Following the departure of opening chef Nick Sharpe last month, Ba Bay co-owner Khoa Nyugen began devising a new menu with the advice of a respected kitchen consultant: his grandmother, Hoa Tran, for whom the Capitol Hill eatery is named. ("Ba Bay," or "Madam Seven," is her nickname.) On Sunday, July 24, grandma will be [...]

Chef Nick Sharpe, the guy who carefully cooked D.C.'s first tattooed pig, has left Ba Bay. Washington Post critic Tom Sietsema brings the news via his weekly web chat. Owner Khoa Nguyen is taking over in the kitchen and planning a dramatic overhaul of the venue's Vietnamese menu. "There will be more fish sauce everywhere,” [...]

A friend of mine has been in the mood for pho. And the winter blast we're having makes for a perfect excuse to go seek out the traditional Vietnamese soup. I've been thinking of pho places accessible by public transit and within a 20-minute Metrorail ride of downtown D.C. I'm catching a movie tonight, and [...]

Since I don't live on Capitol Hill, I try to indulge in the best the neighborhood has to offer whenever I'm passing through. During the last year or so, these mini-vacations have more often than not left me sitting in one of Spike Mendelsohn's outposts, whether it be stuffing my face with a Prez Obama [...]

Pho Saigon 6795 Wilson Blvd, Falls Church, VA 22044 (703) 677-0523 The first time I visited Pho Saigon in the Eden Center, at the urging of a Vietnamese acquaintance, I sat there listlessly over my bowl, wondering who or what was most off: my friend, my thin pho, or my tastebuds. Turns out that Pho [...]

Present Cuisine 6678 Arlington Blvd, Falls Church, VA 22042 (703) 531-1881 The early word on Present in Falls Church was almost too good to be true. Such praise tends to, at least for me, set the bar impossibly high, especially for a transplanted Vietnamese chef who’s just beginning to understand the American palate and the [...]

Sea Side Crab House 6799 Wilson Blvd, Falls Church, VA (703) 241-2722 Gulf Coast dishes—Alabama crawfish, Texas blue crabs, Cajun shrimp, and Louisiana oysters—dominate the right-hand side of the menu at Sea Side Crab House; the left-hand side features a list of wok items, including a number of seafood dishes tossed with garlic and scallions. [...]