Image: Robert Capa “Le Café de Flore” (July 1952) © Robert Capa.
On Friday bars and nightclubs in the District that did not qualify for full capacity as a restaurant were able to open to 100%. Something we celebrated with our Saturday art posting. It was a busy week on the site and in the D.C. dining world, so on to the recap!
Updates to the Recommended Restaurant List
Added:
Moon Rabbit – Chef Kevin Tien took over the old Kith/Kin space and we are all happy about it.
Muchas Gracias – Chef Christian Irabién’s plans for a bold fine dining spot in La Cosecha fell through. He shifted to doing classic Mexican in a tiny spot that serves up good food while doing good.
Immigrant Food – Another “cause casual” spot, this one from Chef Enrique Limardo. He has designed bowls that draw on global flavors and supports NGOs that serve the immigrant community.
Other Updates:
2 Amy’s – Opens up the dining room! And eliminates tipping.
Other News
Laura Hayes has been our favorite journalist on the food beat. She covers the backstories, culture, and economics of the dining world along with the openings. This week she celebrated five years at Washington City Paper by putting out the annual food issue. This year’s focus was on dough. For those unable to discern the clear subtext: give her more dough.
The old Oval Room space is now a French spot called La Bise. Ashok Bajaj still owns the spot, but refreshed the concept, space and brought in a new chef. Before it opens next weekend, we should tip our hat to Bryan Moscatello who was doing good work at Oval Room before it closed and now has moved onto greener pastures.
The long-awaited opening of Oyster, Oyster for dine-in also happens later this week. The plant-focused menu from Rob Rubba has been selling out in the take-out era. Can hardly wait to see what he does with summer produce and sit-down dining.
Eater DC apparently had a contest to keep adding a word or phrase to a headline to make it less appetizing. The winner: A ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ Finalist Is Opening a Giant Italian Restaurant in Tysons Corner. The subtitle piles on: “Chef Declan Horgan is working with the owner of Texas Jack’s on a “nouveaux ranch” restaurant that will serve pizza, pasta, and seafood.”
Buffalo Billiards is now a mini-golf course.
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That’s it for the week. If you read this far, please give us a follow so we don’t have to track you down each week. We are on FB, Insta, and Twitter. Click on the icons at the top or bottom of this page.
Don’t forget to use our dining guide for D.C. with reckless abandon. There are 300+ 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.