While most of Twitter was live-tweeting the Emmys last night, D.C. was enjoying a virtual awards ceremony of its own — and ours didn’t need a fire extinguisher. The Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington’s annual RAMMY awards were a rare moment of celebration for local restaurants amid their sixth month of diminished service during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Organizers did their best to make up for the absence of the usual glitzy ceremony at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. A handful of media personalities rotated presenting duties, and some winners sent in pre-taped acceptance speeches. Others emerged for (socially distant!) interviews with The Tommy Show hosts Tommy McFly and Kelly Collis, who were stationed at a “winners circle” at National Harbor.

Shawn Townsend, D.C.’s director of nightlife and culture, started the night on the red carpet by announcing a $6,000 grant from D.C.’s Office of Nightlife and Culture to help restaurants prepare for winter with heaters, tents, and other infrastructure. Kathy E. Hollinger, president of RAMW, noted the number of restaurants that have pivoted to offer takeout or delivery following D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s shutdown order in March. Though restaurants have since expanded with outdoor and limited indoor dining under the region’s phased reopening, dozens have closed permanently under the financial strain.

Hollinger and other presenters made frequent references to the coronavirus pandemic that has devastated the local hospitality industry, but one win threw this into sharpest relief. Poca Madre, associated with three nominations this year, picked up a trophy for Upscale Casual Restaurant of the Year, less than two weeks after the Mexican restaurant in Penn Quarter announced it would close permanently.

“Poca Madre was a restaurant completely supported and inspired by the people who worked there, by the family that put so much into it,” chef and owner Victor Albisu said in a recorded acceptance speech. “To all the restaurant people out there, we wish you resilience and love and hope to see you soon out and about again.”

Other big winners included Cane, chef Peter Prime’s Trinidadian restaurant on H Street, which took home the trophy for New Restaurant of the Year. Angel Barreto, chef of Anju, won Rising Culinary Star of the Year, and Anju’s sister restaurant CHIKO was awarded Casual Restaurant of the Year for its Capitol Hill location.

Meanwhile, another rising D.C. culinary star, Paola Velez, was awarded Pastry Chef of the Year for her work at Kith/Kin. Since her nomination, she’s moved over to Compass Rose and Maydan, where she’s serving as executive pastry chef.

“D.C. restaurants make D.C. rich,” she said at the winners circle. “Anything I can do to make D.C. a better place, to make the restaurant industry a better place is my life’s calling.”

Our usual reminders about the RAMMYS still apply: Only restaurants that are dues-paying members of RAMW are eligible for most awards, and winners are not eligible in the same category for another five years after they take home the trophy. For most categories, restaurants must have been open a year to be eligible. (One exception is New Restaurant of the Year.) An anonymous judges panel decides most of the winners, except for four that are decided by public vote.

Organizers interspersed the awards with videos from past winners, offering well wishes to nominees. Ana Deshaies, last year’s winner for Pastry Chef of the Year, seemed to sum up the general sentiment of the night in her video: “It’s a bummer that this year we cannot get drunk together.”

See more winners below. Winners are in bold, and categories voted on by the public are indicated with an asterisk.

New Restaurant of the Year

• Anju
• Cane
• Emilie’s
• Punjab Grill
• Rooster & Owl

Rising Culinary Star of the Year

• Marcelle Afram, Maydan
• Faiz Ally, Poca Madre
• Angel Barreto, Anju
• Jocelyn Law-Yone, Thamee
• Yuan Tang, Rooster & Owl

Casual Restaurant of the Year

• Bantam King
• CHIKO-Capitol Hill
• Duke’s Counter
• Little Pearl
• Stable

Upscale Casual Restaurant of the Year

• Centrolina
• Chloe
• Maydan
• Poca Madre
• Unconventional Diner

Formal Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year

• Gravitas

• Pineapple and Pearls
• Rasika West End
• The Conservatory at Goodstone Inn
• Three Blacksmiths

Chef of the Year

• Matt Baker, Gravitas
• David Deshaies, Unconventional Diner
• Haidar Karoum, Chloe
• Ryan Ratino, Bresca
• Kevin Tien, Emilie’s

Restaurateur of the Year

• Victor Albisu; Poca Madre, Taco Bamba Taqueria
• Bo Blair, Georgetown Events (The Bullpen, Due South, Jetties, Millie’s, Surfside)
• Mark Fedorchak, Stephen Fedorchak, and Brian Normile, The Liberty Tavern Group
• Yama Jewayni, Katsuya Fukushima, and Daisuke Utagawa, Daikaya Group
• Aaron Silverman; Rose’s Luxury, Pineapple and Pearls, Little Pearl

Pastry Chef of the Year

• Caitlyn Dysart, Centrolina
• Olivia Green, Rooster & Owl
• Katherine Thompson, Thompson Italian
• Meagan Tighe, Trummer’s
• Paola Velez, Kith/Kin

Cocktail Program of the Year

• China Chilcano
• Colada Shop – DC
• Officina
• Royal
• Service Bar

Beer Program of the Year

• B Side
• Caboose Brewing Co. – Vienna
• Franklin Hall
• Roofers Union
• Sweetwater Tavern – Centreville

Wine Program of the Year

• Clarity
• Field & Main
• Primrose
• St. Anselm
• The Wine Kitchen – Frederick

Upscale Brunch of the Year*

• Bindaas – Cleveland Park
• Estadio
• Seasons at the Four Seasons DC
• St. Anselm
• Trummer’s

Casual Brunch of the Year*

• All-Purpose Shaw
• Casolare Ristorante + Bar
• Liberty Barbecue
• Pearl Dive Oyster Palace
• The Tavern at Ivy City Smokehouse

Favorite Fast Bites of the Year*

• Call Your Mother Deli – Park View
• Kuya Ja’s Lechon Belly
• RASA
• Shouk
• Sloppy Mama’s BBQ

Favorite Gathering Place of the Year*

• Brookland’s Finest
• Lapis
• Quarry House Tavern
• Stomping Ground
• The Salt Line

Employee of the Year

• Yesenia Neri Diaz, Espita Mezcaleria
• Isael Granados, Roofers Union
• Yasmin Orozco, Taco Bamba Taqueria, Springfield
• Kyare Turner, Right Proper Brewing Co.
• Jose Ventura, Rasika

Manager of the Year 

• Jamal Flowers, Rockland’s Barbecue and Grilling Co., Alexandria
• Charlie Idol, Mission Navy Yard
• Rizza Leguro, Founding Farmers Tysons
• Jeremy Mancuso, Old Ebbitt Grill
• Bethany Wagener, Alta Strada, Mosaic

Service Program of the Year

• Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak, and Stone Crab
• Ristorante Piccolo
• Rose’s Luxury
• St. Anselm
• The Red Hen

Joan Hisaoka Allied Member of the Year

• Coastal Sunbelt Produce
• Congresssional Seafood Company
• Ecolab
• Saval Foodservice
• TriMark Adams-Burch

Regional Food and Beverage Producer of the Year

• Arcadia Farm
• Atlas Brew Works
• Ayrshire Farm
• Bluejacket Brewery
• Logan Sausage Co.