This post by DCist Food contributor Analiese Bendorf Since their 2005 inceptions, 14th Street, NW establishments Café Saint-Ex and sister restaurant, Bar Pilar, both headed up by Chef Barton Seaver, have been serving up satisfying fare to Washingtonians hungry for a pre-Black Cat bite or low-key weekend brunch. Seaver, as Todd Kliman recently reported, is bidding farewell to Café Saint-Ex and Bar Pilar, but fans of the chef’s casual cooking will be able to get…

Wabeck Leaving Firefly, Chittum Leaving Dish and Notti Bianche Tom reports in this week’s Dish that John Wabeck, executive chef of Firefly just south of Dupont Circle, is departing at the end of the month. Wabeck has been plating up fantastic dishes for years at Firefly, which is why it ranks as one of my favorite places. Now he’s decided that he might want to pursue, according to Tom, either “the wine thing,” or “the…

D.C. Battles It Out In The Kitchen One of Washington’s best food events, the Capital Food Fight, is a little over a week away, and I expect there is wanton smack-talking between the competition’s 10 food-fighters. Bebo’s Roberto Donna, Mie n Yu’s Tim Elliot, Kinkead’s Bob Kinkead, last year’s winner Ris Lacoste, Jamie Leeds of Hank’s Oyster Bar, Taberna del Alabardero’s Santi Zabaleta, John Wabeck of Firefly, IndeBleu’s Vikram Garg, Anthony Chittum from Notti Bianche,…

In a year full of high-profile restaurant openings, perhaps no restaurant’s opening was more highly anticipated among the foodie crowd than PS 7’s. Why? The Penn Quarter restaurant would pair former Vidalia chef Peter Smith with 2006 RAMMY award winner and former Notti Bianche general manager Danny Boylen. And how couldn’t that be a winner? Not much more than a month after its opening, we’ve heard through the grapevine that Boylen has parted ways…

Amid alcohol, music, rain, and a little glam rock style, the 2006 Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington awards — a/k/a the RAMMYs — were handed out last night at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Woodley Park. Fabio Trabocchi’s Maestro took home the Best Picture equivalent by winning the award for top Fine Dining Restaurant in the D.C. area, while tapas king Jose Andres earned Chef of the Year honors. Among the other victors were…

We of DCist Food are taking it easy (or at least easier) on the extra-rich, cream-laden, beautifully presented food over the next several days. It seems our epicurean slutiness has come to an end. Let’s face it: a week of three-coursing it at D.C.’s best restaurants is a high-speed merge onto the fat-ass freeway. But reminiscing about the best and worst is calorie-free, so here’s our chance (and yours) to give a rundown. As far…