No matter how many people tag along, I always wish there were more. The interior feels as alive as the man behind the menu. 2020 Fall Dining Guide by Tom Sietsema - Girasole No on-site seating. [Expect a warm welcome and dazzling dishes at Kinship in Shaw]. Riding shotgun: a tamal of housemade masa wrapped in Swiss chard. Dinner Tuesday through Saturday. to sushitaroTOGO@gmail.com. Forget its debut and feast on its much-improved second act. Designed for two, the feast can easily feed four a bountiful bargain. [If family-style takeout is on the menu, these 3 restaurants have a whole lot to offer]. And if the drinks taste true, credit goes to Dauphines spirits maven and co-creator Neal Bodenheimer, whose Cure bar in New Orleans helped fuel the countrys craft cocktail revolution. Foie gras glides to the linen-draped table with an elegant gteau cornbread (layered with foie gras buttercream), a reminder of where youre enjoying it. Ahn thinks of the dish as an enhanced juk, or Korean porridge. ) The ambiance feeds me as well as the kitchen. The pork meatballs are as fiery as ever, salads are created with the season in mind (cucumber tossed with cashews, smoked pecorino and chiles made summer more bearable), and dessert is as considered as everything that precedes it. Kinship is tasteful in all ways. The flat, crisp-chewy cakes blossom with a dollop of red pepper jelly. Co-owners Gerald Addison and Chris Morgan went through 50 iterations of jerk chicken before they found their ideal. Takeout and delivery. Harding insisted we stay for dessert. Maupillier, who spent six years cooking for the legendary Michel Richard, believes in braises and makes a compelling case with his Moroccan chicken, served beneath a protective and delicious cover of chicken jus flavored with cinnamon, coriander and cumin. Eggplant stars in a schnitzel topped with shaved fennel kraut that would be at home in Germany. Last winter, Blend 111 served meals in a parking lot turned Andean outpost. Owner Michael Biddick promises the return of the attractive heated space, along with one of my prized pandemic purchases from any restaurant: $12 blankets woven from cotton and recycled fibers. Frederik De Pue initially responded to the pandemic by opening a market based out of his restaurant and selling high-quality ingredients, such as LeBlanc hazelnut oil and Creekstone steaks, along with prepared meals. The sight of a tall hamburger being ferried through the long and narrow dining room has me rethinking my order, a thought dismissed as I tuck into tender hanger steak lapped with green peppercorn sauce. A host offers her a fresh shield from a basket inside, where shes led to her reserved table and handed how quaint a menu with a cloth-and-vinyl cover. Thats a lot," says the chef. Hes giving his clientele delicious incentive for putting some miles on their cars. One slice leads to another, and before you know it, you feel like youre the piggy which doesnt stop you from inhaling some butterscotch pudding before you waddle out. Brunch and dinner daily. Im talking banquettes the shade of marinara sauce, Sinatra on the soundtrack, chianti in straw-swaddled bottles and herby hot garlic bread presented with a four-cheese dunk. Wheelchair users are asked to call ahead so a ramp can be set out at the door; ADA-compliant restroom. Same for the earthy-sweet beets, which also get a stab of heat from jalapeos. His sentiment is mine as I unwrap steamed pork dumplings, as supple and juicy as Ive had them in the restaurant, and devour a fiery kimchi teeming with shredded Brussels sprouts and crisp apple. Dinner daily, lunch weekdays. Mezze $16-$25, shareable entrees $52-$65. Critic Tom Sietsema lists the 7 restaurants that are his current Red Hen adds a 20 percent gratuity to the bill then flags it with a highlighter for transparency. But we dont give back to staff., LEFT: Bartender Maurizio Arberi at Imperfecto in Washington. No matter what you think of the bridge between Latin America and the Mediterranean created by Enrique Limardo, you cant say he overpromised. Another is their preparation. Meat and potatoes take on new meaning when theyre given the Burmese treatment cooked with pungent herbs and garam masala and presented as a pleasantly sour beef curry. No bottle on the standing list is more than $43. Robert Sietsema's 15 Best Dishes of 2020 Our senior critic champions barbecued pork, a carbohydrate-only sandwich, and delicate scallop crudo eaten in a backyard garden by Robert Sietsema. Lunch and dinner Wednesday through Sunday, brunch Sundays. His pt is a world-class organ recital, his gnocchi the softest of pillows. How could you not want to eat that? a wide-eyed friend of Ethiopia says as dinner is brought out, half a dozen vivid vegetables and stews arranged on a swath of injera. Just ask the customers who ordered the Korean take on beef Wellington, swaddled in pork belly, for Christmas. One of the best reasons to reserve at brunch is the chance at pupusas, an idea of sous-chef Alberto Lopez, a native of El Salvador. The game-changer prefers to surprise customers and maybe change your mind.. The single best starter is a plate of calamari, sprinkled with semolina and fried to a fine crunch. Takeout, no delivery. Like a lot of us, Deshaies says he looks for vegetables when he eats out. We marvel as a waiter removes the bones from a plate of Norwegian sole with the precision of a surgeon. Delivery via DoorDash and Caviar, Afghan flagship is full of heart and heartiness. Youre a light in the dark. The welcome includes warm-from-the-clay-oven flatbread and sabzi, a plate of fresh herbs, radishes, walnuts and feta for grazing yours even when you order takeout. The appeal extends to the liquids and the hospitality: The $10 cocktails are improvements on throwbacks, and a spot on your shirt (hello, tomato sauce!) Delivery via DoorDash and Caviar, Chef Frank Ruta is cooking so much more than an expert tuna melt. served its first pie and makes an ace ambassador, asking strangers where theyre from and letting them try as many of the beers on tap as they want. Because your name, more than almost any other, comes up in practically every conversation Ive had with food fans about great takeout. But the restaurateurs are doing a four-star job of helping us navigate the pandemic with life rings including pizza and ice cream at Happy Gyro. Theyre labeled James (as in Beard) and Julia (as in Child). Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema entertains your dining questions, rants and raves. Hes right. Sure, you can roast a chicken at home. Its a kinder, gentler dining experience at Et Voila!, which might find House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) or Imperfecto chef Enrique Limardo at the next table. Diners can preorder for pickup Wednesday through Sunday with the option to dine there or take it to go. Sandwiches are iffy. Turns out shes as much an artist as a chef. Indoor and outdoor seating for dinner; indoor dining not available for breakfast or lunch. A: Tom Sietsema I've found Ethiopian stews, Indian curries, richer pastas and all manner of fish and seafood hold up well. Meanwhile, halibut sauced with coconut milk, curry leaf and green peppercorns, part of a collection of regional classics, is an invitation to south India. While it might seem ticklish to toast the restaurant scene, and some businesses are in flux as this issue goes to press, what better way to honor the community than by showcasing some of its best representatives? What always appears to be a full house well, full as defined by safety protocols suggests diners are digging the lot hes delivering. My visit featured grilled prawns and sweet scallops napped with two sauces one fruity with mango and raisins, another lobster bisque enriched with sun-dried tomato and staged with julienned snow peas that offered welcome crunch. Theres no more fetching kitchen in town than the open one at Albi Arabic for my heart surrounded by a mural of characters holding hands. Lately, Im crushing on slender maccheroni tossed with crumbled braised goat, green olives and lemon zest. The meat, carved into two chunks, rests on a whip of turnips and alongside carrot coins ignited with harissa. Next year around this time, De Pue hopes to open Henri, an 8,000-square-foot establishment named after his late Belgian grandfather, near the Warner Theatre. Takeout and delivery. It really ought to be in pictures. Chef Patrick OConnell maintains a destination for star gazers, News bulletin from chef Patrick OConnell: "Were at 99 percent capacity" in the guest rooms above and around the esteemed restaurant that remains one of a handful of Michelin three-star establishments in the country to remain open in the pandemic. People who had been planning to celebrate special occasions in Europe and elsewhere are booking domestically instead. The forest-green spinach kofta next to the dusky gold aloo gobi alongside the shocking red paneer chili begged for a frame. Her papaya salad prompts beads of sweat on ones brow, and her bouncy pork sausage, made with sticky rice, is deliciously sour after a spell fermenting in the cooler. Were reintroducing hospitality, says the restaurateur. march 5, 2020 / bloomberg . Incheon can be quiet enough that Ahn himself introduces the seven or so dishes that make up his tasting menu. The calm presence in the open kitchen? (334) 427-1696. Cue the sparkling tuna tartare, garnished with strips of nori and sharing its plate with a brushstroke of pureed avocado freckled with Korean chile flakes. At long last, Albi gets to the heart of Levantine cooking, For exceptional Korean food, book a table at Anju, fresh from being named one of this years best new chefs by Food & Wine. One of the best vegan memories in recent months is the chefs Blue Ridge bowl with local vegetables and basmati rice, over which a server pours an amber liquid that tastes like the distillation of a garden with a whisper of ginger. The dining room is dressed with gray chairs that hug you through a meal and panels from wooden wine boxes collected by the owner a salon for chowhounds. Shrimp in a sassy "cocktail" of tomato, lemon juice, black pepper and ginger salutes Mexico while China feels closer with every forkful of crisp green beans blasted with chile paste and finished with yuzu juice. Aaron Silverman, the visionary behind one of the most beloved dining destinations in Washington, says, Were not in the restaurant business, but the business of making people happy. Sure enough, dinner at Roses Luxury commences with light-but-luscious focaccia offered with housemade ricotta and accompanied by the kind of music you wouldnt mind as background to your life. Lunch Tuesday through Friday, dinner Wednesday through Sunday. (The crust is based on the one created by the owners father, who founded what became La Prima Food Group based in College Park.) Robert Sietsema's 15 Best Dishes of 2020 - Eater NY