Chefs traded in their white coats for suit jackets last night to celebrate the 2023 RAMMY Awards,  and some of the most prestigious honors at the annual local restaurant industry awards went to chefs without a traditional brick-n-mortar, including Marcelle Afram of Shababi Palestinian Rotisserie Chicken and Kevin Tien of now closed Moon Rabbit. Given their accolades, that may not be the case much longer.

This year’s soiree, hosted by local trade group Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington and held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, was RAMW President Shawn Townsend’s first as host. He’d previously been D.C.’s “night mayor” but took over RAMW after Kathy Hollinger stepped down in 2022. Townsend added his own touches to the decades-old gala, including go-go band, open seating, and more lounge areas hosted by individual sponsors.

The event had a Las Vegas vibe to it, from the bright neon lights to the buffets and the artists painting live outside the ceremony. There was karaoke after the main ceremony (surprisingly one of the quieter places in the convention center, compared to everywhere else, where the DJ’s set was blaring). There were also plenty of lines for those buffets and the bars, which perhaps should come as no surprise given the 2,000-plus crowd of industry people.

The RAMMYs aren’t just for people in the restaurant industry. Politicians and PR types were also in attendance, glad handing or even dancing. Former Ward 4 Councilmember Brandon Todd was spotted doing both, simultaneously. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser spoke at the top of the ceremony. She encouraged restaurateurs to open businesses east of the Anacostia River, which has few restaurants compared to the rest of the city, and announced a restaurant component to the multi-day Art All Night festival. Participating restaurants are expected to offer special menu items, among other surprises, per the event’s website.

Aside from the perfunctory schmoozing, the RAMMYs do give restaurant staff recognition for their hard work in an industry that can be grueling and thankless. Many winners are grateful for the chance to walk on stage to thank their colleagues and the culture that inspired them.

Afram, a trans Palestinian-American chef who helms Shababi, won Rising Culinary Star of the Year. A teary-eyed Afram was shaking as they held their trophy, overcome with joy.

“This just feels bigger than me,” Afram told DCist/WAMU at the ceremony. “It really feels like the communities I come from really need wins like this.”

Afram used to be the head chef at Bluejacket Brewery and Maydan, but now heads their own food concept with Shababi. They wanted to focus on Palestinian food, and so now host pop-up events across the region. They’re still looking for a physical space for Shababi, one that would enable their ideal workplace, where every staff member earns a liveable salary and has an ownership share in the business. Afram says they recently walked away from a deal with a landlord because their visions didn’t align.

“We want to make sure that it is not just like equitable for everyone that works there, but people can really thrive financially,” says Afram.

Another winner in search of a brick-n-mortar: Tien, of the now shuttered Moon Rabbit, who won Chef of the Year. Moon Rabbit was until recently located in the Wharf InterContinental Hotel, but the chef and hotel company parted ways in May amid a union drive at the restaurant. (Many of the restaurant workers believed the hotel pushed Tien out in an effort to undermine their organizing efforts, which the company denies. In the end, the workers who still cook at the hotel successfully unionized.)

Tien is in search of a physical home for Moon Rabbit, but he’s also being really intentional about that search, having learned from rushing into past opportunities, he told DCist/WAMU after accepting the award. So in the meantime, he’s hosting food pop-ups at local restaurants.

Last night’s Chef of the Year win was great motivation to keep going, he said. Chef Rob Rubba of Oyster Oyster, who just won big at the James Beard Awards, presented Tien his trophy because he received the title at last year’s RAMMYs.

“This wouldn’t be possible without the Moon Rabbit team,” says Tien. “I’m going to do my hardest to make sure that the gang’s all back together.”

Other notable wins include Teresa Velazquez of Baked and Wired, who took home Pastry Chef of the Year; Peruvian restaurants Causa/Amazonia, which got New Restaurant of the Year; and Rose Previte of Compass Rose, Maydan, and Kirby Club, who was named Restaurateur of the Year — a rare woman winner in that category.

“We could not have imagined this in our wildest dreams. We just wanted to share our culture and our cuisine with people,” Causa/Amazonia general manager Alex Bazán told DCist/WAMU. “Everybody was incredibly receptive to it.”

See the full list of winners and nominees below. Winners are listed in bold. Most of the awards are decided by an anonymous panel of people who work in food and food media. A few categories are chosen by the public — and in those categories, nominees did not need to be RAMW members. Those categories are Favorite Gathering Place, Best Brunch, Best Bar, Favorite Fast Bites, and Hottest Sandwich Spot.

Joan Hisaoka Allied Member of the Year:

• Ecolab
• Harmony Group
• Keany Produce and Gourmet
• MarginEdge
• Saval Foodservice

New Restaurant of the Year:

• Bar Ivy
• Causa/Amazonia
• Nama Ko
• Opal
• Rania

Cocktail Program of the Year:

• Jane Jane
• Salt
• Service Bar
• Silver Lyan
• The Green Zone

Beer Program of the Year:

• Boundary Stone
• Lost and Found
• The Midlands Beer Garden
• Shelter
• Solace

Wine Program of the Year:

• Era Wine Bar
• Lulu’s Wine Garden
• Primrose
• Reveler’s Hour
• St. Anselm

Rising Culinary Star of the Year:

• Marcelle Afram, Shababi Palestinian Rotisserie Chicken
• Masako Morishita, Perry’s
• Kat Petonito, The Duck & The Peach, La Collina, The Wells
• Jessica and Alfredo Solis, Anafre, Mariscos 1133, Mezcalero
• Elias Taddesse, Mélange, Doro Soul Food

Favorite Gathering Place:

• Chef Geoff’s
• Crazy Aunt Helen’s
• Moby Dick House of Kabob
• Ruthie’s All Day
• Tiki on 18th/The Game Sports Pub

Best Brunch:

• Circa
• Founding Farmers
• Maiz64
• Seasons at Four Seasons
• Urban Roast

Best Bar:

• Exiles
• Ivy and Coney
• McClellan’s Retreat
• Metrobar
• Tap99

Favorite Fast Bites:

• Chef Skip 202
• RASA
• Roaming Rooster
• Spice Kitchen West African Grill
• Stellina Pizzeria

Hottest Sandwich Spot:

• Compliments Only
• Fight Club
• FishScale
• Grazie Grazie
• Soko Butcher

Employee of the Year:

• Kodjo “Olivier” Etenda, The Popal Group
• Crescencio Martinez, All Purpose Shaw
• Nabil Moussa, Le Diplomate
• Guillermo Mendoza, The Red Hen
• Veronica Rodriguez, Truluck’s Ocean’s Finest Seafood

Manager of the Year:

• Brittany Dye, Circa Foggy Bottom
• Christine Kim, Service Bar
• Snjezana Jaksic, Ambar Clarendon
• Javier Perez, Jaleo
• Cesare Sanchez, Maiz64

Service Program of the Year:

• Chef Geoff’s
• Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab
• Lutèce
• Reveler’s Hour
• Unconventional Diner

Casual Restaurant of the Year:

• Bammy’s
• Destino
• Maketto
• Pennyroyal Station
• Tonari

Upscale Casual Restaurant of the Year:

• Anju
• Dauphine’s
• L’Ardente
• Moon Rabbit
• Rooster and Owl

Pastry Chef or Baker of the Year:

• Rochelle Cooper, The Duck & The Peach, La Collina, The Wells
• Sam Cooper, Bread Alley, Le Diplomate, St. Anselm
• Bridie McCulla, Liberty Restaurant Group
• Mary Mendoza, Bantam King, Hole in the Wall, Tonari
• Teresa Velazquez, Baked and Wired, A Baked Joint

Formal Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year:

• Blue Rock
• Jônt
• Oyster Oyster
• The Dabney
• Xiquet by Danny Lledó

Chef of the Year:

• Matt Adler, Caruso’s Grocery
• Matt Conroy, Lutèce
• Ryan Ratino, Bresca, Jônt
• Jon Sybert, Tail Up Goat, Reveler’s Hour
• Kevin Tien, Moon Rabbit

Restaurateur of the Year:

• Kyle Bailey, Jon Ball, Jeremy Carman, Gavin Coleman, and Paul Holder, Long Shot Hospitality
• Greg Casten and Tony Cibel,  Fish and Fire Food Group
• Andrew Dana and Daniela Moreira, Timber Pizza, Call Your Mother, Turu’s, Mercy Me
• Zubair, Omar, Fatima, and Shamim Popal, The Popal Group
• Rose Previte, Compass Rose, Maydan, Kirby Club