Fridge Festival
Equinox chef shows some shelf reliance inside Carman's kitchen.
Young & Hungry By Tim Carman
Sandwich Bored
If bologna's fat Italian father can't save lunch, who can?
Young & Hungry By Tim Carman
Hard Times Cafe
News Bites from dining around town
Young & Hungry By Tim Carman
Family Style
Hank's Oyster Bar expands, but not at the cost of employees' home lives
Young & Hungry By Melissa McCart
Formaggio Meets Function
Hyattsville's Italian Inn still gets the magic of a well-made meatball.
Young & Hungry By Tim Carman
Wake Up Crawl
Does anyone eat breakfast anymore?
Young & Hungry By Tim Carman
Comida Central
Why are Salvadoran and Mexican cuisines forever entwined?
Young & Hungry By Tim Carman
Forsake the Dockside
Marina restaurant owners split; in Silver Sring, fine foods without a Whole lotta hassle
Young & Hungry By Tim Carman
The Right Stuff
If you want to learn how sausage gets made, you've pretty much got to teach yourself.
Young & Hungry By Melissa McCart
Teach Schnapps
Moe Harris instructs in the art of the drink.
Show & Tell By Amanda Hess
Seoul Meets Body
Dishing Expedition: Pages from a food critic's notebook
Young & Hungry By Tim Carman
Swiss Missed
How can miniature marshmallows hold their own against gourmet hot chocolate?
Young & Hungry By Tim Carman
Skull's Out
Done right, brains are the class of the head.
Young & Hungry By Tim Carman
Honor Thy Fava
In Alexandria, food from a real old town
Young & Hungry By Tim Carman
Restaurant Finder
Restaurants, Briefly
Café La Ruche
French
Georgetown: 1039 31st St. NW, Washington, DC
$$$$
The bee-themed Café La Ruche (“la ruche” means beehive in French) in Georgetown wins people over as much with its atmosphere as its food. “Charming cafe in Georgetown.” “Sitting outside under the warm autumn sun, sipping coffee with friends, and eating some fruit and chocolate tarts. There is nothing better than that.” “The atmosphere is great….Quite a few unhappy looking middle-aged couples seemed to brighten up after they were there a while.” Café La Ruche offers a brunch on both Saturday and Sunday. “I had a very enjoyable brunch. Food was excellent, croissants melted in your mouth. Excellent value for the money.” “Excellent quiche.” Service varies from “the wait staff needs a little work” to “it's a pretty large room and one waitress did it all without service delays. How does she do it!?” Ultimately, the telltale sign that this café is worth a visit: “Yes, it must be good because French-speaking people were patronizing it.”
Tastee Diner
Diner
Silver Spring: 8601 Cameron St., Silver Spring, MD
$$$$
The scrambled eggs are not fluffy; more than anything, they look like flat, ragged pieces of torn cloth as they lie there limply on the plate. The butter for the hot stack is the whipped, salted variety—from tiny plastic containers. And the stale, thin coffee tastes like it’s been extracted from yesterday’s grounds. So why do I love the Tastee Diner? Maybe it’s nostalgia for a time when chefs didn’t feel the need to brag about their local, seasonal ingredients. Maybe it’s a need to eat around people who don’t consider dinner at Central Michel Richard a “casual” meal. Maybe it’s just that sometimes I want to down a meal—and read a newspaper—without having to ponder every damn detail about it. It’s easy to do that in a place where Sysco serves as a main supplier. But the Tastee Diner also has history (the stainless-steel dining cab has been around since 1946 and the restaurant itself since 1935) and charm (the hon-heavy waitresses, the cheesy tchotchke collection) on its side, too. These things seem to make everything taste better, even burgers and fish plates and crab-cake platters that can’t even begin to compare with the best in town.
Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe
American
Dupont Circle: 1517 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC
$$$$
Kramerbooks & Afterwords offers a little bit of everything, for both before and during a meal. “It's great that the waiting area is a bookstore—you'll never get bored even if you have to wait a while.” “This is really a great restaurant for just about any occasion: date, dinner with friends, dinner with parents, anything. I've been for brunch, dinner, and dessert, and all were fabulous!” “Always dependable, Kramerbooks/Afterwords does a fine brunch in a wonderful location.” For dinner “I ordered the butternut squash ravioli with goat cheese—yum! Another dish was a jumbo crab cake over pasta with an Old Bay cream sauce.…The best dish by far was the Cafe Tagines with lamb—I don't usually eat much meat, but this lamb was wonderful.” “Afterwords entrees are hit-and-miss. But at $18 for three appetizers, getting the appetizer tray is a super bargain.” “And the portions are the perfect size—you'll have just enough room for dessert (and you'll definitely want it when you see what's in the display cases).” For those who want to stop by this Dupont Circle spot but don’t have an appetite, “They have some spectacular alcohol concoctions and a rather decent wine list.” Plus “the staff is very friendly.”
Nage
French
Downtown, Dupont Circle: Marriott Courtyard Embassy Row, 1600 Rhode Island Ave. NW, Washington, DC
$$$$
On Scott Circle, in the Marriott Courtyard Embassy Row, is Nage. The name may sound familiar; there’s another one in Rehoboth, Del. If Saturday night is your big night out, then Nage should be your Sunday deliverance. “Nage is absolutely fantastic for brunch, particularly if your Sunday morning needs include hangover help. If the bottomless mimosas and Marys…don't do it, the Kill It Skillet (truffled mac & cheese, potato sticks, chorizo, bacon, and a fried egg) will.” And for those feeling a little better, “The short menu includes…decadent French toast and an underrated but highly flavorful grouper.” Dinner sounds just as promising in an atmosphere that “was a small, intimate place with glowing reds that made me feel very cozy.” “We had the mushroom strudel, which was a simple preparation but with amazing flavor.” “We also had the baked oysters, which were very good but a little too strong in fennel for me.” For the entree “we selected the roasted halibut dish over gnocchi. This was out of this world! The halibut was cooked to perfection….Not to mention the Gnocchi was very light.” “Our server throughout the night was good. Very professional in approach.”
Bistro Bistro
Burgers/Bar Food, American
South Arlington, Arlington: 4021 S. 28th St., Arlington, VA
$$$$
Bistro Bistro in the Village at Shirlington probably isn’t the best place for special occasions, but it gets the job done. “Celebrated my birthday there. I wasn't looking for anything special and got just that.” For the “appetizer we had calamari, which I liked a lot. The French onion soup was too salty.... The tomato and fresh mozzarella dish was good. I loved the side of pesto sauce that came with it….Two people at the table got the crispy halibut on top of pesto risotto. Neither were that happy with it; I didn't care for it when I tasted it.” The service, on the other hand, is more dependable. “We had a guest arrive 45 minutes late and the waiter got her meal out pretty quickly after she arrived.” “Our waiter was very good.” Bistro Bistro offers “an impressive-looking Sunday brunch with reasonable—although not exceptional—food.” “The buffet is pretty typical: various salads, a couple of steam-table-friendly hot entrees (beef stew and chicken in a creamy sauce), soggy eggs Benedict, omelets and waffles made to order, and a dessert table that looks much better than it tastes.” “Would I go again? Oh probably. The location is convenient, the ambience relaxed, the appearance impressive. But would I go out of my way to go there? No, I don't think so.”
