Grilled octopus is one of those high risk, high reward foods. At its best, it can be transcendent — crunchy on the outside and meaty on the inside. Good octopus will have a bit of chew to it, like al dente pasta. But badly cooked octopus is like eating a rubber tire: you could gnaw on it for days and still not break down the tough muscles and connective tissues.

It’s been a delicious year in D.C. The city has seen a number of interesting new restaurants and eatieries, including spots like CommonWealth, Art and Soul, Cork Wine Bar, Adour, and Ray’s Hell-Burger. The DCist food staff got together to look back on their favorite dishes, desserts, and drinks of 2008. Cork served up one of Eric Denman’s favorites — Pernod-braised lamb. The dish is a tender pile of shredded lamb shank atop small flagelots…

Dish of the Week Moules frites from Granville Moore’s Mussels have popping up all over town in the past year, from Brasserie Beck to Marvin. But one of the big stories is the mussels at Granville Moore’s on H Street. So much so that Chef Teddy Folkman got challenged to a smackdown with Bobby Flay on Tuesday at the Argonaut. Everyone had been speculating that the event that was originally announced, a taping for…