Image: Jurgen Schadeberg, A pub in the Gorbals area of Glasgow (1968). Getty Images.

In our weekly recap, there was one addition to our recommended restaurant list for D.C. and we revisited another treasured spot.  In dining news, Tom’s Fall Dining Guide is out, Maria Trabocchi is living her best life jetting around the world, and we continue to scratch our heads at the economics of the industry.  Read on for the full scoop!

Updates to Recommended Restaurant List

Added:

Qui Qui – The cute pop-up looks to hang on for a long run.  We think their Puerto Rican dishes are worth checking out.

Revisited:

Lapis – Afghan cuisine served in this neighborhood favorite continues to be a gem.

Re-opening:

Beuchert’s is back! The respected but still underrated spot on Capitol Hill converted its menu to sandwiches and adopted the Fight Club moniker.  Now they are reverting back to Beuchert’s, opening a sibling restaurant in the old Montmartre space, and looking for a way to keep the Fight Club project going.  That is a lot to juggle, and we hope the optimistic posture is justified and rewarded.

D.C. Dining News

Tom’s Fall Dining Guide is out.  The thing that jumped out to us is that it has a lot of places outside D.C. proper.  Also, to be slightly self-justifying, it is not a comprehensive dining guide.  It is essentially a semi-annual version of the Eater DC 38 Essential Restaurant list.  Why the Post has not done a better job of compiling the work of Tom and Tim into a single online guide is difficult to understand, unless they think no one wants that anymore.  Which, among other reasons, may explain, our lack of traction.  In the meantime, we will stick with our current motto:  the best way to find a great place to eat in D.C.

For those following Maria Trabocchi on Instagram, she has been busy in Madrid opening a new Hard Rock hotel and often making flights to Somalia, but it wasn’t quite clear what she was doing in that remote location.  Washingtonian has the story.

Washingtonian also has a list of fifty – FIFTY! – new places that are scheduled to open soon in the area.  The economics of the industry are confusing currently.

To wit: Laura Hayes has a story on the quality of life issues restaurant owners are addressing to retain staff.  If you need more proof the team at Queen’s English deserve your support you now have it.

Keeping up with the blogs, Lori of Been There Eaten That checked out Reveler’s Hour and not surprisingly “fell hard” for it.  We will say again, the idea that there is investor money for fifty new restaurants in the queue and Reveler’s Hour – an already built, stocked, staffed, lauded place – can’t get the funds they need to keep going long term is absurd.

Odds and Ends

The 50 Best Restaurants event was held in Antwerp.  At least one local gourmand was in attendance.  There was a great surprise when Noma won. Who could have possibly guessed that? Every U.S. restaurant listed is in NYC or the the greater Bay Area.

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That’s it for this week.  As always, if this puts you in the mood to dine out in D.C., we can help you find a place. Our guide has 300 plus recommended restaurants that you can sort by cuisine, neighborhood, and current operating status (dine-in and/or take-out, etc.) in either LIST or MAP format.

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