A website devoted to eating in DC
You probably don’t remember what you were doing at noon on May 19, 2006. I do. I was waiting in line for Roberto Donna to strangle me.
Many of you know of Roberto Donna, who burst onto the Washington dining scene in 1984 when he opened Galileo at the impossibly young age of twenty-three. Galileo was such an immediate smash that ...READ MORE »
A halibut nearly broke up my marriage. Not intentionally, I suppose. He was dusted in porcini at the time and presumably unaware of the havoc he was creating around him. Still, the indisputable fact is that if he had never been born – indeed, if the whole halibut phylum had never evolved – my wife and I wouldn’t have been ...READ MORE »
I’m back. I hope you’ve missed me as much as I’ve missed you. I haven’t written anything since the lockdown started nineteen years ago. There hasn’t been a lot to report. My cooking skills have been reinvigorated. I can serve chicken thighs more ways than George Washington Carver served peanuts. But sometimes all I can scrounge up is some shriveled eggplant ...READ MORE »
Emilie’s, 1101 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington DC (Near Barrack’s Row) (posted December 9, 2019) Emilie’s has been open for less than two months and it’s already one of the toughest reservations in town. You could point to the inviting open kitchen or the welcoming staff, but at bottom there’s one reason for the crowds: the cooking of Chef Kevin Tien. For ...READ MORE »
The pace of DC restaurant openings never seems to slow. The conveyor belt is relentless. I’m eating as fast as I can but I can’t keep up. I’ve managed to report on several new places that I’ve loved recently like Seven Reasons, Cielo Rojo, and Mama Chang, but there are so many others that deserve attention. Just in ...READ MORE »
Posted September 15, 2019 I recently started a strict new diet with a single loophole: I can eat whatever I want for the blog. Which makes it the perfect time to put together my definitive rating of DC-area falafel shops. There’s nothing that makes a diet more bearable than a comprehensive survey of fried chickpea-fritter sandwiches. Stay tuned for next week’s ...READ MORE »
Rick Eats the Holy Land You know how football receivers sometimes have to make catches across the middle even though they know they’re going to get pummeled? That’s how I feel about this post. I just got back from Israel. And if you know my readership, you know that (1) a lot of them go to Israel regularly (I was last there ...READ MORE »
Mama Chang, 3251 Old Lee Highway, Fairfax VA (reviewed June 12, 2019) I just got back from dinner at Mama Chang in Fairfax. Let me start with the good news. Mama Chang is terrific. There’s a reason Tom Sietsema recently crowned it his #1 new restaurant in DC. While I may not place it quite that high, I have no ...READ MORE »
Now that a solid majority of the American people are running for the Democratic presidential nomination, it’s time to assess the field. You’ve probably seen the candidates’ positions on the issues of the day, from climate change to health care to Ted Cruz’s beard. But where are they on food? I don’t mean things like food safety or food security, ...READ MORE »
Amoo’s, 6271 Old Dominion Drive, McLean VA I came home from work last Thursday and suggested we drive to McLean for dinner. My kids’ first reaction was confusion. Dinner in Virginia? On a weeknight? You’d think I’d just asked them to hook up the Conestoga to set out for the Dakota Territories. But I held firm. The Persian restaurant Amoo’s had been ...READ MORE »