I was trying to get to the restroom during my most recent visit to Graffiato, Mike Isabella’s new neo-Italian starfucker clubhouse, when a photo-op blocked my way. Isabella and fellow Top Chef alums Carla Hall and Antonia Lofaso were huddled for a snapshot. As it happens, you see a lot of these snapshot sessions at [...]
The H Street NE corridor will soon have a new one-of-a-kind dining and drink destination inspired by something pretty ordinary and average. The Smith in Smith Commons is, according to the restaurant, "the most common surname in the United States, the UK and Australia. Although the name was originally given to those who worked with [...]
The first Young & Hungry column I wrote, almost five years ago, was a review of Miss Saigon in Georgetown. I was auditioning for the job of food columnist for Washington City Paper, and these were my marching orders in December 2005: critique a Vietnamese restaurant that no one cared about. I was puzzled, but [...]
NBCWashington broke the news yesterday with prose that bordered on the orgasmic: Pinkberry is coming to D.C.! (I'm not sure how many exclamation points to include here, but the general tone of the item merits at least four, I think.) Now understand, the item names no location, not even a neighborhood. Just the promise of [...]
I'm sorry to pick on Rachael Ray. It's beyond shooting fish in a barrel. It's carpet-bombing fish in a home aquarium (though I have to admit that I admired Ray's self-awareness and unwillingness to take the bait after Martha Stewart bashed the TV cook last year). Nonetheless, would I be surprised one day to find [...]
Andrew Stover is the sommelier at Oya Restaurant & Lounge and at its new sister restaurant, Sei. Last year, Stover asked diners at Oya to choose between Arizona and Illinois wines in a sort of enological straw poll for the November general election. Lynfred Winery’s seyval blanc was the hands-down winner. It was, no doubt, [...]
