With D.C. food truck operators starting an online petition this week urging D.C. Council to pass newly proposed vending regulations, the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) today fired back with its own Internet campaign designed to stop the new rules in their, um, tracks. In a press release, RAMW tells city officials to "go back [...]

"Restaurant outdoor dining necessitates 18 different reviews prior to obtaining a public space license, there does appear to be a disparity between such a lengthy regulatory process and using public space almost at will."—Lynne Breaux, executive director of the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, explaining her organization's position on food trucks to the Washington Post Photo [...]

Have you cast your vote for the 2011 RAMMYS yet? Pick your favorite neighborhood hangout, power spot, and hottest bar scene, then write-in the name of the local eatery closest to your heart. Online voting ends tonight, just one second before midnight. The annual D.C. restaurant awards gala is slated for June 26 at the [...]

Park Police vs. Mobile Foodies: There are more reports that the U.S. Park Police, which has jurisdiction over Farragut Square, but not the curb and street where food trucks do their business, has been "hassling" food truck operators. [DCist] Awards Season: On the heels of the James Beard Foundation nominees being named earlier this week, [...]

My Washington City Paper colleague, Lydia DePillis, reports that there's a plan being pushed by the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington and the Apartment and Office Building Association to "slap a moratorium on the number of food trucks on D.C. streets, and tax those that remain." Additionally, another colleague, Alan Suderman, [...]

A couple of weeks ago, I was telling you about Don Rockwell's fledgling campaign to start an independent restaurant association that would represent workers in the hospitality industry, right down to providing them health care. Little did I know that there already was an organization in town trying to do exactly that. A few days [...]

By his own estimate, Don Rockwell eats approximately 700 restaurant meals a year, spending nearly $30,000 of his modest computer consultant’s salary at high and low-end establishments alike. Rockwell reviews many of those meals in minute detail on his eponymous food board, which he founded in 2005 and which has become a prime local destination [...]

UPDATE: 4:23 p.m. 10/27/2010 Fed up with being treated like an ATM machine and fighting NIMBY-oriented community boards, a number of high-profile restaurateurs in New York City have formed their own trade group, according to the Wall Street Journal. The new group, called the NYC Hospitality Coalition, includes such recognizable restaurateurs as Stephen Hanson, Keith [...]

Yang’s Fry-Dumpling in Shanghai Last month, we ran a RAMMY Awards contest in which we asked you, the reader, to submit your best dining experience from the past year. We had a number of good submissions, but your semi-friendly Y&H had the honor of picking the winner and the runner-up, who will both receive tickets [...]

Au Bout du Monde on Easter Island: like dining on another planet Last month, we ran a RAMMY Awards contest in which we asked you, the reader, to submit your best dining experience from the past year. We had a number of good submissions, but your semi-friendly Y&H had the honor of picking the winner [...]