Photo by Aude/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

A few days after the article was published, I received an e-mail from Nikki Lewis, the co-coordinator for the Restaurant Opportunities Center of Washington, D.C., one of seven affiliates tied to a national group dedicated to helping hospitality workers in a number of ways. She wanted to get in touch with Rockwell about a potential collaboration.

"ROC-DC is also frustrated with the NRA and RAMW. We led the first counter-lobby day against them this past April. We also infiltrated their national convention to get a better understanding of their agenda," wrote Lewis, referring to the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington and the National Restaurant Association.

"ROC is a tiny nonprofit with small capacity compared to the organized wealth and power of the NRA," Lewis added. "They're the 10th most powerful lobbying group in the nation. They clearly have way more bargaining power with insurance companies than us. Yet we are able to do it already."

ROC's health plan just got off the ground a little more than a month ago and, as such, has only a handful of workers enrolled, Lewis told me over the phone last week. It's a limited plan, she admits; benefits max out at $5,000 annually. Members pay $140 a month for the plan, with a $100 deductible.

"It's by no means a comprehensive plan," Lewis tells me. "If you get hit by a bus, it's not for you."

But it's a start and, according to a recent study conducted by the national Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, it's much needed. In a September report drawn from more than 4,300 surveys of restaurant workers, ROC found:

• 87.7% [of restaurant workers] reported not receiving paid sick days. More than 63% of all restaurant workers reported cooking and serving food while sick, thus impacting consumers’ health.
• Almost 90% of all workers surveyed reported not receiving health insurance through their employer. Workers without health insurance were three times as likely to visit the emergency room without being able to pay as their counterparts with health insurance.

ROC-United certainly has a daunting task ahead. The organization represents about 6,000 workers out of the estimated 13 million restaurant employees nationwide. Locally the numbers are significantly smaller: about 240 restaurant workers are members of the D.C. chapter of ROC. But the meaningful news here is that ROC and its modest health plan are open to undocumented workers, who often toil behind the scenes at restaurants.

"We are also reaching out to Latino media outlets because our plan doesn't discriminate based on documentation status," Lewis wrote me."[O]ftentimes that is a huge barrier to many of the workers in our industry."

The local ROC chapter is also working with a handful of restaurants to try to expand D.C.'s Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act of 2008 to cover tipped employees, which it currently doesn't. Several restaurants have expressed an interest in expanding (or already have expanded) the benefits even without a change in law, Lewis says; they include Teaism, Busboys & Poets, and Sticky Rice.

In the meantime, Rockwell and ROC are now aware of each other. They will explore possible collaborations for the benefit of those workers who feed us and serve us daily at D.C. restaurants.

It's just another manic Monday, which means of course, it's time for the news. Let's get to it.

• C'est la vie: neighborhood pet shop Chateau Animaux is set to become not one, but two new restaurants. (ANC Norm)
• What's that smell? Restaurants have started using scented billboards to attract customers on America's highways. Imagine if Y&H took to scented advertising? (Sydney Morning Herald)
• Despite the plethora of seasonal beverages currently at our disposal, Abha Gunjal says there's nothing that says fall more than a homemade chai from Teaism. (Examiner)
• October has officially arrived and naturally, so have Oktoberfests. Here's NoVa's guide to having the best damn October ever. (Northern Virginia magazine)
• Southern cooking and jazz coming to Georgia Avenue? Hadiyah Cafe at 3118 Georgia Ave. is set to become Ma Ma's Southern Cuisine. (Prince of Petworth)
• We caught the Cakespy making something delicious again. Espionage might not be her forte but I think she can fall back on baking- especially these candy corn kaleidoscope cookies. (Serious Eats)
• Release your inner southern gentleman and head on over to Acadiana for a bourbon tasting class. (WeLoveDC)
• 19 establishments to headline this Tuesday's Taste of Dupont from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. (Borderstan)
• The Campbell's Soup Company has announced that the District will be one of the select markets for two new limited edition soups. (MarketWatch)
• Kabob Bazaar owner Bruce Sarvghadi is set to open a new location in Bethesda, replacing the short lived Javan. (Bethesda Magazine)

Photo by BiERLOS via Flickr/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

The Five Guys burger in all its unfiltered glory

We're down to the wire on the D.C. Dish Hall of Fame contest. You have only until Friday to cast your vote.

As you likely know by now, the top five dishes will be part of the hall's inaugural class, with more plates to be inducted in the years to come. As it stands, the leaderboard remains virtually the same from last week's, although the falafel from Amsterdam is quietly challenging the half-smoke from Ben's for the top spot. The Falafelshop is probably gaming the system, but, hell, that's the problem with public online contests.

Just as troubling: As the contest winds down, Y&H has been revisiting some of the leading dishes (see, ahem, the above photo) in preparation for writing a recap about this madness. During my visits, I've found myself confronted by some tough questions, such as:

Do we really want the current iteration of the Five Guys burger to serve as D.C.'s calling card? Does a restaurant's longevity automatically make its food worthy of Hall of Fame status?

It's not like we can go back on our promise to induct the winners, although one Y&H reader, Rob, suggested that very idea to me:

I would vote to remove 5 Guys from the list. The chain is not local anymore, even though they started out that way. Should we have McDonalds on the list then?

To be fair, the site of the original McDonald'sin San Bernardino, Calif., has been turned into a museum, which goes way beyond a simple online Hall of Fame vote, but I get your point, Rob. I'd be curious on what the rest of you think. Chime in via e-mail and let me know your thoughts.

Meanwhile, here's the leaderboard:

1. Half-smoke with chili at Ben's Chili Bowl, 399 votes
2. Falafel at Amsterdam Falafelshop, 349
3. Hamburger at Five Guys, 223
4. Peruvian chicken at El Pollo Rico, 161
5. Margherita pizza at 2Amys, 148
6. Burger from Ray's Hell Burger, 125
7. Salty oat cookie at Teaism, 124
8. Pho at Pho 75, 115
9. Palak chaat at Rasika, 112
10. Fried whiting at Horace & Dickie's, 104
11. Atomica pizza at Pizzeria Paradiso, 87
12. Chicken croquetas at Jaleo, 83
13. Cowboy-cut bone-in ribeye at Ray's the Steaks, 71
14. Spit-roasted goat at Komi, 65
15. Lobster burger at Central Michel Richard, 60

Only four more days to go, so get votingif you want to see that leaderboard flip.

The Amy-eos at Dean & DeLuca

Or just visit your favorite bakery instead. Assuming you have one other than Teaism, that is.

Earlier this week, I asked the Y&H Nation, via my twitter account, where they might like to pick up a good cookie for National Cookie Day, which is tomorrow. The vast majority of the responses (OK, three of them) were the same: the salty oat cookie at Teaism, which no doubt explains its appearance on the D.C. Dish Hall of Fame leaderboard. Two folks even mentioned the salty oat at Marvelous Market, but I'm hoping that was just a case of simple confusion over the home of the real thing.

Others offered up more original choices:

• The rugelach at Marvelous Market (via grassfedmedia)
• The oatmeal cookie at Buzz (via robynwebb)
• The pignoli at Vaccaro's (via mrf100)
• The cookies at Cafe Phillips (via isitdinneryet)
• 'Bee Stings' bars at Baked & Wired or the cookies at Castro's Bakery for their childhood nostalgia (via HelenaHimm)

Y&H has a few to throw into the mix, too:

• The manhole size chocolate chip cookie at Le Pain Quotidien
• The cranberry-coconut cookie at Breads Unlimited
• The POLLYstyle pecan-and-cranberry rugelach at Modern Times Coffeehouse
• The Amy-eo at Dean & DeLuca (I know, I know, I knocked the Amy-eo earlier but only because it can't compare to a real Oreo; on its own terms, it's a very good cookie.)
• And, of course, my mom's homemade chocolate chip cookies, which inspired my essay on crappy foods. You can get the recipe here.

OK, y'all, we've no doubt missed a ton of other good cookies out there? Where else should we turn for National Cookie Day?

The big news this week concerns Amsterdam Falafelshop's dramatic rise to second place on the D.C. Dish Hall of Fame leaderboard.  The falafel's surge was no doubt assisted by promotions like this one on VegDC.com's Facebook page, which of course points out the whole problem with online public surveys: Folks can stuff the ballot box.

And leave comments like this:

"There should be more vegan options on this list!"

Ahem, Y&H desperately needs an international election monitoring group. Or at least experts to supplement the public vote, which is the direction that Y&H's heading.

Here's the current leaderboard:

1. Half-smoke with chili at Ben's Chili Bowl, 363
2. Falafel at Amsterdam Falafelshop, 259
3. Hamburger at Five Guys, 206
4. Peruvian chicken at El Pollo Rico, 142
5. Margherita pizza at 2Amys, 134
6. Burger from Ray's Hell Burger, 111
7. Salty oat cookie at Teaism, 109
8. Pho at Pho 75, 99
9. Palak chaat at Rasika, 99
10. Fried whiting at Horace & Dickie's, 90

There are still two weeks left to vote for the inaugural class in the D.C. Dish Hall of Fame. So get voting!

With only three weeks of voting left in the D.C. Dish Hall of Fame, the leaderboard remains virtually unchanged from last week's, save for a little jockeying at the bottom and 2Amys' suddenly move into a fourth-place tie with the falafel sandwich at Amsterdam.

Remember, only the top five dishes will be part of the Hall's inaugural class. So if you don't like the looks of the list below, get voting.

1. Half-smoke with chili at Ben's Chili Bowl, 334 votes
2. Hamburger at Five Guys, 157
3. Peruvian chicken at El Pollo Rico, 128
4. Margherita pizza at 2Amys, 115
5. Falafel at Amsterdam Falafelshop, 115
6. Burger from Ray's Hell Burger, 99
7. Salty oat cookie at Teaism, 98
8. Palak chaat at Rasika, 89
9. Pho at Pho 75, 88
10. Fried whiting at Horace & Dickie's, 83

The interesting thing is, several high-end dishes are holding their breath just below the surface of the Top 10 list. Check it out:

11. Atomica pizza at Pizzeria Paradiso, 58

12. Lobster burger at Central Michel Richard, 46

13. Cowboy-cut bone-in ribeye at Ray's the Steaks, 45

14. Shrimp and grits at Vidalia, 41

15. Spit-roasted goat at Komi, 41

With a coordinated campaign, any one of these dishes could easily sneak into the rarefied air of the Top 5. So what are you waiting for? Start canvassing for votes!

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

The D.C. Dish Hall of Fame leaderboard remains virtually unchanged after a week of voting, save for the flip-flop of the ninth and tenth place dishes. After a strong surge last week, Horace & Dickie's  fried whiting moves up a notch into ninth place.

But I have to say, I think the list is still missing some great dishes. Plates like Frank Ruta's roast chicken and Michel Richard's lobster burger are nowhere to be seen, meaning they will not, at present, be part of the inaugural class of the D.C. Dish Hall of Fame. A shame that would be, to paraphase a certain elderly sage.

A comment we received this morning, I think, sums up the feelings of a number of voters, who seem to view this contest as an exercise in classism, not a genuine search for D.C.'s finest plates:

like most things in DC, the options show extreme class stratification. I'd love to know the percentage of DC residents who've enjoyed the CityZen Parker House Rolls or Komi's spit roasted goat.

I understand that more people can afford to eat at Ben's Chili Bowl over CityZen. But I don't think you should hold that against a great side like Eric Ziebold's Parker House rolls. It deserves a place among the city's best as much as the chili half-smoke. Well, almost as much.

So, c'mon, let's try to put our prole resentments aside and vote for the best, regardless of price.  You can vote here.

The leaderboard:

1. Half-smoke with chili at Ben's Chili Bowl, 298 votes
2. Hamburger at Five Guys, 142
3. Peruvian chicken at El Pollo Rico, 115
4. Falafel at Amsterdam Falafelshop, 107
5. Margherita pizza at 2Amys, 100
6. Burger from Ray's Hell Burger, 89
7. Salty oat cookie at Teaism, 85
8. Palak chaat at Rasika, 80
9. Fried whiting at Horace & Dickie's, 76
10. Pho at Pho 75, 75

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Y&H has been promoting the pleasures of fried whiting for years. It's truly one of the District's under-appreciated plates, which is why I was happy to see the whiting at Horace & Dickie's enter this week's leaderboard for the D.C Dish Hall of Fame.

Granted, the dish still doesn't have enough votes to enter the Hall. It needs to be among the top five to earn that honor. But regardless, I'm glad to see it get some love. Maybe you'd like to give it more affection? Vote here.

Speaking of which, the falafel sandwich at Amsterdam Falafelshop also made a strong move last week, adding nearly 30 votes to its total despite the owners', ahem, questionable behavior at the Strathmore. I credit the uptick to a groundswell of vegan/vegetarian voters, who were no doubt spurred by some online petition. How do I know this?

Because Y&H received a number of e-mails like this one from avalon345:

"Not enough vegetarian/vegan choices! Looks like 1950s fare..."

Yeah, sure. Where were you eating palak chaat, pho, and Peruvian chicken in the '50s, avalon345?

The current leaderboard after the jump:

1. Half-smoke with chili at Ben’s Chili Bowl, 250 votes
2. Hamburger at Five Guys, 118
3. Peruvian chicken at El Pollo Rico, 104
4. Falafel at Amsterdam Falafelshop, 92
5. Margherita pizza at 2Amys, 87
6. Burger from Ray’s Hell Burger, 76
7. Salty oat cookie at Teaism, 70
8. Palak chaat at Rasika, 70
9. Pho at Pho 75, 63
10. Fried whiting at Horace & Dickie's, 40

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Voting is just a couple of weeks old for the inaugural class of the D.C. Dish Hall of Fame, but already a pattern has emerged: Fast foods are dominating the competition.

That's hardly surprising, of course. On a daily basis, you know that people order about 500 more half smokes at Ben's Chili Bowl than, say, order Frank Ruta's roast chicken at Palena Cafe. But just because the odds are stacked against your favorite dish, that's no excuse to sit back and let the fast foods run away with this.

Start pressing your friends to vote for your favorite dish. The voting doesn't end until Dec. 11, when we will induct the top 5 into Washington City Paper's inaugural D.C. Dish Hall of Fame.

Take a look at the current leaders:

1. Half-smoke with chili at Ben's Chili Bowl, 191 votes
2. Hamburger at Five Guys, 92
3. Peruvian chicken at El Pollo Rico, 80
4. Falafel at Amsterdam Falafelshop, 64
5. Margherita pizza at 2Amys, 59
6. Burger from Ray's Hell Burger, 59
7. Salty oat cookie at Teaism, 57
8. Pho at Pho 75, 55
9. Palak chaat at Rasika, 49
10. Smoked branzino carpaccio at Teatro Goldoni, 37

Don't like the looks of the current leaderboard? Get voting!

Photo by Darrow Montgomery