Diners can preorder for pickup Wednesday through Sunday with the option to dine there or take it to go. The staff, many of whom come from the well-regarded Fabio Trabocchi empire, are a poised and informed bunch. For the steamed crabs, Jones buys only live specimens from the Chesapeake Bay, which he plies with a seasoning blend that runs a dozen ingredients long. The server has been on board since Frankly Pizza! My solution: takeout or delivery, which never fails to erase a bad day, and not just because the spicy margaritas are top-shelf and true to their word. Lunch and dinner daily. The chef is a discerning shopper. Most guests are led to an open-sided white tent on a stone terrace, where the view of rolling green hills and a glimpse of the Potomac River vie with Badiees cooking for diners attention. Now do it. Diners decide between a couple of choices per course for all but the snacks, a trio of which are built from what the chef has on hand. My "experience" wont be yours; Flamants menu changes monthly. Owned by Alex Manfredonia, who brings fine dining experience from San Francisco, Vin 909 has the reception down pat. His pt is a world-class organ recital, his gnocchi the softest of pillows. And yes, the tour includes khachapuri, the shallow Georgian bread bowl that helped put Compass Rose on the map of food lovers. (Scott Suchman for The Washington Post) RIGHT: Rigatoni with sausage at the Red Hen in Washington. A ramp leads to the entrance, where a wheelchair user might need help with double doors; ADA-compliant restrooms. Its the Goldilocks of restaurants just right. Try it with the citys best collard greens and sweet-sticky plantains, and swoon away. Biscuits are baked every 30 minutes or so, and the side dishes are first-class. Of course, it was made there. Its a leftover from the previous occupant, Alba Osteria. Owner Javier Fernandezs advice for struggling restaurants: Keep it simple and "no shortcuts," says the chef, whose signature double-roasted pork belly remains every bit as garlicky and noisy as I remember it from my first heady encounter. Same for dominoes of roseate local beef accessorized with grilled broccoli, burned eggplant and a dollop of ketchup, brilliant with red pepper. Any meal is better if it includes roseate slices of beef tongue hot off the grill hotter with a dab of Japanese mustard and some cool punctuation in the form of kimchi cucumbers punched up with garlic and chile flakes. Tasting menu $60. Forget its debut and feast on its much-improved second act.]. I havent decided when, or whether, to bring back star ratings, but beginning Oct. 17, Im restoring sound checks to my reviews. Dinner $125 per person, Sunday supper $95. Three Blacksmiths invites more to the table. My current fascinations include crisp spring rolls bursting with shrimp, pork, wood ear mushrooms and taro root a truly filling filling a strapping stew of sweet potato noodles, sour mustard and squiggles of pork, and (new to the lineup) cumin lamb skewers. In honor of Independence Day in Mexico last month, Irabien featured chile en nogada, a roasted poblano pepper stuffed with a treasure trove of ingredients ground beef and pork, tomatoes, walnuts, peaches, onion and pooled with a creamy walnut sauce. So is a lot of fried food. Equally enticing are the prices: Only one of A&Js many dishes costs more than $13. Takeout Wednesday via website. He has also written for Food & Wine. Dinner Wednesday through Sunday, lunch weekends. Katherine excels at sweet endings. More allure comes by way of ivory dominoes of soft-crisp pork belly, fanned onto a plate shared with julienne radish kimchi, a pungent ssamjang (paste) made with walnuts, and spears of lightly pickled napa cabbage for wrapping the meat and condiments. A year like no other calls for a different dining guide. Rajoo adjusts the level with a combination of roasted black peppercorns and dried red chiles.
