F&W Taps Miller, Shields for Best New Chefs 2010

(Image: Melany Bundy Mullens)

Last night, Food& Wine named its Best New Chefs for 2010–a culinary who’s who which includes Trummer’s on Main toque Clayton Miller (above left) and Town House chef John Shields (above right).

Other local BNC alumni include Cathal Armstrong (2006) and Dale Reitzer (1999).

We’ve trumpeted the epicurean daring of Miller and Shields (and the wisdom of their respective restaurants for bringing them aboard) in the pages of our magazine, and are glad to see our national peers honor the exemplary cooking taking place around the Commonwealth.

Congrats chefs! Enjoy your trip to Aspen!

–Warren

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Tags: awards, Clayton Miller, Food & Wine, Gut Check, hospitality industry, John Shields, Northern Virginia Magazine, restaurants, Town House, Trummer's on Main, Warren Rojas

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Peruvian Cuisine, Flying High

For those who haven’t heard, Peruvian cooking–the charge being led by rising star restaurateur Gaston Acurio–is the “IT” flavor on the tip of everyone’s tongues.

Case in point: the airline pilot in the following clip devotes the first minute of his prearrival instructions alerting Lima-bound travelers to the signature dishes of the “gastronomic capital of the world”:

(Video: DarkAntrax)

The pilot trumpets a host of traditional specialties, from global favorites like citrus-splashed ceviche and mouthwatering pollo a la brasa to indigenous treats like suspiro (an ultra rich blend of meringue and dulce de leche) and anticuchos (grilled beef heart).

No word on which airline dispensed the patriotic dining advice. But confidence is high the exuberant travelers availed themselves of the best the country has to offer.

–Warren

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Tags: anticuchos, capital gastronomica del mundo, food, Food & Wine, Gaston Acurio, gastronomic capital of the world, Gut Check, Lima, Northern Virginia Magazine, Peru, Peruvian cuisine, pisco, pollo a la brasa, Saveur, Travel, Warren Rojas, YouTube

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Just for Fun … A Quick Refresher Course

Dating Humor: Dinner Date Master Class Courtesy: videojug.com

A friend of mine recently ended a long-term relationship and remarked that it had been so long, he’d forgotten most dating etiquette. To help him out (and to have a few laughs), I tracked down this video with a few helpful reminders. What I find most funny about is that I’ve seen many of the “Don’t’s” take place while dining with friends.

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Tags: Dating, Dinner, etiquette, Food & Wine, Northern Virginia Magazine, Videojug.com

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Brainfood Grill-Off Recap

Last week we introduced you to Teddy Folkman, executive chef at Granville Moore’s and finalist on this season’s “The Next Food Network Star.” In passing we mentioned Teddy’s involvement in Brainfood, a D.C.-based non-profit that “uses food and cooking as tools to teach life skills and healthy living to teenagers in a safe and positive environment.”

Well, last Thursday (I know I’m late getting this up, please forgive me!) was Brainfood’s Third Annual Grill Off. Held at the Decatur House, the event featured nine area chefs who each captained a team of amateur chefs and Brainfood students. Competing teams had one hour to create two original dishes from a surprise pantry of fresh ingredients; dishes were judged by a panel of foodies. While there, I caught up with Teddy, Vermilion’s Anthony Chittum, The Majestic’s Shannon Overmiller, ABC 7’s Leon Harris (who was the event’s MC), and Brainfood student Vanessa Castro.

According to Brainfood’s executive director Paul Dahm, the event was projected to raise nearly $60,000. Thanks to contributions from participants, guests and other donors, 100 percent of the proceeds will go directly to Brainfood.

In addition to competing, Folkman also raised nearly $8,000 during a live auction. The item up for bids? Folkman cooking dinner at your home for six people. As the bidding increased, Folkman began to include members of his staff. In the end, Folkman committed the services of his beer master, general manager, chef de cuisine, and sous chef to come to the winner’s home to prepare a meal for six. When the bidding came down to two finalists, Folkman decided to do both dinners.

Note: Originally I had planned to post the audio for each of the interviews, but it being a party and all, the background noise was too loud to do that. So, on to the interviews!

Afterwards, Folkman reflected on his team’s performance.

“We had a really great team. It went excellent, our student was pretty bad ass, every single person contributed,” Folkman said. “It was all about team work tonight. It was nice to sit back in a pseudo kitchen and give orders. I hope we did well. We did a rare seared tuna with a ragout of grilled vegetables and a coconut curry sauce. We’ll see what the judges say, but right now we’re all winners because we had such a good time.”

Asked what kind of response he’s gotten now that “The Next Food Network Star” has premiered, Folkman couldn’t help but laugh.

“The response has mainly been, ‘what were you doing wearing that orange shirt?’ and ‘I can’t believe you cooked raw potatoes.’ It’s been mostly positive. I have to make sure I don’t wear that shirt again in public. But as a guy known for his frites, potatoes, there could have been some creative editing done by the Food Network or they really could have been raw. But an hour and a half in the oven, I don’t know. You can bake a potato in less time than that, but they are the experts so whatever.”

Reflecting on his seven years involved with Brainfood, Folkman said, “Brainfood’s a big part of my life. … I’ve seen the hard times, I’ve seen the great times, tonight has definitely been one of those great times. I’d like to one day be on the board of directors. I plugged Brainfood as much as possible in “Star;” hopefully the editors will keep some of it in there. You look around and see all the chefs around here. Hopefully we’ll get them all back to volunteer throughout the year.”

Folkman’s student-chef Vanessa Castro never envisioned herself as a chef; her dream had always been to be a forensics scientist, but now, “the possibilities are endless.” Throughout the year, Castro and the other Brainfood students benefited from guest chefs, like Folkman, to teach them through lectures, cooking classes and field trips.

“We worked on our knife skills and learned to cook different cultural foods. … I got involved through my high school, it got my community service hours and have been able to meet people from new schools.”

For first-time Brainfood participant Majestic’s executive chef, Shannon Overmiller, the cause is close to her heart.

“I think it’s a great cause. It’s really important,” Overmiller said. “My background was not normal. I lost my parents when I was young. So I had a little bit of a struggle to get through and I needed help getting through everything I got through. So, I think this is the right opportunity for those that want it and see it and I would be more than honored to be a part of that.”

Asked how her team fared, Overmiller laughed. “We went a little riskier than some, we saw a lot of great ingredients get taken off the board,” she said. “We started with some calamari, then used the tentacles as stuffing with herbs, capers, olives, stewed tomatoes and balsamic white wine. Then added a white balsamic glaze and put it over a bed of artichokes, hearts of palm, and mixed greens.”

Vermillion’s Anthony Chittum, also a first-timer to Brainfood, took time away from opening Columbia Firehouse in Old Town after feeling  compelled to sign up after reflecting to his start in food.

“I had just recently heard about the organization,” Chittum said, still sweltering from the grill’s heat. “It’s something that’s close to me, I grew up working in kitchens, working for chefs. I learned a lot, even as a dishwasher I learned about more than cooking, just life in general. This group centers around that and it’s a great thing.”

As for ABC 7’s Harris, this is his third year as the Master of Ceremonies and he can’t wait for next year.

“I love this group,” Harris said, mid-sprint from the stage to his car, attempting to make it to work on time. “It’s a good way to reach kids by sneak attack. They don’t know they’re learning. I’ve only seen a handful of programs like that and this exemplifies that. This is my third year doing the fundraiser; it’s been a blast the whole way.”

-Stephen Ball

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Tags: ABA 7, Anthony Chittum, Brainfood, Brainfood Grill Off, Food & Wine, Granville Moore's, Leon Harris, Northern Virginia Magazine, Reznick Group, Shannon Overmiller, Teddy Folkman, The Majestic, The Next Food Network Star, Vermillion

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We’ve Got a Horse in This Race!

Not sure if any one else caught the season premiere of the Bravo Network’s “Top Chef-Masters” last night.  A spin-off of the wildly popular reality cooking show that has introduced us to local favorites Carla Hall and Spike Mendelsohn, “Masters” pits more high-profile, experienced chefs against each other all in the name of charity.

Though the obvious drawback is the absence of host Padma Lakshmi, “Masters” is every bit as entertaining and a bit more lighthearted (at least early on). In each of the first five episodes, four chefs compete to move on to the “Champions Round” with the winner receiving a $100,000 donation to the charity of their choice.

What’s interesting about this season is that the level of experience has been ratcheted up. Instead of relative unknowns battling to gain notoriety and the opportunity to own their own restaurant, each of these chefs are award winners with multiple restaurants. What’s also interesting is that many of these chefs have not had to compete in quite some time, if ever, and are every bit as nervous and prone to error as the regular contestants.

Last night’s quick fire, the bane of every chef’s existence, dessert, was uninspired but did make the master chefs extremely uncomfortable. The highlight of the episode had to be Texas chef Tim Love accidentally putting all his food in the freezer (thinking it was a refrigerator).

In the elimination challenge, the chefs were forced to cook in college dorm rooms with only a microwave, hot plate and toaster oven. San Fransisco chef Hubert Keller made macaroni and cheese, using a shower head to chill and then reheat his macaroni noodles. Innovative, yes … sanitary … um, probably not.

What I really enjoy about shows like this is pulling for the local contestant, and this season is no different. Art Smith, best known as Oprah’s personal chef, is the chef/owner in the District’s “Art and Soul” which features Smith’s southern roots combined with decades of southern cooking. 

Smith won’t say how he fared in his foray into reality television because the episode has yet to air. But keep an eye out for Smith and other master chefs each Wednesday night on Bravo.

-Stephen

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Tags: art and soul, art smith, carla hall, Food & Wine, Northern Virginia Magazine, padma lakshmi, Reality TV, spike mendelsohn, top chef masters

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Blazin’ Burgers on Any Budget

By Warren Rojas / Photography by James Kim

Good news, hardcore burger enthusiasts: The world now appears to be your built-to-order, fully dressed oyster.

While steak dinners seem to be fading (fast) from our culinary lexicon with every triple-digit plunge of the Dow (bear markets have bottoms, don’t they?), burger mania continues to spread like wildfire, sparking interest among celebrity chefs and starry-eyed restaurateurs alike.

So, where should Joe Six-Pack go to feed that burger need?

We’ve compiled a hit list of well-within-your-means deals—ranging from daily treats (anytime) to grandiose productions (big time) —guaranteed to make your mouth water.

Cutting back never tasted so good.

$5 AND UNDER
Five Guys
Multiple NoVa locations; www.fiveguys.com.
Average entree: Under 12 ($). Open for lunch and dinner daily.

They’ve been in business for going on 23 years. Have opened nearly 400 locations. And give away somewhere in the neighborhood of 30,000 pounds of free peanuts each and every day.

It’s all a numbers game to the folks at Five Guys, arguably the most successful burger franchise to ever spring from within the Beltway.

Company president Jerry Murrell makes no bones about giving all the credit for the booming burger dynasty to his five sons—Jim, Matt, Chad, Ben and Tyler (the flesh-and-blood founders behind the quirky title). 
“I gave them the money … but they opened the [first] store and ran it,” Murrell said of his visionary spawn.
And not much has changed since.

“We’re really fanatical about the few things we do,” he stated, pointing to the seemingly intractable menu of four core burgers (hamburger, cheeseburger, bacon burger, bacon cheeseburger; all available as single or double stacks) as proof of their conservative credentials.

Although they’ve branched out significantly since their early days as a carryout-only operation in Arlington, every Five Guys store currently operates under the same marching orders as the original.

Customers order at the register, at which point the cashier calls back the number of handmade patties the cooks should toss on the always-crowded grill. “There’s no secret to it. It’s just Grade A, 80[muscle]/20[fat] hamburger,” Murrell said of their beef, which is sourced from a select few grinding facilities scattered nationwide.

As the patties progress across the sizzling griddle, crackling and hissing their way from raw to well-done (Five Guys’ default cooking temperature), patrons can customize their burger with over a dozen gratis toppings, including: ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, relish, grilled mushrooms, diced jalapenos and A1 steak sauce.

Staff then stacks each laundry list of toppings atop a proprietary roll (produced by a half-dozen bakeries nationwide) and waits for the grill cooks to slide the finished burger directly from spatula to waiting bun.
A fully loaded cheeseburger is choreographed chaos, summoning a 3-inch monument to dripping American cheese, glistening mushrooms (so very tasty), juice-laden meat (soaked through in honest-to-god beef flavor), hefty, crinkle-cut pickle chips and whatever else your imagination can muster.

Truth be told, adding anything more than a handful of toppings makes these stuffed-to-the-gills monsters pretty much unmanageable. But I have yet to hear anyone complain that they got too much burger or excess free toppings for their money.

Back when they first started, Five Guys famously offered $10 to anyone who could find a better burger at the same price ($1.79, back then). “We had those signs in our stores for probably eight years. Nobody ever called,” Murrell said of their no-questions-asked reward policy.

According to Murrell, the bacon cheeseburger has been the hands-down favorite from day one.
That, and of course their peanut-oil fries (typically served thick, crisp and well salted).

“Our fries are big sellers,” he said, estimating that each store cooks up around 300 pounds of No. 2 Russet Burbank baking potatoes per day. “We do something like 10 percent of Idaho’s potato business,” Murrell said of their dedicated potato pipeline.

Meanwhile, Murrell said he welcomes the influx of high-end burger operations that have flooded the area, opining, “It’s good to get people used to paying more for a good burger.”

That’s not to say he’s thrilled about EVERY new competitor that blows into town.

“I don’t like it when people sell bad burgers,” he said. “That doesn’t help anybody.”

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$10 AND UNDER
Foster’s Grille
Multiple NoVa locations; www.fostersgrille.com.
Average entree: Under $12 ($). Open for lunch and dinner daily.

As they approach their 10-year anniversary (the concept debuted in Manassas in June 1999), Foster’s Grille cofounder Shawn Foster said he remains most proud of the roots they’ve put down with each neighborhood incursion.

“That’s what keeps us separated from some of the bigger chains: community service,” he estimated, stressing that they always reach out to local schools/churches/emergency personnel in order to build relationships that both keep the seats filled and support the incarnate infrastructure of every new market.
Burgers as societal glue? Kooky.

Having spent nearly 30 years in the hospitality trade—including almost a decade as a corporate chef with The Palm, where he helped launch 11 outposts and got a crash course in all things high-end beef—Foster doesn’t take anything for granted when it comes to his thriving burger enterprise.

“The emphasis is on fresh food and great customer service,” he said of the company’s guiding vision—a philosophy that helped Foster’s Grille establish 25 locations up and down the East Coast, with three more set to come online in early 2009.

I suspect their success may also be tied to their handling of perhaps the most oft-neglected slice of local diners: children. From the made-to-order menus (everyone orders via old-fashioned checklist) to the banks of video games tucked back into mini arcades, the restaurant fosters the kind of free-wheeling attitude that appeals to everyone from toddlers to teens.

“The more comfortable the kids are, the more comfortable you are,” one server postulated—which probably explains why every location around here seems to be perennially packed with youngsters and their (surprisingly) mellow parents.

“Oh, hi! The whole neighborhood’s here,” exclaims one mom as she bumps into yet another acquaintance one night (that poor couple couldn’t seem to take a bite before somebody new popped by to say hello/catch up).

Adults, on the other hand, most likely come for the signature Charburger.

According to Foster, the flagship hamburger—forged from 8 ounces of 75 (muscle)/25 (fat) beef, seasoned with a proprietary spice blend and cooked to “roughly medium-well”—accounts for roughly 60 percent of their total sales.

The unfettered burger has homemade grilling written all over it, from the prominent grate marks to the meaty wallop of each bite (slightly burnt exterior belies the warm juices residing within). Although each burger can be outfitted with a slew of traditional toppings (lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, onions, pickles, American cheese; bacon is $0.75 extra), we prefer to game the system by slopping on an order of chili-cheese fries (interlocking spuds caked together with molten Whiz and perfectly respectable beef- and bean-laden chili), which effectively double/triple the volume of your sandwich (shazam!).

For now, every entree includes a side of fries and a beverage (Foster claims the combo meal packaging really streamlines the ordering process).

But the chainlet recently began experimenting with a “5 for $5.45” promotion, allowing customers to try any solo sandwich—burger, roast beef, turkey, garden or the new BLT (boasting six strips of bacon) for just $5.45. Foster said they are also working on some potential “quick bites” candidates, including: black Angus steak sliders (somewhat skimpy burger gets a big boost from a sassy-sweet onion-diced pickle relish), buffalo-chicken sliders, chili-cheese nachos and chili-cheese fries.

But don’t read any menu tweaks as signs that the Foster’s folks feel they’ve lost a step in today’s gourmet-burger wars.

“There’s room out there for the avocado burgers,” Foster suggested, adding that “obviously everybody’s going to try the new guy on the block. But I’ll put our product up against anybody.”

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$15 AND UNDER
Joe’s Burgers
6706 Old Dominion Drive, McLean; 703-917-4008; www.joesburgers.net
Average entree: Under $12 ($). Open for lunch and dinner daily.

While the name on the sign seems pretty vanilla, the menu at Joe’s Burgers is anything but. Of course, with siblings like the tapas-themed Corner Bistro and classically Gallic Le Mistral, it’s no wonder the fledgling burger operation (opened June 2007) takes some liberties with traditional grilled fare.

Company CFO Al Laroussi swears the gourmet burger stand was born out of a desire to offer loyal patrons yet another casual dining option in downtown McLean. “It actually helps us to have different kinds of restaurants because we serve clients who are interested in both gourmet burgers and Spanish tapas,” he said of the impromptu restaurant row they’ve stitched together along the same stretch of road.

Likewise, Joe’s does not need to fear too much competition from more well-established burger chains, because they consider themselves somewhat of a different animal.

Make that, several different animals.

Though you can certainly get a standard cheeseburger at Joe’s, the brunt of their menu is dominated by exotic meats and multi-faceted preparations.

In the mood for flame-kissed ostrich? They’ve got it. Prefer more of an open-range feel to your meals? Stretch your culinary legs with the buffalo burger. Second-guessing yourself about heading next door for tapas? Indulge all your appetites with a cooked-to-order Black Angus burger bedecked with manchego- and olive-infused dressing.

Laroussi said co-owners Beverly and Joseph Alonso strove to develop the roughly dozen specialty burgers at the heart of the menu, but noted that they always welcome input from patrons on where next to take their burger passions.

In my opinion, there’s already plenty to celebrate.

The aforementioned venison burger never ceases to satisfy, delivering a leaner patty than some of the beefier standard bearers, but much more flavor to boot. The well-peppered game works best when served slightly scorched on the outside, succulently tender within (juices should run ever-so slightly red) and dressed with homemade barbecue sauce (acceptably sweet), caramelized onions, robust slabs of grilled pancetta (bacon’s totally cooler big brother), melted Gruyere (provides a welcome dairy kick to the protein-rich production) and sauteed mushrooms (spongy exclamation points).

Grilled ostrich summons lean but expressive meat (more pronounced than turkey, less gamey than lamb) that retains its juiciness and flavor well—even it if winds up being the baby of the bunch (patty looks to be about a quarter smaller than other burgers).

A Black Angus burger delivers well-charred beef gloriously slathered in molten boursin (equal parts cream and herby snap), sauteed mushrooms and just a squiggle of the house barbecue sauce packed into the accommodating brioche bun.

The so-called special Kobe burger, on the other hand, was neither Kobe—a universally revered grade of beef extracted from extravagantly pampered cattle raised exclusively in Kobe, Japan; think of it as the champagne of beef—nor particularly special. This American wagyu (remember: all Kobe is wagyu, but not vice versa) knockoff was plenty tasty, but nowhere near as marbled/dense/intoxicatingly rich as authentic Kobe. And the plain-Jane soy marinade is nothing you haven’t tried elsewhere.

Above-the-grill counter hangs a vintage pharmacological ad urging yesteryear’s diners to “Eat meat—meatless diets are often dangerous,” followed by a testimonial espousing that “97 of Southern California physicians endorse meat.”

Confidence is high you could snag the final three holdouts (assuming they polled 100 docs) with Joe’s venison burger.

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$5 AND UNDER
Elevation Burger
442 S. Washington St., Falls Church; 703-237-4343; www.elevationburger.com
Average entree: Under 12 ($). Open for lunch and dinner daily.

If there’s one thing Elevation Burger founder/CEO Hans Hess absolutely cannot stand, it’s
being told something is impossible.

Take his signature olive-oil fries, for instance.

Prior to opening his eco-minded eatery, Elevation Burger, in September 2005, Hess floated the idea of dunking his starchy sides in fragrant vats of bubbling, churning olive oil rather than conventional vegetable/seed oils and found nothing but naysayers.

“Nobody cooks them,” he said. “But everybody said, ‘You can’t do it.’”

The confluence of the hospitality industry’s near-universal contempt and his background in physics predicated an intensive six-month frying sabbatical—he wanted fries that were “crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside”—that ultimately led to Hess’ now-patented frying procedure.

It’s that same type of moxie, that pioneering vision, that led to the creation of the appetite-thrashing Half the Guilt burger.

The Frankenstein-like protein party—the novel construct marries a standard patty (3 ounces of grass-fed, free-range organic beef) with one meat substitute (plus all the regular fixins, including their house sauce that’s too sweet for my taste, tomatoes, pickles, lettuce, mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, raw/caramelized onions and balsamic mustard; blue cheese sauce costs $0.50 extra)—can actually be assembled two different ways.

HtG No. 1 features a flavorful Gardenburger patty woven together with fresh corn, roasted peppers, rolled oats and mozzarella cheese (serves mostly as binder). Once paired with freshly grilled beef smothered in melted cheddar, you get a pleasantly filling feast with Southwestern-style flavors (peppers and corn carry the day).

HtG No. 2 features a much rawer Gardenburger (vegan-friendly patty is all brown rice and plain vegetables) which imparts a much grainier, though probably also more salutary, demeanor to the double-stacked burger.

“It has almost a cult following unto itself,” Hess said of their meat-meets-veggies dining option.
Hess said their traditional double cheeseburger (originally known as the Big Phat burger; recently rebranded as the eponymous Elevation burger) remains the top seller, with the regular cheeseburger holding firm at second.

Both burgers have their charms—the Big Phat is tasty, but terribly messy, thanks largely to a too-small bun tasked with containing juice-laden meat and the unavoidably greasy melted cheddar (really makes the meal); pickle planks stretch across the solo cheeseburger, infusing every bite with vinegar and crunch—but lack the alpha-omega fortitude of the Half the Guilt.

And while the average lunch and dinner crowd tends to skew towards toddler-toting Generation Xers and sports team-shepherding Baby Boomers all looking to slip some organic dining into their overwrought schedules, Hess said every so often the restaurant becomes a battleground for ravenous teens/attention-seeking 20-somethings who come to best each other over Vertigo burgers.

For those who don’t know, the Vertigo is a build-your-own burger (up to 10 patties) that invites customization (meat, vegetable patties, cheese and toppings can be intermingled to the client’s content).
“We sell probably a dozen of those a month,” Hess said of the daunting burger towers, noting that one determined competitor mowed through a full Vertigo, then ordered two additional Big Phats (14 patties total) just to humiliate his opponent.

Bottomless pits everywhere will soon be able to shame their own friends, as Hess says he’s already sold the rights to 24 franchises (poised to open over the next three years). He expects to launch a store per month for the first half of 2009, with the first spinoff set to debut in Arlington, followed by a National Harbor spot, then Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Jersey and Austin.

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$15 AND UNDER
Ray’s Hell Burger
1713 Wilson Blvd., Arlington; 703-841-0001
Average entree: Under 12 ($).  Open for lunch, Tuesday through Sunday, dinner daily.

To hear Ray’s Hell Burger founder Michael Landrum tell it, decking out their already mammoth 10-ounce burgers with a 2-ounce slab of pan-seared foie gras was more about whimsy than focus-group driven deliberation.

“To me, it’s just another ingredient,” the renegade restaurateur suggested.

Landrum has made a name for himself by appeasing the masses with affordable, no-nonsense cuisine (next up, Ray’s the Heat and Ray’s the Net) while confounding his business contemporaries (complimentary sides/sweets, strict no-reservations policies).

It’s no surprise that he’s repeated that same formula—to critical and populist acclaim—at Hell Burger, a restaurant that relishes its singular purpose.

“I’m happy to say, I’m a specialist,” Landrum shared, noting that he finds the lack of single-focus restaurants in this area somewhat alarming.

“My goal is to make the best burger that I can make … with the approach and the style that I have,” he stated. So while he believes Palena’s and Central’s gourmet offerings may be the best burgers “of that type,” he’s gunning for more of a “heavily charred, steakhouse-style burger.”

Luckily, he had plenty of time to hone his craft.

Landrum said he used to sling burgers at RtS when they first opened, but had to stop once the place evolved from neighborhood joint to regional phenomena. After the down-the-strip spot opened up, Landrum simply bided his time until he was able to train a full-time Hell Burger crew (surreptitiously indoctrinated during shifts at RtS) that could hit the ground running.

After that, it was simply a matter of crafting the perfect brioche potato bun (specially prepared by a custom baker; the restaurant is currently serving the fifth iteration of the proprietary roll) and lining up the awe-inspiring roster of artisan cheeses—over a dozen dairy gems ranging from Vermont cheddar to AOC-certified Epoisse (Burgundian cow’s milk cheese).

“It was a very off-the-cuff, sort of side gig that came up,” he said of his calculated march back into the burger trade last summer.

But rather than join the ranks of so-called “rock star” chefs he claims have dived into the burger game more for the fame than the food, Landrum said he elected to tip his hat to old-school rap artists and R&B legends on his carte. Hence the nods to: Soul Burger Number One (James Brown), Let’s Get It On (Marvin Gaye), B.I.G. Poppa (deceased rapper) and The Dogcatcher (Snoop Dogg).

The resulting product, though clearly fanciful, doesn’t necessarily feel like food porn so much as more cleverly imagined grilling fare.

The burger itself—10 ounces of home-ground beef, plucked from the same cuts people swoon over at RtS—is fairly unfussy (respectable crust, delectably juicy interior). But the wealth of gourmet toppings and cut-rate prices make most meals here inherently special.

Of the two foie gras offerings, Landrum said the Seville was most closely designed to mimic classic steakhouse fare (bordelaise sauce being a meat-palace staple).

The cooked-to-order beef is crowned with truffle oil and sauteed mushrooms (luxuriant oil and caramelized shrooms produce a porcini-like sweetness) and then finished with the glassy hunk of offal (nutty tang, silky finish). One companion was stunned by the dribbling juices that escaped the bun as I hoisted the monstrous burger to my lips. “Is that the foie gras or the meat?” my compatriot inquired, having never indulged in foie gras till a few seconds later (final verdict: He liked it, but wasn’t rabidly smitten).

Still, the foie continues to excite.

“It’s not my biggest seller, but it is my biggest surprise,” he said, estimating that they forge over a dozen of the opulent combos on busy nights. “People go nuts for ’em.”

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$10 AND UNDER
Big Buns Gourmet Grill
4401 Wilson Blvd., Arlington; 703-276-3032; www.eatbigbuns.com
Average entree: Under 12 ($). Open for lunch and dinner, Monday through Saturday.

The name elicits titters. Their store is locked within an urban courtyard. And the press seems determined to pigeonhole them as “just another burger joint.”

Yet Big Buns cofounder Craig Carey takes it all in stride.

He threw in the towel on a staid sports-marketing career (Carey’s got a marketing/finance degree to fall back on) and later learned the nuts and bolts of restaurant management by working his way through the ranks of the Great American Restaurants machine (Has everyone in the biz worked for these guys at some point?).

But the restless soon-to-be restaurateur was already analyzing the rise of made-to-order, Mexican fast-casual eateries—which he figured were reaching their natural tipping point—and reworking their model to fit his plans for an American grill.

Once he found kindred spirit Tom Racowsky, a Johnson & Wales grad yearning for his next culinary challenge, the partners set about bringing their custom grill to life.

Though still in its infancy (the store debuted summer 2007), Carey estimates that around 300 customers march through their doors during a “busy” lunch rush. Work days bring businessmen all too happy to pin their ties back to avoid sporting a stray ketchup stain back to the office, while fry-sharing couples and book-reading singles lay siege to the dining room most weekends.

Carey credits their success so far to the plainspoken but pliable menu. The five-step program involves selecting:
protein: beef (7 1/2 ounce patty), marinated chicken breast, marinated mahi mahi filet or marinated Portobello cap; serving style: either on a brioche bun or placed atop salad greens; toppings: cheese (first slice of American, blue, cheddar, havarti, Swiss or pepperjack is free; each additional slice is $0.49 extra) and fixins (free items include: pickles, jalapenos, lettuce, tomatoes, grilled/raw red onions, roasted peppers, roasted corn salsa, mushrooms, black bean and mango salsa, grilled pineapple and bean sprouts; premium selections include: avocado, bacon, fried onion rings and guacamole for $0.79 each); dressings: first shot of buttermilk-herb ranch, honey mustard, chipotle-pesto aioli or sweet chili vinaigrette is free (additional orders are $0.29 extra); and, sides: regular fries, sweet-potato fries, pre-packaged chips.

“I really wanted to provide a simple menu … but with thousands of possibilities,” Carey said of the mix-and-match malleability of the ordering process.

Although traditional burgers remain the strongest seller to date, Carey noted that the burger salads continue to gain converts.

“So many people come in and get the bowls because they want the salad option,” he said.

The fiber-rich feast begins with a bowl of shredded lettuce anchored by the plainspoken patty (lean yet wide burger delivers on its promise of grilled beef sans any fanfare). The party really starts when you begin piling on the toppings, like: tangy-hot roasted peppers (fantastic), plentiful blue-cheese crumbles (piquant and creamy), chunky-style grilled onions (ambassadors of sweet), arresting bits of raw jalapeno (bring the spicy) and half-moons of fresh avocado (well worth the splurge).

The sweet chili vinaigrette sounds better on paper (subtle zest is easily overwhelmed by the avalanche of add-ons), while the buttermilk-herb ranch does its job with less interference.

Spice lovers, however, will definitely want to go the chipotle-pesto route. The frothy fire-starter—part creamy, part kerosene—hooks you in with the seductive aioli base, and then zaps the back of your throat with peppery heat seconds later (hurts so good).

According to Carey, the homemade aioli became such a hot commodity early on that they now give it away free as a complimentary dipping sauce with each order of fries.

“People ask if they can get it to go,” Carey said of the fiery condiment.

$1 Burgers
Most Bang for your Buck

Whopper Jr.
The pleasing barrage of nostalgia-inducing flavors (smoke from the flame-broiled meat, juicy tomato, zesty onion, creamy mayo) creates the illusion of something you actually might serve in your own backyard.

Burger King
$1 Options:  Whopper Jr. (contender), regular hamburger
Ingredients: sesame-seed bun, ketchup, mayonnaise, shredded lettuce, tomato, sliced onions, pickles, traditional beef patty
First Impression: This scaled-down version of Burger King’s flagship sandwich actually has some height to it (looks like a serious burger).

McDonald’s
$1 Options:  double cheeseburger (contender), regular hamburger
Ingredients: white-flour bun, ketchup, mustard, minced onions, pickles, processed cheese, 2 traditional beef patties
First Impression: This mainstay looks and sadly tastes more like a third-generation mimeograph—as envisioned by the Matrix’s sensory mixer.

Wendy’s
$1 Options: double stack (everything else on the fabled 99-cent menu has since creeped
well above $1)
Ingredients: white-flour bun, ketchup, mustard, pickles, whole onion rings, processed cheese, square beef patty
First Impression: This tamped-down creation looks like a slightly beefier White Castle mini.

(January 2009)

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Tags: burgers, Food & Wine

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Just Desserts

Easy Stops for Spot-on Sweets

By Warren Rojas / Photography by Jonathan Timmes and Hana Jung

Let’s be honest: Nobody starts dieting in December.

Between the holiday parties, family gatherings and pre-/post-/intra-shopping-blitz snacking, counting calories goes on hiatus until a pseudo-sense of normalcy resumes sometime in early/mid-January.

So, why not send 2008 off with a bang by enjoying one last round of heavenly sweets and devilishly rich treats worth their weight in gold (which, I hear, is much safer than stocks right now)?

Best of all, you can still enjoy these “King”-ly indulgences even if you’re 401(k) has shriveled to a 4.01(k) (can’t wait for that food writers’ bailout to take shape).

Crunchy
The Swiss Bakery
Multiple NoVa Locations; www.theswissbakery.com
Average entree: Under 12 ($). Check locations for times.

Though my empirical evidence may be lacking, I’d be willing to bet The Swiss Bakery’s greatest expenditure is Windex.

Lord knows I had to fight to urge to press my face up against the glass to get an even better look at the fresh-baked buffet of meticulously decorated cookies and homespun pastries that seem to stretch into infinity behind their handsome display case.

Owner Laurie Weber (pastry chef) and her Swiss-born husband, Reto (head baker), bought the Burke location from the original owner in August 2001. They opened the companion Springfield store last August.

Almost all the daily baking is now handled exclusively at the Springfield shop—although Laurie Weber said some cookies and pastries are finished at the Burke store.

She estimated that on any given day they crank out approximately 50 cookies, two dozen French pastries, 15 to 20 breakfast items, a dozen (or so) rotating cakes, 15 to 20 homemade rolls/artisan breads and a handful of tarts. Come holiday time, Weber said they roll out seasonal gems like homemade panettone, stollen, bouche de noel and pre-fab/build-your-own gingerbread houses.

But why wait? After returning to the office with a mixed bag of the Webers’ cookie catalog, one giddy coworker gushed, “This makes me feel like it’s Christmas already.”

Sensible butter biscuits are gussied up with chopped nuts and a zesty cinnamon coating (nice combo). Greek shortbread bathes almond-laced dough in confectioners’ sugar (reminiscent of Mexican wedding cookies). Jewel-like Linzer cookies surround multicolored marmalades with hazelnut- and cinnamon-spiked dough (spicy-sweet synergy).

Pastry lovers need not feel neglected.

Cherry strudel weds sweet and sour (ripe, jellied cherries) with crispy dough (terrific). Walnut-covered sticky buns stain fingers with their molasses-like brown-sugar payload (a knockout). Napoleon marshals together smooth, vanilla custard, crackling phyllo leaves and marbled fondant icing for a regal treat. Meanwhile, chocoholics can sneak a nip of something even stronger via humdinger rum balls featuring alcohol-drenched fudge dredged in chocolate sprinkles (hard to tell which has more of an effect, the built-in booze or the natural chocolate euphoria).

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Icy
Sweet Life Café
3950 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax; 703-385-5433
Average entree: Under 12 ($). Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.

I’m sad to say that my own ice-cream maker collects more dust than it does crystalline milk and sloshing spices.

Good thing the Lederer clan doesn’t follow my example, opting instead to churn out over a dozen daily flavors at their charming Sweet Life Café.

The family-run enterprise screams neighborhood retreat, offering classic distractions like at-the-ready checkerboards, rocking chairs and a whimsical motorized train set that chugs along into perpetuity above the heads of the restaurant’s army of teenage servers.

Though they recently expanded their menu to include more home-style meals (including burgers, sandwiches and full-on entrees), the lines often form right in front of an ice-cream counter stocked with festive flavors (including the likes of caramel, pumpkin, gingerbread, coffee, Irish cream, mocha brownie, black raspberry chocolate, cinnamon-pecan, dreamsicle and bubble gum).

Standard sundaes emerge fully ensconced in hot fudge, sprinkles, whipped cream and cherries (additional toppings available by request), while the playful “dirt sundae”—interlaced with crushed Oreos and gummy worms—elicits gleeful squeals from adoring youngsters (and young-at-heart adults).

Their lick-your-spoon-good cake-batter ice cream is thick but not doughy—staff shared that they use a whole box of Duncan Hines yellow-cake mix per batch; you can taste the moist-cake-that-will-never-be in every creamy bite—delivering plenty of butter and all-around richness. Hot-chocolate mix and ground-up Nestle Crunch add bite to the coyote crunch (malted mouth feel is exacerbated by hidden pockets of puffed rice and milk chocolate).

Caramel is evenly rich, rolling across the tongue like so much liquid sugar. Root-beer float delivers all the fun of yesteryear without the straw. Cherry-chocolate chunk swirls together real cherries, mini chocolate chips and more tongue-clicking caramel.

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Sassy
Overwood
220 N. Lee St., Alexandria; 703-535-3340; www.theoverwood.com
Average entree: $13 to $20 ($$). Open for lunch, dinner and late-night dining daily, Sunday brunch.

Seasonal comforts and rock ‘n’ roll appear to be the driving force behind Overwood’s head-turning sweets catalog—a list that owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to the curious tastes of Memphis’s favorite son.

The core desserts include the likes of a reputable key lime pie, Godiva bread pudding and the now-obligatory fudge-brownie sundae. But the real stars draw their strength from the synergy of Southern roots and North-African ingenuity.

Executive chef/partner Boubker Errami (a Morrocan native) pointed to the wildly successful slice of Elvis pie—a spotlight hog built upon crushed Oreos, faux peanut-butter filling (more dense than traditional mousse and littered with fresh peanuts), thinly sliced bananas, whipped cream, drizzled chocolate, caramel and crème anglaise and shaved, Belgian dark chocolate—as their top seller, estimating that they probably move over two dozen whole pies per week.

“It’s the king,” he said of their peanut-butter sensation, adding that even way-out-of-towners—including one Seattle woman who recently placed a special order for a family birthday—have become wise to the show-stopping sweet. “It’s amazing.”

Just one bite left me—don’t hurl the magazine; you knew it was coming—all shook up.

The strata upon strata of chilled banana and mouth-filling peanut butter lit up the pleasure centers of my youth (so chewy, so gooey, so grand), while the competing streams of liquid decadence reassured my adult mind of the fun grown-ups can still have in the kitchen.

As I chipped away at the towering slice, one onlooker smiled, leaned over and commented, “death by chocolate, indeed.”

Not quite, buddy. But what a way to go.

The sweet-potato cheesecake is another homemade charmer, delivering North Carolina spuds (spiced center, ricotta-like creaminess) rolled into a ground-gingersnap crust, dusted with cinnamon and baptized in a Jack Daniel’s bourbon-honey blend (delicious). Though less glitzy than the Elvis creation, the moist filling and natural sweetness (loved the cinnamon and honey notes) made for good holiday eating without all the mall traffic and maxed-out credit cards.

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Groovy
CakeLove
Multiple NoVa Locations; www.cakelove.com
Average entree: Under 12 ($). Check locations for times.

Though other local media outlets have taken to pitting the burgeoning crop of would-be cupcake kings against one another in a tastetacular battle royal, we prefer a kindlier, gentler approach to baked goods appreciation.

Perhaps that’s why we’re suckers for D.C. attorney-turned-self-styled baker Warren Brown’s brand of from-scratch feasting, CakeLove.

Brown opened his first CakeLove on the now-booming U Street corridor in early 2002, and has since broadened his reach with incursions into Virginia (including a pedestrian-friendly refuge in the recent Shirlington expansion and a grab-and-go stand within Tysons Corner Center) and Maryland (including his latest shop in National Harbor).

Though he’s drawn some fire from critics of the exactitude of his serving requirements—CakeLove vociferously urges all its customers to bring all their homemade creations to room temperature (approximately 72 F) before enjoying—Brown seems totally unfazed by all the haters, working instead to keep his devoted fans in the custom flavors they’ve come to know and love.

One loyalty-builder includes the standing free-cupcake-on-your-birthday offer (just show your ID and stroll out with a freebie). Another is Shirlington’s fabulous “chocolate happy hour” promotion, a weekly deal whereupon customers can take 20 percent off any chocolate purchase each Tuesday.

Of course, there’s more to this local legend than discount chocolate.

Raspberry-on-vanilla cupcakes are a tangy-fresh treat, revealing pinkish frosting that walks the line between velvety butter and whipped yogurt (fantastic fruit flavor). Peanut-butter cupcakes taste of ground nuts and scrumptious butter cream (the perfect little pick-me-up). Ganache-covered, yellow sponge cake comes off like a milk-chocolate mushroom (an insta-classic).

Elsewhere, a slice of toffee-crunch cake summons moist chocolate cake layered with butter-cream frosting, caramel sauce and toffee crunchies (groovy). And a dreamy peanut-butter cheesecake gets a boost from a its chocolate ganache shell (some female companions almost lost consciousness from this one).

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Fruity
Majestic Bakery
9255 Center St., Manassas; 703-330-4447
Average entree: Under 12 ($). Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Monday through Saturday.

My heart went out to her.

The timid, teenage girl just stood there, staring longingly at the frozen tundra of homemade gelatos encased behind the frost-covered glass at Manassas’ Majestic Bakery.

“I don’t know how to say it,” she sheepishly confessed to the attendant, electing to the tap the glass above her frozen wish rather than garble the proper name of the Italian chiller. (“Stra-cha-TELLA,” the helpful server sounded out for her.)

Exotic sweets and an education? That’s my kind of place.

Majestic takes its cues from the increasingly visible Portuguese population that calls Manassas home (a congregation currently serviced by a dining/shopping circuit comprised of several restaurants, the new Food Lovers market, Majestic and a clandestine supper club).

That means serving a slew of gourmet coffees and espresso drinks, preparing hot sandwiches and tapas-style platters for light snacking and keeping local expats cool with a rainbow of gelato flavors (apple, mango, coconut, the chocolate chip-like stracciatella, rum, hazelnut, green tea).

Then there’s the pastries.

Traditional natas reveal custard-filled pastry cups that smack of fresh eggs and preternatural sweetness—due in no small part to the creme brulee-like crust and heavenly, almond-tinged custard below.

Meringue-covered apple tart is another double-duty delight, erecting a burnt-sugar shield guarding a core of caramelized apples and powdered sugar pressed between thin layers of dough (fresh and filling without being overly sweet).

Chocolate-frosted jelly rolls (dense cake, syrupy strawberry) and custard-filled pinwheels (egg cream and sponge cake rolled in sprinkled sugar) are less ornate, but cede no ground on the sugar shock-satisfaction scale.

Likewise, the cleverly conceived “gelato lemonade”— much more potent than shaved ice but less viscous than a commercial Slurpee—puts an Old World twist on a New World thirst-quencher.

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Naughty
Cowboy Cafe
4792 Lee Highway, Arlington; 703-243-8010
Average entree: $13 to $20 ($$). Open for lunch and dinner daily, weekend brunch.

Most bar owners would wince at the mere thought of having bands of underage clients march through their doors in search of a good time.

Cowboy Cafe co-owner Zac Culbertson, on the other hand, welcomes said kiddies with open arms—and a slew of funky new desserts.

Since taking over the longstanding watering hole last November, Zac and brother/fellow co-owner Matt Culbertson have seen their kids’ birthday-party business blossom—thanks in no small part to the creative jiggering of their dessert carte by chef Chris Kenworthy (last seen at Ballston’s Grand Cru).

Case in point: Culbertson said the brothers always knew they wanted to serve some sort of bread pudding on their revamped menu.

“That’s just something Matt and I grew up with,” he said of the familiar post-dinner treat.

But it took one of Kenworthy’s buddies to suggest tossing candy bars into the dining equation. After some initial experimentation, Culbertson now hails the Butterfinger bars for providing “a little stiffer bread pudding” than most people are probably used to.

The puffy sweet actually tastes more like French toast than traditional bread pudding (less syrupy/watery, anyway), showcasing giant triangles of baked brioche bread (another proprietary update) drizzled with caramel sauce and sprinkled with the crispety, crunchety candy bits (toffee-like nuggets rock).

“It’s definitely unique,” Culbertson said.

Meanwhile, their s’mores pie—an homage to campfire dining, sans all the errant pine needles and hard-to-reach bug bites—envelops mushy gobs of baked marshmallow and deep, rich fudge between crumbly graham-cracker layers, all zigzagged with caramel and marshmallow sauces and dusted with powdered sugar.

“It’s kind of warm and gooey in the middle,” Culbertson said of their best-selling dessert, adding, “We get people who come in and order whole pans of the stuff.”

Somewhere nearby, gangs of pediatric dentists are laughing all the way to the bank.

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Spicy
ACKC Cocoa Bar
2003A Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria; 703-635-7917; www.thecocoagallery.com
Average entree: Under 12 ($). Open for breakfast, Saturday, lunch and dinner daily.

“Hello again. Here for your chocolate fix?” the kindly attendant asks the wide-eyed young lady who has obviously darkened the ACKC doorway once or twice before.

“I am,” the unrepentant chocoholic replies.

This snazzy cocoa bar represents the consolidation of Artfully Chocolate and Kingsbury Confections, simpatico sweets merchants who joined forces and unveiled their first combination drink palace/confection depot in the District late last year.

Although the anyway-you-like-it chocolate concept has carried over well to Del Ray, co-owner Eric Nelson said they recently surmised that many of their pre-existing dessert offerings, while good, were perhaps not entirely trek-worthy. So they’re stacking the odds in their favor by rolling out additional after-dinner enticements.

“What we’ve decided is that maybe a better niche for us is in being a dessert destination,” he said of their plan to introduce more gasp-inducing treats like the new molten-lava torte, chocolate-hazelnut cakes, hot-cocoa flights and expanded ice-cream offerings (currently composed using Gifford’s chocolate and vanilla).

Meanwhile, Nelson said they’ve gone to great lengths to build their brand by cross-pollinating nearly every item they offer—be it a made-to-order beverage, homemade truffle, hand-crafted chocolate bars or frozen fare—with signature flavor combinations (cinnamon-chipotle peppers, lavender-pistachio, etc.).

You can almost taste the love.

The full-bodied Marilyn floods the senses with candied orange and cream (intoxicating). The fire-spitting Lucy delivers chipotle flashes that light up the back of your throat (building heat with every drawn breath), while the frothy, warmed chocolate coddles your inner child. Chill-seekers can succumb with a white-chocolate frappe that spins chocolate, milk and ice into a foamy stress-reliever crowned with whipped cream (sublime).

Solid indulgences include a petite but infinitely pleasurable gourmet chocolate and cheese plate, a dairy duet of milk, dark and white chocolates partnered with organoleptic curds (often acquired from neighboring Cheesetique) ranging from ripened blues to fiery jalapeno cheddars. Meanwhile, nostalgic eaters can retreat to a less hectic time by sinking their teeth—no braces, please—into bulbous candy apples shellacked in gooey caramel, milk chocolate, mini M&M’s, toffee chips, crushed nuts, sprinkles and just about any other crunchy topping you can imagine.

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Homey
Silver Diner
Multiple NoVa Locations; www.silverdiner.com
Average entree: $13 to $20 ($$). Open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and late-night dining daily.

Distilling down the nation’s preferred dessert lineup was no easy task. But Silver Diner cofounder Ype Von Hengst said that’s exactly what he and his partners attempted to divine during their exploratory tour of pre-existing diners so many years ago.

They discovered that homemade apple pie, carrot cake and chocolate cake were near-universal favorites, so they brought them all together under one roof for the launch of the original Rockville, Md., Silver Diner in 1989 and haven’t looked back since.

“These are the standards that are always popular,” Von Hengst stated of his core dessert line, listing the chocolate cake as the perennial leader, then quickly adding “but it’s a close race between all of them.”
He credited original baker Martha Sanchez with producing the first pies and cakes for the local chainlet and commended her for keeping at it nearly 20 years later. “She has always been my best baker,” he said of the veteran sweets queen.

Von Hengst estimated that they sell around 400 to 500 whole apple pies and maybe 200 to 300 whole carrot cakes per month at their combined 16 locations. And while shakes and ice-cream fare tend to rule the summer months, Von Hengst noted that pie and cake sales always spike leading into the holidays.

What cause for celebration.

Their signature apple creation is easily two apples high. The thick, cinnamon-sprinkled skin battles to contain giant chunks of tart, crunchy green apples that have stopped just short of caramelizing, releasing their natural sweetness without slapping you in the face with sugar. Von Hengst described the breakdown of their monolithic pie as approximately four pounds Granny Smith apples to roughly one pound of sugar and dough (crust).

“With a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream, it’s to die for,” he said of the fruit-filled favorite.

The carrot cake yields moist spice cake loaded with chunks of real pineapple, golden raisins, chopped nuts, shredded carrot and lush cream-cheese frosting (boasting a dreamy blend of cream cheese, butter, lemon and vanilla), all drizzled with caramel sauce. No word on where exactly the fluffy carrot cake fits on the government’s updated food pyramid, but it’s an easy way to boost your fruits and veggies intake for the day.

(December 2008)

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Tags: desserts, Food & Wine, sweets

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50 Best Restaurants

By Warren Rojas / Photography by Hana Jung, James Kim and Jonathan Timmes

A cavalcade of fresh faces, adventurous cuisines and awe-inspiring environs joins the ranks of our annual fine-dining round-up this year—bumping our epicurean who’s who to twice its original size (now boasting 50 unbeatable restaurants you don’t want to miss).

The competition was fierce. The evaluation process grueling (think back-to-back-to-back meals).

Along the way we got better acquainted with some of the area’s top toques. More importantly, we learned more about how you, our readers, make everyday dining decisions.

Sette Bello
3101 Wilson Blvd., Arlington; 703-351-1004; www.settebellorestaurant.com
Open for lunch, dinner and late-night dining daily; Sunday brunch.
$$ FOOD: 7.4   AMBIANCE: 7.1   SERVICE: 6.4

“This is actually my favorite table. You can see everything from here,” the manager shares as she slides us into one of the corner perches at the social hub that is Sette Bello—a hipster magnet powered by local dining impresario Franco Nuschese (the mastermind behind D.C.’s Café Milano and Sette Osteria).

Floor-to-ceiling windows ensure that those who come to be seen are—leaving passersby to gaze in longingly at the feasting and frivolity taking place within. Sunken sofas opposite the bar are ideal thrones for oversized personalities come to play. Elsewhere, curvy booths hugging a far wall in the main dining room provide a hint of privacy for more bashful guests.

Bruschetta can be crowned with everything from fresh ricotta (creamtacular) to an exhilarating prosciutto-fig jam duet (cured ham and spicy preserves absolutely sing).  Grilled octopus (their tiny bodies infused with smoke) and tender coils of scorched calamari turn seafood salad into a star attraction. Cream-soaked shells play host to savory ground pork (awash in caraway and pepper) and meaty sauteed mushrooms.

Highs: Quattro formaggi pie
Lows: disappearing servers
Share: fettucine alla boscaiola
Savor: Borlotti-stocked pasta e fagioli

Meaza
5700 Columbia Pike, Falls Church; 703-820-2870; www.meazaethiopiancuisine.com
Open for lunch, dinner and late-night dining daily.
$ FOOD: 7.0   AMBIANCE: 6.7   SERVICE: 5.8

Granted, raw beef and exotic spices may not be for everyone. But those who treasure the allure of warm dough, chilled meats and fiery sauces never need fear walking away from Meaza unsatisfied.

Injera queen Meaza Zemedu decided to consolidate her local power base—until recently, she had been supplying many local Ethiopian restaurants with their porous, utilitarian bread—by opening her eponymous cafe and market.

Inside, sand-colored walls and plaid-upholstered chairs suggest calm, while detailed portraits of revered Ethiopian leaders cast on stretched animal skins are equally patriotic and provocative.

The menu features mostly beef and lamb preparations, with a few safety dishes (spaghetti, mixed proteins and rice) thrown in for good measure.

Fit-fit (diced tenderloin) is sauteedwith hot peppers, tomatoes, onions and torn injera, until everything is coated in fiery berbere paste. Doro wot yields more adrenaline-producing fare—“This is really, really good,” one guest sputtered as I watched beads of sweat collect across his brow—tempered by stewed chicken legs and preserved eggs (potent stuff).

Highs: doro wot
Lows: generic desserts
Share: lamb short ribs
Savor: special kitfo

fyve
1250 S. Hayes St., Arlington; 703-412-2760; www.ritzcarlton.com
Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily, Sunday brunch.
$$$ FOOD: 8.1   AMBIANCE: 7.9   SERVICE: 8.4

The student is indeed becoming a master over at fyve, as Roberto Donna protege Amy Brandwein (for a mini-profile, see pg. 62) carves out a place for herself among the area’s marquee chefs with a bold Mediterranean vision.

The reconditioned property (Brandwein was brought in to revamp the Ritz-Carlton’s sputtering Grille concept) mostly services business travelers, but appears to be making inroads with nostalgic locals as well.

During one visit, confirmed regulars didn’t just greet their waiter, they celebrated his arrival—“Maurice! How are you?” the pair gushed upon spotting a familiar server—and then quickly begin comparing notes about the new restaurant (they were both impressed).

Grilled octopus tastes of sea and smoke, while cherry tomatoes supply tart freshness. A signature salmon dish summons roast fish (anise and cinnamon shine through) parked atop a checkerboard of black and white lentils (pretty, but otherwise bland). Pasta with pancetta, mushrooms and sweetbreads comes two-thirds of the way through (broad noodles fold over on themselves, creating jolly pockets of pancetta au jus; ill-prepared sweetbreads elicit doughy nothingness).

Highs: fontina-stuffed rabbit
Lows: over-hyped spaghetti squash gratin
Share: broccoli-sausage orechiette
Savor: lemon chicken

Rangoli
24995 Riding Plaza, #120, South Riding; 703-957-4900; www.rangolirestaurant.us
Open for lunch and dinner daily.
$$ FOOD: 7.1   AMBIANCE: 7.4   SERVICE: 7.2

Rangoli general manager Sam Santosh can’t seem to get in a word edgewise.

He’s trying desperately to steer a pair of regulars towards unexplored dishes, but the woman simply won’t stop gushing about her go-to favorites.

“I love all the different flavors,” the loyal patron exclaims. “That’s why we keep coming back.”

Repeat business is a nice problem to have—and it’s one that the entire Rangoli staff seems to wholeheartedly welcome regularly.

Fresh-baked naan is delivered to every table until patrons say halt. Golden cubes of homemade cheese are sauteed with peppers and onions for a fiery vegetarian fix. Tandoori salmon is flavor simplified, delivering a mouthwatering filet of yogurt-bathed fish. Hot pepper-rubbed chicken (hirayali kebab) brings white-meat chicken stained green with mint and cilantro (fragrant and hot).

Highs: robust vegetarian curries
Lows: excessively fatty lamb chops
Share: homemade paneer
Savor: Tandoori salmon

The Majestic
911 King St., Alexandria; 703-837-9117; www.majesticcafe.com
Open for lunch Monday through Saturday, dinner daily.
$$ FOOD: 8.3   AMBIANCE: 7.6   SERVICE: 7.4

On any given night, the Majestic’s mod dining room is packed with multi-generational families, relaxing boomers and, increasingly, youngish chowhounds—no doubt training their palates for meals to come at elder statesman, Restaurant Eve.

Executive chef Shannon Overmiller (for a mini-profile, see pg. 78) and her team adhere to the same strict standards as Eve, albeit in a much looser setting (think T-shirts and jeans, but fine-dining protocol).

The addition of “the royal pick” lunch special (any menu item and soda for $12, bar only) is a terrific loyalty-builder. And in a move I hope to see replicated everywhere, staff have abandoned the high-end hydration push, offering ice water as the first best option above bottled fare.

Fried green tomatoes streaked with goat cheese and nestled atop savory tomato jam and sweet corn relish signal the best of summer. The house chicken scores big with a roast breast (rife with butter, herbs and lemon) and comfit leg duo, but dry-ish potatoes disappoint. Caramelized key lime pie sports a lime-spiked center and cracker-y crust.

Highs: from-scratch cocktails
Lows: watery milkshakes
Share: triple-layer cake of the day
Savor: Chesapeake-style stew

Patowmack Farm
42461 Lovettsville Road, Lovettsville; 540-822-9017; www.patowmackfarm.com
Open for dinner, Thursday through Saturday; weekend brunch.
$$$ FOOD: 8.8   AMBIANCE: 8.8   SERVICE: 8.6

One night, the tranquility of Patowmack Farm’s au naturale dining room was shattered by the conspiratorial chatter of guilt-ridden patrons determined to keep their unscheduled visit from a forgotten friend.

“I don’t think we should tell her we came here today,” one woman suggested.

Sorry, ladies. The secret’s out.

Culinary purist Christian Evans (for a mini-profile, see pg. 69) keeps pushing the envelope of the farm-to-fork movement with each passing harvest, conducting local cheeses, humanely raised proteins and just-plucked vegetables into a symphony of natural delights.

Mixed greens are enlivened by blueberry vinaigrette and cheery marigolds. Luscious veal shares the spotlight with herb-roasted potatoes and wild mushrooms (big flavors, all around). An espresso cake—forged from handcrafted ingredients supplied by a local chocolatier—arrives bathed in blueberry compote (syrupy pods burst with flavor), crème anglaise and cinnamon crumbs (irresistibly rich).

Highs: farm-fresh everything
Lows: bungled drink orders
Share: herb-laced breads
Savor: seared veal loin

Zum Rheingarten
3998 Jefferson Davis Highway, Stafford; 703-221-4635; www.zumrheingarten.com
Open for dinner, Wednesday through Sunday.
$$$ FOOD: 6.9   AMBIANCE: 7.3   SERVICE: 6.6

Visit Stafford hideaway, Zum Rheingarten, more than once, and you’ll no doubt start to spot familiar faces.

And I’m not just talking about caretakers Jannec and Katherine Hornig (he’s the executive chef; she’s the general manager). It’s the recidivist families that seem content to spend every weekend feasting within the same four walls.

And who can blame them?

A creamy brew of tender potatoes and salty kielbasa is guaranteed to ward off any winter chill. Jumbo bratwurst summons a savory-sweet link of homemade sausage that makes American dogs seem toothless. Pork Wellington yields ham-wrapped tenderloin baked within phyllo (succulent meat, flaky dough) and accompanied by bacon-topped mashed potatoes (three shades of swine = one happy camper).

Highs: tall mugs of Spaten Optimator
Lows: fighting Route 1 traffic
Share: Rheingarten kaseplatte
Savor: wiener schnitzel a la Holstein

 

The Dock at Lansdowne
19286 Promenade Drive, #P-101, Leesburg; 571-333-4747; www.thedockatlansdowne.com
Open for lunch, dinner and late-night dining daily, Sunday brunch.
$$ FOOD: 7.0   AMBIANCE: 7.1   SERVICE: 6.9

A welcome port for post-work revelers, The Dock appears to be a hands-down favorite among Lansdowne residents.

The restaurant originally built up a loyal following with its happy-hour specials (discount snacks, cut-rate martinis) and has since solidified its base with rotating nightly specials (pasta, prime rib, lobster).

Perhaps more importantly, staff stays alert when menu items seem to falter—as was the case when one server instinctively struck a half-eaten bisque from our bill “because it didn’t seem like it was up to par” (my guest later confided that it was a tad cold).

Fried shrimp arrive drizzled in tangy-fresh chili-lime sauce. Homemade crab cakes taste of jumbo lump, eggs and a touch of baked cheese (quite tasty). Grilled pork chops, on the other hand, are big, but terribly plain.

Highs: catching the early-bird specials
Lows: too few barstools
Share: fried buttermilk shrimp
Savor: hickory-grilled  salmon

The Grille at Morrison House
116 S. Alfred St., Alexandria; 703-838-8000; www.morrisonhouse.com
Open for breakfast and dinner daily, Sunday brunch.
$$$$ FOOD: 8.9   AMBIANCE: 8   SERVICE: 8.4

Rather than divorcing the two, executive chef Dennis Marron seems determined to mix business with pleasure—tempting Morrison House’s globe-trotting clientele with his epicurean artistry.

Hidden within a boutique hotel, the Grille pulls no punches on pricing (expense accounts help). Still, the menu has enough built-in flexibility—including three-, five- or six-course tasting menus (wine pairings are $20, $30 or $40, respectively), a la carte options and bistro nibbles (truffled fries)—to accommodate curious locals.

A shrimp-salad teaser delivered even shots of sweet meat and fresh dill. Pork cheeks are showered in sweet thanks to a brown-sugar braising and caramelized shallots (sublime). Scallop range from raw (lemon-spritzed crudo) to ravishing (flash seared and enveloped in bacon foam) in four delicious bites. A bison tutorial summons grilled loin meat flanked by smoky homemade sauce and a tartare burger that mimics traditional barbecue (pristine buffalo pulls off a great pulled-pork impression).

Highs: braised pork cheeks
Lows: gummy catfish in muddled gumbo sauce
Share: ingenious dessert medleys
Savor: scallops progression

Claiborne’s
200 Lafayette Blvd., Fredericksburg; 540-371-7080; www.claibornesrestaurant.com
Open for dinner, Tuesday through Sunday.
SSS FOOD: 7.3 AMBIANCE: 7.6 SERVICE: 7.4

“I’m not much of a wine connoisseur,” my obviously green server informs me when I fish for suggestions from Claiborne’s fairly straightforward wine list.

Nothing a few samples of primo wine can’t solve.

Things get somewhat testier another night when I catch a server and her customers commiserating about the dreadfully slow pacing of the meal (“We’re ready for our entrees now,” the couple states. “So am I,” fires back the clearly frustrated/embarrassed server).

Still, Claiborne’s keeps chugging along.

Fried oysters are exalted by zesty green goddess sauce (excellent herbiness). A mixed-seafood grill weaves together crab cake (lemony meat), sauteed shrimp (buttery) and broiled haddock with wild rice and pungent collard greens. Prime rib arrives awash in salty au jus, but devoid of the promised horseradish.

Highs: mid-summer meal on the patio
Lows: bold-faced nametags have got to go
Share: fried oysters
Savor: single-malt scotch selection

Bangkok 54
2919 Columbia Pike, Arlington; 703-521-4070; www.bangkok54restaurant.com
Open for lunch and dinner daily.
$ FOOD: 6.5   AMBIANCE: 6.9   SERVICE: 6.6

Stylish seats and pulse-racing eats are hallmarks at Bangkok 54, a hipster noodle house specializing in tongue-teasing Thai cooking.

Staff looks sharp from season to season (sporting pastel golf shirts in warmer weather, stark black button-ups and vibrant ties during colder months) in an effort to match the trendy decor within (fashionable cushions, overhead spotlights).

Monthly jazz sessions and a sleek bar setup help ensure that even the most timid of diners can enjoy a lengthy visit.

Meanwhile, the tantalizing cooking keeps spice-seeking locals from having to wander too far from home to get their fiery fix.

Breaded catfish tossed with fresh basil, baby corn, hot peppers and eggplant arrives steeped in blistering curry (phenomenally spicy). Batter-fried duck receives the four-alarm treatment courtesy of fresh chili peppers and ample garlic. Slow-roasted pork shows its sweet side beneath a layer of Chinese five-spice, delivering fragrant nuggets of clove, cinnamon and pepper-streaked meat (well-structured dish).

High: special duck roll
Low: deficit of sake-loving companions
Share: chili-soaked larb
Savor: crispy pork belly

La Strada
1905 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria; 703-548-2592; www.lastrada-ontheave.com
Open for lunch, Monday through Friday, dinner daily, weekend brunch.
$$ FOOD: 8.1   AMBIANCE: 7.4   SERVICE: 7.1

The space is so small and the business so new, that the waiter thrusts out his hand and offers a booming, “So nice to see you again,” the minute I walk through the front door.

Truth is, I’m just as happy to be back at La Strada—an encore performance for chef/owner Stephen Scott in the neighborhood Italian category (Argia’s was his most recent community dining venture) that’s taken root amongst a revitalized Del Ray.

The quaint establishment boasts a patio and just over a dozen cozy tables sprinkled about the main dining room.

Daily specials often include intimate touches like garden-fresh tomatoes (grown out back) and homemade mozzarella.

An all-encompassing fritto misto turns up deep-fried squid, octopus and even lemons, all liberally sea salted (adds both crunch and zip). Crusty, cubed bread serves as the high-fiber foundation of a salad replete with seared scallops, vinegar-soaked peppers (hot and sweet), red onions, diced tomatoes and capers. Saltimbocca yields veal cutlets wrapped in baked prosciutto, all submerged in puddles of sage, butter and white wine (bellissimo!).

Highs: homegrown tomatoes
Lows: over-mushroomed pasta
Share: panzanella salad
Savor: spicy sausage penne

Carlyle
4000 S. 28th St., Arlington (S); 703-931-0777; www.greatamericanrestaurants.com
Open for lunch, dinner and late-night dining daily, weekend brunch.
$$ FOOD: 8   AMBIANCE: 7.6   SERVICE: 7.8

Shortly after an ordering snafu at Carlyle caused some nearby patrons to receive their entrees ahead of a planned appetizer, an apologetic manager swooped in with the comped snack in hand and a chorus of mea culpas.

“We’ll try harder next time, I promise,” he pledged. And that is what’s known around these parts as “GAR star” service.

Local diners have come to expect a lot from the GAR family of restaurants, and most staffers seem all but too happy to live up to the well-deserved hype. One overachiever ticked off his specials with ease, breezily segued into a mini-profile of new daily wine deals (much appreciated), provided regular status reports and checked back like clockwork.

Batter-fried shrimp join diced papaya (mostly sweet), sliced peppers and seasoned noodles in a flashy Asian salad. Lean hanger steak can’t quite hang with other local beef barons, but a side of deep-fried mashed-potato rolls interlaced with pungent blue cheese goes a long way to filling in the cracks. Grilled halibut sizzles astride andouille and crawfish succotash.

Highs: sun-drenched meals on the patio
Lows: staggering beer markups
Share: Tex-Mex eggrolls
Savor: roast chicken in brown butter

Restaurant Eve
110 S. Pitt St., Alexandria; 703-706-0450; www.restauranteve.com
Open for lunch, Monday through Friday, dinner, Monday through Saturday.
$$$$ FOOD: 9.2   AMBIANCE: 9.2   SERVICE: 9.2

Restaurant Eve’s official motto is “nourish the palate.”

But the one-dimensional slogan fails to capture the truly restorative nature of a dining experience predicated upon artfully crafted food, unabashedly attentive servers and the lavish little details that make Eve a cherished epicurean paradise.

Chef/owner Cathal Armstrong (for a mini-profile, see pg. 49) has collected enough awards and neighboring properties to warrant the by-BlackBerry-only management style adopted by other celebrity chefs.

Yet there he is in the Eve kitchen, coming in early to inspect the latest haul from the local farmers’ market and staying late to make sure even night owls have a shot at sampling his next great creation.

Chicken-confit salad spreads luxe bird (crackling, brown skin, glistening meat) across mixed greens and julienne tomatoes, tossed with a tomato-basil vinaigrette that’s all acid and flash (glorious). Poached fluke (clean, uncomplicated fish) provides the perfect foil for a cushion of buttery corn veloute and crunchy green beans. Au jus-soaked lamb steak reigns supreme over a landscape of tiny potatoes, caramelized onions and spicy, split sausage.

Highs: lobster garganelli
Lows: gift-free dinners (no amuse or sweets?)
Share: blocks of garrotxa and cashel blue
Savor: lamb steak with merguez

Tuscarora Mill
203 Harrison St. S.E., Leesburg; 703-771-9300; www.tuskies.com
Open for lunch and dinner, daily, late-night dining, Monday through Saturday.
$$$ FOOD: 7.2   AMBIANCE: 7.0   SERVICE: 7.1

Most nights, Tuskie’s plays home to local retirees and distinguished professionals looking to mix business with pleasure. But thanks to executive chef Patrick Dinh, the menu remains more daring than mere status quo cooking.

Extended families and casual diners usually lay claim to the mill’s maze of dining rooms. While budding beer connoisseurs seem most content in the laid-back lounge (nearly two dozen handcrafted brews on tap).

Dinh appears to draw inspiration from around the globe, rolling out ambitious daily specials that make the whiffs more painfully obvious.

Fried oysters fizzle beneath a timid sauce that lacks the promised curry punch (much more sweet than savory). Seared scallops fare much better atop a sweet pepper couscous littered with feta, black olives and capers (entrancing). Smoked pork shines beneath a saucy ancho chile glaze.

Highs: adventurous daily specials
Lows: epicurean mismatches
Share: basmati-crusted scallops
Savor: salmon club

Rustico
827 Slaters Lane, Alexandria; 703-224-5051; www.rusticorestaurant.com
Open for lunch, Tuesday through Sunday, dinner daily.
$$ FOOD: 8.3   AMBIANCE: 7.8   SERVICE: 7.3

Rustico is raising the bar on everyday beer havens by weaving handcrafted brews, superlative mains and whimsical sweets into a fresh interpretation of fine dining.

Executive chef Frank Morales and beer director Greg Engert are the team to beat in the beer-as-gourmet-dining-bait universe, completing each other’s epicurean sentences—when Morales unveils a crushed ginger snap-crusted foie gras, Engert counters with the perfect Scotch ale—without so much as a stutter. Their passions run so high (Engert has an Orvist Trappist emblem tattooed on his wrist; Morales fought to keep his chef’s tasting bar because “it’s the most logical way for me to get out to talk about the food”), it’s no wonder the pair have been tapped to recreate their magic at D.C.’s forthcoming Birch & Barley/ChurchKey.

Seafood pizza boasts plucky shrimp, diced tomatoes, fontina and a chewy, wood-fired crust. Fried chicken (think ethereal crispiness rather than deliberate crunch) is drizzled with honey and partnered with whip-smart salt-and-peppered beans. A slice of devil’s food is as heavy as Lucifer’s soul, but a clever buttermilk chaser cuts through the sugary decadence.

Highs: grilled watermelon salad
Lows: nearly 400 beers = mucho cab fare
Share: fruity brew pops
Savor: anything short ribs

Chef’s Table
Seats: 2-4
Menu: 7 courses
Scene: snazzy bar stools peering right into the main kitchen
Cost: $98 pp (includes beer pairings)
Reserve: 48 hours in advance

Lebanese Taverna
Mulitple NoVa locations; www.lebanesetaverna.com
Open for lunch and dinner daily.
$$ FOOD: 6.8   AMBIANCE: 6.8   SERVICE: 6.2

With a half-dozen area restaurants now under their belt, it should be safe to crown the Abi-Najm clan as the heavyweight champs of modern mezze.

Although each Lebanese Taverna shop fosters a different look and feel than its siblings—the original Arlington location is all etched glass and historical snapshots, whereas Tysons II showcases faux stone walls and twinkling lanterns—the near-uniform menu allows longstanding Taverna devotees to feast on all their favorites no matter where they might go.

Spice-infused feta (bold cheese gets kicked up a few notches by mint, paprika and black pepper) lights a fire in your belly. Seared lamb is accompanied by a mint-cilantro paste (warm meat, herby coolness work well together) and roast potato spears. Piles of shaved beef take comfort in the company of basmati rice, tahini and garlic puree.

Highs: happening happy-hour crowd
Lows: curt servers
Share: beef shawarma
Savor: shankleesh

Ristorante Bonaroti
428 Maple Ave. E., Vienna; 703-281-7550; www.ristorantebonaroti.com
Open for lunch and dinner daily.
$$$ FOOD: 7.9   AMBIANCE: 7.8   SERVICE: 8.2

Though dressed to the nines in a neatly pressed tuxedo, it’s obvious the waiter is up for some mischief. “Can I complicate things a little?” he coyly inquires before filling our heads with a litany of off-the-menu temptations that spin simple decision-making right out the door.

Welcome to another evening at Ristorante Bonaroti—a fine-dining paradise cum hell for the indecisive.

Each day, the kitchen trots out nearly a dozen rotating appetizer, soup, salad, pasta, fish and meat specials (lots of lobster, monkfish, veal and lamb in play here).

Mozzarella-filled zucchini are fried to a crisp and drizzled with mushroom ragout. Roast rockfish draws strength from zesty peppers and creamy polenta. Mouthwatering veal cutlets are filled with ground veal and mozzarella, rolled up on themselves and smothered in a captivating wine sauce.

Da Domenico/ Zeffirelli
Multiple NoVa locations; www.zeffirelliristorante.com
Check locations for times.
$$ FOOD: 7.5   AMBIANCE: 7.0   SERVICE: 7.5

Not to make sweeping generalizations, but Da Domenico and Zeffirelli are more than simpatico establishments that happened to join forces.

They are actually mirror images of one another—at least when viewed through the prism of unparalled veal-chop appreciation.

To be perfectly fair, each of the restaurants beneath the Zeffirelli umbrella harbors its own unique charms (Tysons does veal and pork justice;  Herndon fields better seafood specials) and built-in clienteles. But after making the rounds, it became clear that collectively comparing them as components of a much larger whole made more sense than parsing them separately.

A salad of shaved fennel (mellow, but refreshing), walnuts and goat cheese decorated with pesto dots provides a welcome change from your average mixed/bitter greens fare. The signature veal chop reveals a three-fingers stack of red wine-soaked meat that readily melts across the tongue (potent wine-pepper blend impregnates the tender flesh). Shrimp- and calamari-filled ravioli bathed in lobster cream sauce are a seafood symphony, bar none.

Highs: veal-chop special
Lows: parking shortage at Da Domenico
Share: whopping antipasti plate
Savor: ravioli alla Genovese

Yechon
4121 Hummer Road, Annandale; 703-914-4646; www.yechonrestaurant.com
Open 24 hours.
$$ FOOD: 6.6   AMBIANCE: 6.0   SERVICE: 6.0

Some might dismiss the string of neon orange and green lights outside Yechon as so much window dressing. But to ethnic-dining scouts and ravenous night owls, that same pastel glow serves as a beacon for those in search of sustenance during the witching hours.

The all-night venue specializes in Korean barbecue (typically prepared on tabletop grills) and Japanese sushi (hand rolled by dedicated personnel). Crowds tend to skew majority Asian, but the ranks of in-the-know Westerners seem to be growing daily—with good reason.

A scathing codfish-and-tofu soup sweats the toxins right out of you. Short ribs arrive lacquered in a fiery marinade (fresh pepper flakes cling to the grill-marked flesh). A mammoth seafood omelet envelops shrimp, fresh octopus and whole scallions in a crispy shell.

Highs: scoring a hot meal at 3 a.m.
Lows: being snubbed by grumpy servers
Share: bul gogi
Savor: seafood-laden hot pots

Daniel  O’Connell’s
112 King St., Alexandria; 703-739-1124; www.danieloconnells.com
Open for lunch and dinner daily, weekend brunch.
$$$ FOOD: 7.7   AMBIANCE: 7.6   SERVICE: 6.9

Though not yet a threat to that other Irish food-slinger further up King, Daniel O’Connell’s has certainly made great strides towards solidifying itself as a respectable dining spot in just a few short years.

The popular gathering place continues to draw its share of jersey-clad expats who’ve come to catch the latest futbol matches. But local professionals are just as likely to conduct unofficial business meetings over proper Guinness pints.

Though owner Mark Kirwan can claim credit for the authentic Irish feel of the place, the contemporary cuisine being spun out of the kitchen is all courtesy of executive chef Colin Abernethy.

Pancetta-wrapped tuna is peppered on top, Italian baconed in the middle and mushroom hashed at its base (each tier more delicious than the last). Pulled pheasant is tossed with candied nuts, goat cheese and dried fruits, and then anointed in bacon-molasses vinaigrette. Pepper-rubbed pork loin joins bonus pulled pork atop buttery wild rice (salt, pepper, fat; this dish has it all).

Highs: pheasant salad
Lows: dry coffeecake
Share: Guinness short ribs
Savor: peppered pork loin

Farrah Olivia
600 Franklin St., Alexandria; 703-778-2233; www.farraholiviarestaurant.com
Open for dinner daily and weekend brunch.
$$$ FOOD: 9.1   AMBIANCE: 8.6   SERVICE: 8.5

“No, you order something different so the table gets a little bit  of everything,” the woman chided a companion who even dared consider denying everyone  at their table the opportunity to eat their way around the Farrah Olivia menu by duplicating a fellow hospitality professional’s meal request.

Carefully choreographed dining assignments? Sounds like these folks can’t bear to miss a single morsel that might spring from the mind of the mad genius better known as chef/owner Morou Ouattara.

Though still in its infancy, Ouattara’s Alexandria restaurant has spawned legions of devoted followers anxious to explore his seasonal creations and West African accents.

A chilled watermelon-ginger-lemongrass shooter touches off a series of fireworks across the palate. Twin towers of beef tartare are bridged by micro greens-covered toast points and accompanied by pulverized cream cheese, a faux egg yolk (golden coin bleeds mustard sauce), pickled piquillo peppers (sweet) and a streak of berbere oil (savory runway). Orange-infused salmon (enticing skin) float atop shrimp-tinged yucca couscous, while a chilling mint-pea sauce waits in the wings (gorgeous dish).

Highs: wonton-wrapped organic greens
Lows: shoddily attired servers (stained shirts, missing buttons)
Share: ginger cheesecake
Savor: Manhattan chowder with parsley crumbles

Nizam’s
523 Maple Ave. W., Vienna; 703-938-8948
Open for lunch, Tuesday through Friday, dinner, Tuesday through Sunday.
$$ FOOD: 7.6   AMBIANCE: 7.4   SERVICE: 7.2

After over three decades in the hospitality game, you might imagine restaurateur Nizam Orguz might be ready to slow down a bit.

Think again.

The always presentable Orguz greets every guest as they cross the threshold into his eponymous Vienna restaurant. And most long-time patrons refuse to leave without a least shaking Orguz’s hand, if not affectionately embracing the well-known host.

The venerable Turk has fostered a loyal following by keeping things intimate (main dining room accommodates maybe a dozen tables), while serving up unabashedly Mediterranean cuisine.

Paprika-sprinkled cheese is melted for easy scooping with toasted pitas. Rotisserie beef is sauteed with pitas and yogurt sauce, then topped with a blistered hot pepper. Seafood casserole layers red snapper, spinach, onions and cream beneath a canopy of au gratin (delicious).

Highs: greeting/farewell from owner Nizam Orguz
Lows: dodging kitchen staff to reach the restroom
Share: kasar sahanda
Savor: red snapper a la Bosphorus

Serbian  Crown
1141 Walker Road, Great Falls; 703-759-4150; www.serbiancrown.com
Open for lunch, Tuesday through Friday, dinner, Tuesday through Sunday.
$$$ FOOD: 7.4   AMBIANCE: 7.5   SERVICE: 7.1

Showmanship remains the Serbian Crown’s saving grace, a bastion of continental cuisine and exotic game.

Proprietor Rene Bertagna remains intimately connected to his restaurant, greeting guests with a welcoming smile and playful entreaties to become better versed in the pleasures of chilled vodka (the bar stocks a dizzying array of top-shelf spirits).

Reduced traffic seems to have force staff reductions at lunch, an ill-advised move given the need for expediency if one wishes to take full advantage of the three- and four-course prix-fixe deals ($19.95 and $29.95, respectively; feature many of their greatest hits, including zesty cevapcici, tasty zakuska, stuffed cabbage and wild boar).

Eastern-European staples (chicken kiev) and gourmet meats (antelope, rabbit) work best, as these dishes allow the kitchen to show off a bit.

Roast swordfish is enveloped in butter and lemony béarnaise. Veal scallopine is better, delivering tender filets drenched in sour cream and mushrooms.

Highs: spicy kick of a Moscow mule
Lows: mushy avocado dishes
Share: zakuska
Savor: wild boar

Bebo Trattoria
2250-B Crystal Drive, Arlington; 703-412-5077; www.bebotrattoria.com
Open for lunch, Monday through Saturday, dinner daily.
$$ FOOD: 7.5   AMBIANCE: 7.4   SERVICE: 6.4

Perhaps now more comfortable in his Crystal City skin, Roberto Donna seems to have tamed problem child Bebo Trattoria—tweaking his menu too play up his newfound pizza-making passion and plugging nagging service gaps.

Hostesses acknowledge and seat guests (gasp!) right as they arrive. Ordered meals actually reach the table (hallelujah!). Things take a turn back toward the embarrassing when a companion points out a slick of mystery substance coating our just dispensed ice water (waiter offers no explanation, just whisks the offensive liquid away and returns with plain H2O).

The menu seems just as revitalized, thanks to some clever wine and pizza deals—Barbera with broccoli rabe, merlot and margherita, nebbiolo with prosciutto—one server cited as part of a new push to educate locals about commonsense wine pairings.

A coil of homemade sausage swathed in salsa verde (basil, oregano dominate) satisfies. A sunny egg crowns a yeasty pie padded with buffalo mozzarella and fresh basil (busted yolk is ideal for crust dipping). Anchovy-topped veal soaks up the love of zesty tomato ragout.

Highs: myriad wood-fired pizzas
Lows: blasé house meatballs
Share: homemade lardo plate
Savor: fettucine bolognese

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Tags: best restaurants, Food & Wine

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‘Wich Hunt

Monstrously Good Eats!

By Warren Rojas / Photography by James Kim and Hana Jung

Sink your teeth into stupendous subs!

Hoist humongous hoagies to your lips! Or just plain marvel at the outlandishly original sandwich creations that await within.

Cheesetique Cheese & Wine Bar
2411 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria | 703-706-5300 | www.cheesetique.com

Gourmet grilled-cheese aficionados can get their fill of molten dairy at Cheesetique’s chic (and cheeky) wine bar.

Cheesemonger Jill Erber brings in hundreds of cheeses for her retail operation, reserving some of the finest milk solids around for use in her rotating cheese boards and homemade sandwiches.

Manager Sarah Mason said their signature grilled-cheese combo—currently paired with either a spicy gazpacho or cayenne-infused cucumber-melon soup—is naturally “really, really popular.”

No argument here.

The calcium-rich construct fuses salty Taleggio and nutty Fontina with savory onion jam (didn’t get much sour, though the sweet was bolstered by the baked onion sourdough), while a smattering of mixed herbs does it best to deliver random flashes of garden freshness.

Their take on panini fills out buttery, grilled sourdough with a gooey mass of aged Grafton cheddar, mellow pear slices and diced pancetta (cheese envelops all, ham brings the savory, and the Bartlett pears add sweet crunch).

Earl’s Sandwiches
2605 Wilson Blvd., Arlington | 703-248-0150 | www.earlsinarlington.com

For as long as I can remember, I have incorporated deep-fried potato products—be they in chip, shoestring, waffle or tot form—into any and all sandwiches preparing to pass between my lips.

Some people stare slack-jawed when I start my culinary consolidation routine. Others have openly mocked me.

Not Stephen Dugan. He gets it.

The Earl’s Sandwiches proprietor has paved the way for other closet potato-packers to indulge their starch-laden passions in public with his signature pork-and-fries creation.

Earl’s associate Michael Newman said Dugan stumbled across something similar to the pork and fries during a trip to Pennsylvania and immediately began toying with the potato-on-pork theme when he got home.

The end result features rustic ciabatta bread swabbed in a radioactive chipotle mayo—even my spice-averse better half appreciated the potency of this pepper-powered dressing—and loaded up with shaved pork (smoked in-house, daily), hand-cut spuds, diced onions and tangy pickle chips.

The Pearl is another gem of a meal, boasting slow-roasted turkey breast (plump, juicy slices of bird smoked in-house, daily), lump-free gravy and tart cranberry dressing dolled up with real cranberries (like Thanksgiving dinner on a bun).

Philadelphia Tavern
9413 Main St., Manassas | 703-393-1776 | www.philadelphiatavern.com

For many restaurants, brunch provides an opportunity to play with dining expectations by trotting out savory snippets born to sate mid-morning cravings. At the Philly Tavern it means: even bigger cheesesteaks.

This home-away-from-home for City of Brotherly Love transplants keeps the seats filled by serving up over two dozen specialty cheesesteaks (all prepared on fresh Amoroso rolls) and signature tavern sandwiches, including classics like liverwurst and onions. On Sundays, they up the ante with assorted meat-egg-and-cheese offerings (yeah, they got pork roll) and: the Big Fella.

The Big Fella
This breakfastified cheesesteak pads artfully grilled chopped steak and onions with made-to-order eggs (scrambled version weaves warm fluff into each bite; over-easy spills yolky goodness across the gullet) and your choice of cheese (veneer of bubbling provolone delivers a silky embrace; river of molten cheese whiz is an in-your-face delight).

South Philly Zep
If getting up before 1 p.m. on Sunday sounds like heresy, the signature South Philly Zep can vanquish hunger at any hour with a combination of grilled steak, vine-ripe tomato slices, a splash of oil and vinegar, bonus grilled salami and more melted provolone.

“I’m surprised when people get it because it’s so much meat,” manager Cathy Fennessy said of the beef-laden behemoth. “It’s insane.”

The Italian Store
3123 Lee Highway, Arlington | 703-528-6266 | www.italianstore.com

The wrapper crinkles indignantly as my fingers fight to expose its precious cargo. Seconds later, a warning patch of glistening oil alerts my senses to the now-forthcoming bout of deliciousness.

And suddenly, there it is: a bonafied muffuletta.

Muffuletta
A N’awlins staple, the muffuletta is an engineering feast predicated upon a host of savory sandwich mates—not the least of which is an olive salad boasting assorted olives, peppers, cauliflower, capers, carrots and celery.

In keeping with tradition, Italian Store owner Robert Tramonte said he gets his olive condite direct from New Orleans and has hired an ex-New York baker to make the Sicilian rolls special for him.

The extra effort is duly appreciated.

Each hollowed-out roll houses a towering mass of salami, prosciutto, provolone, mortadella, nutty olive oil, mixed peppers and sapid olive salad (pickled powerplay packs a sweet-briny sensation into every mouthful).

Tramonte suggested, however, that people tend to gravitate towards the muffuletta after they’ve seen/heard something about it, whereas his Milano flies out the door on a daily basis.

The Milano
The Milano layers cappacola, prosciuttini (cooked ham with black peppercorn crust), provolone and genoa salami on hard roll, then douses everything in a house pepper blend (roughly 3/4 sweet to 1/4 hot) that provides a solid afterburn.

Austin Grill
Multiple NoVa locations | www.austingrill.com

This homegrown Tex-Mex chainlet is perhaps best known for its oversize burritos, brimming tacos and scrape-the-bottom-of-bowl-good chili (see our June/July 2006 review).

But we’d now like to show some devoted love to their firecracker of a tuna sandwich.

Tuna sandwich
The well-grilled medallion of juicy tuna steak arrives lacquered in a terrific chile glaze (deceptively sweet veneer is dotted with telltale red pepper flakes), and is finished with squiggles of chipotle mayo (Southwestern spices kick the inherent heat up a few notches) and creamy avocado slices (buttery buffer helps temper the zesty sauces).

Bahn Mi D.C. Sandwich
3103-C Graham Road, Falls Church | 703-205-9300

I have several friends who could happily subsist on pho for the rest of their lives. My appreciation for Vietnamese street food, on the other hand, tends to tilt more towards the baguette-filled delicacies known as bahn mi.

Much like the many other ethnic bakeries to be found strewn about Falls Church, Bahn Mi D.C. specializes in exotic sweets (durian-wintermelon-mung bean cakes, anyone?) and savory sandwiches.

Their sandwich board touts two dozen flavor combinations—including staples like sour ham, grilled meatball and barbecued pork belly (thick, fire engine-red strips of zesty swine)—all under $3.50. All sandwiches are dressed with pickled radishes, cucumber, hot peppers, freshly torn cilantro and mayonnaise.

Shredded pork
A shredded-pork number is remarkably spicy, delivering to the palate wispy strands of air-dried pig (not at all desiccated like jerky; more like fiery cotton candy) that’s sauce-free yet flavorful.

Creamed sardines
Creamed sardines are even more enticing, infusing the traditionally oily fish with some underlying heat to contrast with the accompanying sour vegetable mix (a terrific seafood change-up).

Meanwhile, the shop owners keep their bulk shoppers happy with a standing “buy-five-get-one-free” deal.

La Caraquena
300 W. Broad St., Falls Church | 703-533-0076 | www.lacaraquena.com

Areperas are as ubiquitous in Venezuela as McDonald’s are here. But, until recently, fried-cornmeal fans had nowhere to turn (nowhere worthwhile, anyway) for a fix of these stuff-’em-to-your-liking snacks.

Gracias a dios por la familia Claros-Ugarte.

Co-owner Juan Pablo said his family picked up a penchant for arepas while living in Caracas and have been preparing them for decades—first at the original La Caraqueña they opened in Bolivia and now in Falls Church.

“We were missing the arepas,” he said of the clan’s desire to recreate their favorite South-American comfort foods.

Younger brother and chef Raul—who spent part of this year at a Venezuelan culinary academy—noted that, in true Venezuelan fashion, the arepas have colorful nicknames, including: “Peluda” (beef and cheese), “Reina Pepeada” (chicken and avocado) and “Domino” (black beans and cheese).

A traditional carne mechada arepa summons golden dough (love that delectable crunch) crowded with slow-simmered, shredded beef still dripping with peppery tomato juices. Add some grated queso paisa (semi-soft, country cheese) for a salty snap. Meanwhile, the reina pepeada folds steamy chicken and mashed avocado into a lush poultry filling better than your average chicken salad.

Hamburg Döner
202-A Harrison St. S.E., Leesburg | 703-779-7880 | www.doener-usa.com

To hear Hamburg Döner general manager Nils Schnibbe tell it, they pretty much HAD to introduce their oversize rotisserie sandwiches to the Northern Virginia market.

“It’s the most popular sandwich in Germany,” Schnibbe said. “Besides, [owner] Timo [Winkel] missed it dearly.”

Winkel’s loss is truly our gain.

Schnibbe said their döner bread is custom made by an artisan baker in Baltimore and pointed out that schnitzel is served on a grilled bröthchen (traditional German hard roll). Meanwhile, the rotating meats—they feature roast chicken the first of the week, then switch to beef on weekends—are handled in-house.

“If we would have more space in that tiny kitchen, we would have beef and chicken all the time,” Schnibbe said of the menu limitations imposed by their cramped cooking quarters.

No apologies needed.

The traditional döner is loaded with moist, shaved beef, scads of crunchy carrots, onions and cabbage, streams of modified tzatziki—augmented by a shower of crushed red pepper flakes (brilliant)—and hearty grilled bread. A chicken version bathed in low-fat yogurt sauce conserves calories without losing a whit of flavor. Tempting extras include double meat (way too much food) and crumbled feta (tres tangy).

honorable mention
Spicy Pickle
44650 Waxpool Road, Ashburn | 703-723-9420 | www.spicypickle.com

What this Colorado-based, quick-dining shop lacks in local color they more than make up for in variety (the company claims you can create over 150,000 sandwiches from their ingredient stock) and creative thinking.

Our favorite flavor mash up was the Yard Bird, a wholly satisfying shaved chicken medley that is almost overshadowed by star turns from a supporting cast of honey mustard (boldly sweet), crumbled bacon, sliced green apples (crisp, delicious fruit) and an avalanche of blue cheese (a savory-piquant power play).

honorable mention
Grevey’s
8130 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church | 703-560-8530

Nothing against the core sandwiches featured on the Grevey’s menu. But why would I sip from a teacup when I can drink from the river?

The metaphorical font in question is the $10.50 soup/salad buffet Grevey’s rolls out each weekday at lunch.

A Grevey’s staffer confirmed that there is always a trio of meats—roast beef and turkey remain static, variables like brisket or honey-baked ham rotate in—on the carving board. Factor in unlimited slices of American and Swiss cheese, a bounty of breads (Kaiser rolls, wheat/white/rye) and the homemade chicken salad (quite meaty) on the salad bar, and you’ve got enough artillery to win the war against hunger many times over.

honorable mention
Capital Grille
1861 International Drive, McLean | 703-448-3900 |  www.thecapitalgrille.com

Those who foolishly believe that any loose affiliation of chopped meat qualifies as a steak sandwich should allow the Capital Grille to show you the error of your low-expectation-having ways.

Their mouthwatering rib-eye sandwich features a 12-ounce cut of well-seasoned beef (an inch-high slab of well-marbled meat) smothered in melted havarti and caramelized onions (bring the sweet), all shoehorned into a crisply toasted baguette. Meanwhile, a side of subtle but still flavorful horseradish cream sauce (this steak is an absolute beast—let’s amp up the zing, CG!) injects just a touch of spice.

(October 2008)

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Tags: Food & Wine, sandwiches

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Asia at Your Doorstep

Authentic Tastes from the Orient

Text by Warren Rojas / Photography by Hana Jung / Tableware provided by Crate & Barrel

The Far East is alive and well in Northern Virginia. At least, it would seem that way based on the proliferation of Asian eateries across our ever-expanding area.

Yet many of these around-the-corner conveniences survive primarily on the scope of their delivery service—never mind that if you lived just a few blocks over, you could get the exact same meal from a copycat operation.

That’s why, for our Asian-dining primer, we probed embassy staff, native speakers and local restaurateurs for pointers on what to expect when stepping out for “real” Chinese, Korean, Thai or Vietnamese cuisine.

VIETNAMESE Get acquainted
Viet Crystal
13965 Metrotech Drive, Chantilly | 703-803-4428
Average entree: Under $12 ($). Open for lunch and dinner daily.

Restaurant tip No. 58: If staff appears mindful enough to keep even inanimate guests well fed and watered, chances are good you’ll be treated right.

The above observation is more of a maxim than an absolute, but the case is well made by Viet Crystal—a strip-mall escape with decidedly urban flair.

A handsomely appointed bar remains in full blossom year-round thanks to interwoven rows of budding flowers, towering bamboo and thriving foliage all around. Nearby, colorful religious icons display beatific smiles as they survey the daily gifts (gourmet coffees, exotic fruits) offered up in exchange for continued prosperity.

No slaves to fortune, staff does its best to ensure repeat business by treating every customer like one of the family.

Servers readily provide cultural guidance and dining recommendations to those unfamiliar with homespun Vietnamese cuisine. During the meal, discarded plates are shuttled away with deliberate swiftness. Once finished, patrons are invited to refresh themselves with a steamed, lemon-soaked towel.

Locals casually chat with staff (“Where’s your sister? How’s the baby?” one regular quizzes his waitress during a dinner visit) between sips of imported brews (native suds include 33 Export and Saigon lager). Early on, one server paused to inquire whether I was feeling all right after fielding my order of ginger ale (no worries; I happen to love the stuff). Another seemed almost envious of our dish selection (“good dinner tonight”) amidst an admittedly plentiful group outing. Within weeks, I felt like a time-honored regular—a sensation cemented by one comely waitress glibly stating, “You know where it is; I don’t have to show you,” when I excused myself to use the facilities.

The menu is equally hospitable, featuring over 100 menu items—including a dozen homemade soups, a host of mixed vermicelli dishes and over three dozen weekday lunch specials (pho, noodle and grill items). 
Whopping pho bowls produce aromatic brews brimming with fresh basil, rice noodles, assorted beef byproducts (ranging from thinly sliced steak to tendon, tripe and intestine) and diced scallions, all accompanied by DIY sides of sprouts, searing peppers and, of course, Sriracha.

A plate of shrimp vermicelli summons a flavorful medley of tiny noodles, sprouts, ground peanuts, fried egg, herbs and grilled shrimp doused in fish sauce (pleasantly filling dish). Saigon beefsteak brings marinated cubes of sumptuous steak sauteed with mixed peppers, herbs and sliced tomatoes served in a dark, soy-like sauce. Marinated steak is cubed and sauteed with mixed peppers, herbs and sliced tomatoes (hearty, soy-based sauce seeps into each morsel of succulent steak). Elsewhere, cod left to slowly caramelize within a traditional clay pot produces sugar-stung fish swimming in a garlic-onion-basil broth (magnificent).

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VIETNAMESE Go native
Saigon Cafe
6286-B Arlington Blvd., Falls Church | 703-237-1899 | www.saigoncafe-va.com
Average entree: $13 to $20 ($$). Open for lunch and dinner daily.

Even those who think they’ve sampled the full scope of Vietnamese dining are likely to find at least a few uncovered gems at Saigon Café, a neighborhood retreat specializing in central Vietnamese cuisine.

Co-owners Phuc Le and Tien Nguyen relocated directly across from the area’s de facto Vietnamese shopping and dining mecca, Eden Center, in 2007, after building up a devoted client base in western Fairfax. Their updated restaurant is modestly decorated (decorative bamboo dividers, rattan light fixtures, plain wooden tables) but perfectly inviting. The crowd appears to tilt heavily toward native speakers—were it not for the youngish Asian couple chatting away in English about their favorite films, every word I heard during one trip would have been Vietnamese—and Le assured me that they see new faces all the time.

The menu is stocked with dishes from the Hue province, including delicacies like mixed seafood salads, steamed rice cakes and exotic pates. The restaurant also offers two-, four- and six-person family-style meals for those who enjoy sharing plates and sampling freely with everyone else around the table.

Le suggested that first-time guests acclimate themselves to the central Vietnamese palate by starting with their signature rice cakes (doughy coins usually sprinkled with shrimp flakes), crispy mixed-protein rolls (bite-sized wraps stuffed with minced pork, sausage, assorted seafood), jackfruit salads (greens and meats mixed with the tropical, sweetish fruit) or grape leaf-wrapped ground beef.

Meanwhile, he recommended that seasoned gourmands indulge in familiar “shaken” beef (peppery cubes of fish sauce-soaked meat), a caramelized catfish creation—“It has been very well received,” he said of their clay-pot offering—or their papaya-and-shrimp salad (substantial yet refreshing).

Would that some of the overly suspicious servers were as obliging.

During one visit, a server actively campaigned against our ordering certain traditional dishes—“You Americans, you eat Mexican food and think it’s spicy. You not like this,” the well-meaning but misguided server warned—before we finally convinced him that our motley crew did, in fact, know what we were getting ourselves into (we didn’t, but experimentation is certainly the customer’s prerogative).

House rice cakes are paired with any number of culinary curiosities, including pressed shrimp patties (obligatory “safe” option), pickled ham rolls (zesty from start to finish) and peppered pork (well-spiced swine). Otherwise blasé ground-beef wraps are propped up by a thick, peanut-driven sauce.

A combination salad built around crunchy lotus root (tuber-like flesh fills every forkful) is as fresh as a spring morning, showcasing shaved carrots, basil, crushed nuts, sliced pork and shrimp doused in a sweet chili-lime sauce.

Grilled shrimp skewered on sugar cane are par for the course; grilled pork kebabs and specialty pork balls are better.

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CHINESE Get aquainted
Miu Kee
6653 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church | 703-237-8884
Average entree: $13 to $20 ($$). Open for lunch, dinner and late-night dining daily.

Ever notice how everyone on those televised kitchen/home remodeling shows always angles for next-generation Viking ovens or subzero freezers?

Not this guy.

I’d hold out for the sensibly designed, yet artfully arranged, hanging duck- and pork-filled display case at Miu Kee (as is, of course).

The smallish, strip-mall joint is definitely showing its age—cracked Formica tabletops are becoming the rule rather than the exception, the business-grade carpet is bare in spots, ground-in black in others—but nobody seems to notice. Or maybe their eyes are more easily drawn to the aforementioned roast-meat showcase peeking out from the kitchen, the striking mini-shrine hovering above the bar or the pale, aqua glow from the bank of giant lobster- and blue crab-filled holding tanks that greet you at the front door.
A far cry from the generic corner carry-outs of yore, Miu Kee aims to present more regional Chinese cooking, including Szechuan (western), Cantonese (southern) and Hunan (central) cuisine.

Granted, I’ve watched as oblivious Westerners popped in to scoop up orders of Americanized standbys (General Tso’s chicken, sweet-and-sour pork) on their way home from work. But even the most cursory glance at what the sit-down diners are eating—the roast duck and crispy pork are clear favorites—shows this restaurant knows its stuff.

No need to request secret menus or utter unpronounceable passwords here, as management has laid bare their full culinary catalog for all to see. Fare ranges from loaded congee offerings (including a potpourri of pork offal and a preserved egg variety) to myriad delicacies (jellyfish, pigs’ knuckles, duck feet) to specialty barbecue platters (brined chicken, roast pork).

Meanwhile, staff acknowledged they still use now-taboo monosodium glutamate in certain stir-fry dishes—“It depends on what you order,” the forthright server stated—but noted that customers can always request msg-free preparations.

Beef congee brings a cloudy mass of rice porridge (think soupier grits) laden with softened brisket, shredded ginger and diced scallions. A Hong Kong-style soup is better, revealing warm broth propped up by a half-dozen shrimp-filled wontons (smack of seafood and fresh black pepper).

A ration of cured bacon and Chinese broccoli is curious, delivering clusters of salt-tinged greens rolling around with wiggly strips of fried bacon (broccoli runs away with this one).

The house roast pork, on the other hand, is salt-rubbed swine at its finest. Each plate is heaped with piles of tanned skin (beyond crunchy) and luscious, crimson meat—a pork lover’s dream sent even further skyward by tangy hoisin sauce. The roast duck might soar just a little higher, presenting a well-constructed bird with browned skin that doesn’t crackle so much as bleed soy sauce (marvelous), with terrifically moist breast meat to match.

Sweet-and-sour spare ribs proved boring (deep-fried pork, overpowering glaze; move along), whereas scallop-stuffed shrimp balls were just perplexing (did someone forget to roll in some actual flavor?).

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CHINESE Go native
China Star
9600-G Main St., Fairfax | 703-323-8822 | www.chinastarfood.com
Average entree: $13 to $20 ($$). Open for lunch and dinner daily.

While enjoying one of many meals at this nondescript ethnic dining sanctuary, one well-manicured passerby poked her head through the door and sheepishly asked the China Star hostess, “Do you all sell sushi?”
Perish the thought, madam.

Raw fish has no place among the pulse-racing, pore-clearing fare that has inflamed local diners for the past few years.

The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it storefront isn’t much to look at. And confidence is low the muted decor (think blue, plastic tumblers and cliche prints of the Great Wall) will ever garner the neighborhood eatery a “hottest scene” nod from any local media.

Yet this early jumping-off point for epicurean lightning rod Peter Chang—last seen (at press time, anyway) working his culinary magic in Knoxville—continues to blow minds with its left-of-center dining choices.
Although they do traffic in typical Sino-American fare, the “traditional” menu showcases roughly six dozen hard-to-find delicacies tagged with flavor alerts ranging from “spicy” to “numbing” (characteristic of cuisine prepared with the tongue-teasing Szechuan peppercorn).

The brunt of the animal kingdom (livestock, waterfowl, assorted seafood, wild game) is joined by all manner of vegetable matter (fried bean curd, crunchy Chinese celery, pliant wood ear mushrooms) in the “home-style entree” and “house special” selections, the go-to rosters for gullet-hocking creations that are actually much more complex than their crude menu descriptions would suggest.

Gifts of fermented soy beans turn out to be an edible Trojan horse, lulling the taste buds into a false sense of complacency with their innocent sweetness.

Chilled five-spice beef begins the spice offensive in earnest, producing tender slices swimming in a scallion- and minced garlic-based marinade (terrific).

Diced Ma La rabbit is awash in the promised spices—“ma la” being a geographic buzzword for Szechuan-pepper goodness—but undermined by bones (the meat that does remain is delicious). Roasted rabbit proves somewhat meatier and boasts one of the finest supporting casts (whole garlic cloves, savory green peppers, more “numbing” peppercorn spice) on the entire menu.

Chili chicken steps things up with a bounty of lightly breaded bird tossed with ample garlic and fire engine-red pepper pods (a scorching mound of fabulosity).

The “most greatly understated dish on the menu” award, however, must go to the mesmerizing fish with sour mustard. The wondrous seafood stew submerges supple flounder and potent greens in a mustardy broth that starts out somewhat mellow but builds intensity with every bite (its most incendiary payload swirls at the bottom of the bowl).

A plate of crispy duck is good, but seems somewhat common after indulging in any of its more alluring menu mates. Likewise, not even a liberal splash of chili-infused oil can overcome the overt gumminess of a disappointing beef-tendon platter.

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THAI Get acquainted
Thai Basil
Multiple NoVa locations | www.thaibasilchantilly.com
Average entree: Under $12 ($). Open for lunch and dinner daily.

Whereas some local Thai restaurants employ rudimentary pictographs to alert customers to the spice levels of many dishes, acclaimed Thai Basil toque Nongkran Daks is the only one who includes a regional perspective with which to judge your fire-eating fortitude.

The menu at Daks’s original Chantilly location—a second, tonier spinoff sprouted up in Ashburn not too long ago—breaks every dish down along a sliding scale ranging from “American hot” (designated by a single chili pepper) to “Laos hot” (heralded by a daunting parade of four), so that customers can request each dish to their liking.

“I strive for maximum authenticity in my dishes [because I] believe that my customers can appreciate the taste of true Thai food,” Daks said of her culinary vision.

Her commitment to authenticity and devotion to her native Thailand shines through in many respects.
Both of her restaurants prominently feature photos of the Thai royal family and are tended by attentive servers in form-fitting, multicolored tunics. At the Chantilly outpost, Daks’s self-promotion is woven into every fiber of the decor, as evidenced by the slew of local media clips and candid family photos cleverly tucked beneath the glass-topped tables. Ashburn appears more modern, surrounding its exurban patrons with splashy purple walls and eye-catching floral murals.

Daks, meanwhile, practices her own art in the kitchen.

Though she remains busy with her introductory cooking classes (hands-on tutorials most recently offered on weekends at the Chantilly shop), travel and philanthropic work with the local Les Dames D’Escoffier chapter, Daks takes pride in actively cooking at her restaurants.

“Pad Thai is my signature dish,” she said of the carryout staple that has spawned innumerable imitators over the years. Daks also talked up her curried chicken and potatoes, a mild dish reflecting the Indo-Thai roots of her upbringing.

Other specialty dishes include ga xao phai, shredded chicken with herbs and chili-lime sauce, pad prik khing, a protein of your choice (chicken, pork or beef) stir-fried with green beans, curry and kaffir lime leaves (mouthwatering) and khanom jeen sounnam, pineapple-shrimp-covered wheat noodles.

“I suppose the way I prepare a number of my dishes reflects my roots in the South, but the menu is comprehensive,” she asserted.

Daks one-ups the stuffed chicken wing set with batter-fried appendages sheltering a delightful crab-vermicelli stuffing (imagine if Colonel Sanders got ahold of spring rolls), all flanked by sweet dipping sauce.

A plate of khao soi gai weaves together curry chicken, savory noodles, crispy lo mein and abundant peppers and onions into a tapestry of Thai delights. An order of gang matsaman nua—touted on the menu as “the most popular curry among Westerners”—is a beef-and-potato stew soaking in a bath of coconut milk cued to your desired heat level (“Thai hot” brought beads of sweat to this heat-seeking brow). The real scorcher, however, was the “Laos hot” pad pra kraw, a bounty of stir-fried chicken, green beans, mushrooms and basil punctuated by a mishmash of searing peppers (unrelenting fire, irresistible taste).

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THAI Go native
Bangkok 54
2919 Columbia Pike, Arlington | 703-521-4070 | www.bangkok54retsaurant.com
Average entree: Under $12 ($). Open for lunch and dinner daily.

Parked right at the crossroads of authentic cooking and urban splendor, Bangkok 54 ingratiates itself to gourmet purists and casual diners alike by presenting unmistakably Thai delicacies devoid of commercial pandering.

This neighborhood looker is as stylish as they come, comforting tired backsides with padded benches and triangular pillows while teasing eyeballs with a hot rod-red bar setup illuminated by blazing yellow spotlights. Recessed shelves house an army of metallic icons and colorful statuary, all bathed in the warm glow of carefully trained track lighting. The adjoining lounge now plays host to live jazz at least once a month, adding a soothing, adult-friendly soundtrack to the restaurant’s evolving sophistication.

Meanwhile, the rear reception area is almost entirely papered over with a lifetime of framed awards and media clippings—ensuring that any passersby who even glance through the door will get a taste of management’s marketing savvy.

Menu selection: Foods are tagged as spicy or very spicy, but confidence is high the kitchen will accommodate fiery palates.

The easily navigable menu features a host of intriguing appetizers, customized curry dishes and assorted seafood specialties. Most dishes share the roots of Thai spicing (chili-lime sauce, minced peppers, fiery curries), with the hottest of the bunch tagged as “spicy hot” for added protection.

Staffers, however, do their best to steer guests to a mutually agreeable spice level—“You like spicy food?” was all the fight I got while requesting four-alarm entrees—rather than prodding customers toward unnecessarily tepid alternatives.

An order of tod mun summons burnt umber-fish patties served with a tasty soy-garlic dipping sauce (“safe” snack for just about anyone). The much more aggressive larb reveals minced chicken spiked with an intoxicating blend of ground chili powder and lime juice (after a while, my mind tapped out, even as my tongue kept begging for another shot of lethally limey bird).

A house special of pan-fried roti wrapped around mammoth strips of crispy duck (juiciness incarnate) dressed with sliced cucumber, scallions, spicy mustard and Thai-style duck sauce is big enough to share, but tough to let go of (spoiled spring rolls for me forever).

Homemade pad Thai is packed with bits of bronzed tofu, tantalizing noodles, savory bean sprouts and a smattering of crushed peanuts (splash of fish sauce lets the individual flavors shine through). Curried beef and potatoes bring the spicy while coconut milk bolstered by freshly shredded coconut covers the sweet in a doubly nice massamun beef creation.

Pad prik khing is as spicy as advertised, yielding tender morsels of fiery fowl accompanied by some equally incendiary green beans (crunch of the pods offset the tenderness of the bird well). The signature pork-belly platter delivers ruddy strips of chili-basil-soaked swine (crunchy strips call to mind barbecue jerky) stir-fried with onions and scallions (another shareable plate that somehow was never out of arm’s reach).

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KOREAN Get aquainted
Woo Lae Oak
8240 Leesburg Pike, Vienna | 703-827-7300 | www.woolaeoak.com
Average entree: $13 to $20 ($$). Open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and late-night dining daily.

An all-inclusive showplace for those who favor South Korea’s cooking, Woo Lae Oak continues to attract curiosity-seekers and native diners alike by dishing out traditional cuisine in stylish environs.

The restaurant—which relocated to Tysons in 2006 after decades as a popular fixture of the Crystal City dining scene—dwarfs most Asian dining competitors, both in size and approachability.

The wide, inviting main dining room boasts an array of seating options ranging from chummy booths to a bank of contiguous tables most often occupied by extended families or celebratory groups.

Textured swirls (reminiscent of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”) add literal grooviness to one wall, painted tiles adorn another, while glowing pillars bearing sketches of feudal life in the Far East draw eyes to the center of the room. The high art extends to every table, where sleek, square plates and stainless-steel chopsticks intimate that the forthcoming meal merits just as much aesthetic appreciation.

Manager Susan Paik touted bulgogi and their other barbecue dishes as their bread and butter.

“That’s the most traditional dish we have here. Plus, you get all the sides and steamed rice, so it’s a full meal,” she said of the wondrous spreads that typically accompany a Korean barbecue outing. She said native Koreans tend to gravitate toward galbi (marinated short ribs), bibimbap (spicy noodle and protein medley) and miso stew—“that’s like a basic Korean meal that everyone can enjoy throughout the year”—as well as seasonal favorites like their assorted cold noodle dishes.

Just make sure to consult with staff before you wander too far into unknown territory.

An opener of ground chuck and Korean pear woven together into a raw food blossom proved too exotic for even my Korean compatriots, several of whom said they’d never encountered such a dish. Paik cited it as long-standing delicacy, but hinted that some U.S.-born Koreans might not be as familiar with the quirky pairing. (For the record: I enjoyed the beef tartar, got used to the pear, but couldn’t quite get over the stares of disbelief from the server.)

Stuffed crepes are doused in zesty cream sauce (think wasabi light) and filled with a savory beef-seafood-shredded vegetables mix. Beef jeon is like an edible lunar eclipse, delivering buttons of savory ground beef ringed by crispy yellow edges of fried egg; plunge them into the complementary sesame seed-garlic-scallion soy dipping sauce for added zing.

Barbecue short ribs are prepared before your very eyes in sizzling tabletop woks, yielding tender cubes of dulcet meat you season, after the fact, with scoops of assorted banchan (favorites include the chewy dried fish, tangerine miso paste and marinated bean sprouts).

An order of chilled noodles reveals shimmering buckwheat pasta, thinly sliced beef, shaved cucumber, garlicky kimchi, a hard-boiled egg and assorted vegetables, soaked through in a spicy beef broth (who knew cold dishes could produce hot flashes?). Across the temperature scale, fist-sized beef ribs (the carnivorous rewards arrive with their protein bundles still wedded to the bone) are slow-cooked with carrots, chestnuts and dates until the meat achieves untold sweetness (delicious).

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KOREAN Go native
GoolDaeGee
7220 Columbia Pike, Annandale | 703-256-5133
Average entree: $13 to $20 ($$). Open 24 hours.

What say we update the philosophical conundrum about a tree falling in the woods for the NoVa dining set: If someone installs yet another Korean barbecue joint in the heart of Annandale, will anyone come?

Based on the overnight success of funkified newcomer Gooldaegee, the answer appears to be: Will they ever.
The subterranean shop has a roadhouse/urban-picnic feel to it—the place honestly reminds me of a Rocklands—thanks to all the shiny steel tables, unassuming stools and incomprehensible yet universally suggestive sake and beer posters (the restaurant carries a handful of select rice and plum wines as well as Korean beers, including Hite and Cass). Colored aprons dangle within easy reach of most tables, providing an impromptu shield for those worried about wearing any grill splatter home. Plasma screens are typically locked on fiendishly difficult Asian game shows, while infectious K-pop (Korean pop music) dominates the airwaves.

The restaurant name loosely translates to “honey pig” or “pork,” a moniker that ties in directly with the cartoon pig logoed across the menu and the gotta-have staff T-shirts.

According to one manager, the company started in Korea, and the Annandale location is their first insertion into the area. The manager added that their relaxed attitude and all-hours availability make this a magnet for Asian teens and gourmet night owls, estimating that curiosity-seekers would likely have a better shot at open tables and less harried servers prior to the midday rush.

Some servers seem to struggle a bit with the language when pressed for details about certain menu items, but most appear to be overwhelmingly friendly and terribly patient—if not overtly motherly.

One mature server initially attempted to shoo me away from a cold noodle dish, pantomiming that it was a traditional dish not really suited to western tastes (she kept saying something about it “sticking” and would make a clicking sound with her teeth). After some additional pleading (perhaps diehard food lovers should be issued a “No, I really do want that” badge for just such instances) she reluctantly agreed to bring the dish—and eventually smiled when she saw my group devour the spicy medley rather than tentatively picking around its edges. By the end of the meal, she was castigating us for not finishing everything on our collective plates.

Believe me, we tried.

Bibim bap reveals a savory mess of lettuce, shredded carrots, marinated steak, sprouts and fried egg bathed in an alluring chili sauce.

Grilled pork belly is fantastic, revealing belt buckle-sized strips of glistening pig that curls to a crisp right before your eyes while remaining charged with the zesty house marinade (a definite crowd-pleaser). Grilled chicken seems too mundane (spicy: yes; visually enticing: no), whereas hand-snipped bulgogi does not disappoint (juicy beef, charred to a crisp). Assorted banchan include pickled onions, raw garlic, crushed hot peppers and freshly washed lettuce leaves (for wrapping).

Unlike neighboring Korean establishments, Gooldaegee makes sure to give its kimchi a pass on the grill, adding a bit of unexpected sizzle to the marinated cabbage.

(September 2008)

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Tags: Asian restaurants, Food & Wine

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