Penn Quarter or the 14th Street corridor: it's hard to say which neighborhood is hotter these days—at least in terms of restaurant development. On Monday, it seemed it like everything was happening on 14th Street, with news of new eateries coming soon from both Mike Isabella (Graffiato, Bandolero) and Mark Kuller (Proof, Estadio). Read more [...]

Enzo Fargione's Elisir, the newish Italian eatery in Penn Quarter that attracted a ton of attention over its 29-cent fee for filtered tap water, has now decided to provide the liquid refreshment for free. This is the second time this week that the restaurant has altered its position on the matter. In an email to [...]

Michel Richard used to talk up his love of the meatball. Now that he's become the face of a meatball-centric restaurant, Penn Quarter's simply titled Meatballs—a hugely hyped venture somewhat sullied by lukewarm reviews—the famed French chef suddenly seems less enthused. Asked by Victorino Matus, a senior editor at The Weekly Standard, about his new [...]

You'll recall that José Andrés' avant-garde eatery Minibar—ranked No. 1 on City Paper's list of D.C.'s 44 Most Powerful Restaurants because "booking a reservation is harder than rescheduling a flight during a hurricane"—was auctioning off all six of its seats on New Year's Eve to the highest bidder. Advertised as "a rare opportunity to sidestep [...]

Quite a big deal has been made of Michel Richard's balls—that is, the "rounded meats" on sale at the famed Citronelle chef's new Meatballs shop in Penn Quarter. Talk about braggadocio: the word "balls" is heavily emphasized in big letters on the restaurant's signage. But, for all the big hype and even bigger type, Richard's [...]

This is not a formal review, but rather an off-the-cuff first-impressions-style riff on a brand-spankin' new D.C. restaurant. Of the various al la carte offerings at chef Enzo Fargione's new Elisir restaurant (roughly pronounced ale-ee-zeer), which opened on Wednesday, the smoked carpaccio di branzino immediately snagged my attention. The $18 fish dish comes served in [...]

A few weeks back, Y&H questioned Mark Bucher, founder of BGR: The Burger Joint and Medium Rare, about his involvement in the new Meatballs restaurant in Penn Quarter. Bucher denied any official involvement—despite records filed with the District's Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration identifying him as the 100-percent owner of the business. Bucher claimed he was [...]

All the chatter this week about the cost of water (29 cents per guest for filtered tap) at chef Enzo Fargione's new Penn Quarter eatery Elisir, which opens Wednesday night, left me parched for more info. I wondered, what's the average price of tap water, anyway? You know, for the guy who is actually paying [...]

"The city water in D.C. is notoriously bad and in deference to our guests' health we don't want to offer 'Chateau Potomac.' If people insist, we will of course oblige them with tap water, but we feel that bottomless sparkling or still bottled water for .29[cents] is more than fair."—Justin Kraemer, general manager of Penn [...]

"The idea was not to offer a white tablecloth experience because in this area, I was pretty much sure I was going to shoot myself in the foot....For lunch, we're going to give you the same plastic menus that TGI Fridays has, so you can feel that it is affordable."—chef Enzo Fargione, speaking to Dining [...]