Black truffle graces the buckwheat kasha appetizer, braised lamb gets a dousing of harissa, and dessert is a ricotta blintz. Catering is also available for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Finally, even though the holiday is millennia old, nothing’s stopping it from being part of a pop up. At Alta Strada DC (465 K St NW), celebrated pastry chef Alex Levin is baking up a sweet, sweet storm for pickup and delivery from September 19 through the 21. He’ll be making unique items like hazelnut chocolate crunch rugelach and classic honey raisin challah and apple butter honey cake. As part of the celebration, sister restaurants The Riggsby and Casolare will celebrate the Jewish New Year for an entire week, from September 20 through the 28 with a special appetizer of honey raisin challah, Honeycrisp apples, and local honey.
L’chaim!
