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The District’s “culinary stature” may be on the rise, as the Washington Times gushes in a breezy overview of the city’s new gustatory zeitgeist. But its newest beacons still beam a bit less brightly, it seems, compared to places in more established foodie capitals. The September issue of Bon Appetit offers up its list of “Best New Restaurants in America 2011.” Brand-spankin’ new joints in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles—heck, even Robbinsdale, Minn.—merit a mention. No such love for D.C.
Y&H will graciously give the editors of Bon App the benefit of the doubt here and note that many of the District’s biggest debuts of the year—Graffiato, America Eats Tavern, Rogue 24, among others—didn’t officially open their doors until summer, which doesn’t provide a whole lot of time for the folks at Conde Nast to find their way out of the sprawling 4 Times Square cafeteria, book a trip on Acela and make it to D.C. before what I’m assuming is a pretty early magazine deadline. That must be it. The Sriracha mayo can’t be that much better on the West Coast. Can it?
Photo by Darrow Montgomery