As soon as the Æbleskiver hit our table at Domku, Carrie had a flash of déjà vu.  For my wife, these Danish balls of pancake dough brought back pleasant memories of her State Department childhood in the Netherlands, where the bite-sized breakfast snacks are known as poffertjes.

Your own Y&H, however, had a flash of horror. These babies in Petworth were practically blackened on one side, which no powdered sugar could hide! (See pic above.)

Read More “Some Æbleskiver Advice for Domku: Give Those Puppies a Turn” »

One by one, we’re running through the 50 restaurants that made the cut on this year’s Young & Hungry Dining Guide. If you have visited the day’s featured restaurant, let us know what you think. If you’re planning to visit for the first time, tell us about your meal when you return.

With their selection of serious wood-fired pizzas, the crusts both charred and slightly sweet with honey, owner Jose Velasquez and wife, Reyna Isabella Acosta, have done more than introduce Neapolitan-style pizza to an underserved Petworth neighborhood. They’ve also helped to break the stranglehold that Mexican cuisine has on Salvadoran restaurateurs. Well, sort of. The menu at Moroni & Brothers does feature a number of Mexican and Tex-Mex staples, but its focus is squarely on the wood-oven pizzas, which Velasquez learned to make under Ruth Gresser’s tutelage at Pizzeria Paradiso, and the Salvadoran dishes from the owners’ home country. This kitchen fusion can lead to some rare cultural fusion in the dining room, too, where Anglo foodies and Hispanic regulars mix together at this Georgia Avenue storefront, the Spanish-language music blaring from the jukebox at ear-splitting volumes. But it can also lead to a heady dining experience, whether you opt for the fiery Diavola pie with sausage and jalapeños or the fattier pleasures of Moroni’s pork-and-cheese pupusa.

Addendum: Y&H looks into the question of why Salvadoran and Mexican cuisines are forever entwined at area restaurants.

Moroni & Brothers, 4811 Georgia Ave. NW, (202) 829-2090

Photo courtesy of Moroni & Brothers

The wife and I stopped by Taqueria Distrito Federal II late last night, just in time to grab some tacos, a chicken milanese torta, and some face time with owner Luis Marroquin, who opened his second restaurant this summer in the Petworth neighborhood where he lives. He was sitting on one of the shiny new counter stools, next to his two daughters (including Jacqueline, named after the former First Lady whom Marroquin admired). The owner, a native Salvadorian, explained how he choose this semi-blighted stretch of Kennedy Street for his taqueria.

Read More “Taqueria Distrito Federal II Adds A Little Color to Kennedy St.” »