RAMMY Nominations Announced

The Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington announced the nominees for its annual restaurant awards, the RAMMYS, last night at a party that featured some pretty delicious cocktails and Birch and Barley's Tiffany MacIsaac's killer desserts.

• Fine Dining: 2941, Michel Richard Citronelle, Minibar by José Andrés, The Oval Room, The Source by Wolfgang Puck

• Upscale Casual: Central Michel Richard, The Liberty Tavern, Proof, Vermilion, Zaytinya

• New Restaurant: Bibiana, Birch & Barley, Bourbon Steak, Eventide, Inox

• Chef: Bertrand Chemel of 2941, Scott Drewno of The Source, Daniel Giusti of 1789, Vikram Sunderam of Rasika, Haidar Karoum of Proof

• Rising Culinary Star: Michael Isabella of Zaytinya, Liam LaCivita of The Liberty Tavern, Shannon Overmiller of The Majestic, Nicholas Stefanelli of Bibiana, Jon Mathieson of Inox

• Pastry Chef: Anthony Chavez of 2941, Amanda Cook of CityZen, Josh Short of Neighborhood Restaurant Group, Fabrice Bendano of Adour, Travis Olson of 1789

• Wine Program: 2941, Michel Richard Citronelle, Dino, 701/Ardeo/Bardeo/Bibiana/Bombay Club/The Oval Room/Rasika, Proof

• Beverage/Mixology Program: Brasserie Beck, EatGoodFoodGroup (Eve, PX), Founding Farmers, PS 7’s, Tabard Inn

• Manager: Souheil Moussadik of CoCo. Sala, Ryan McCarthy of Passion Food Hospitality, Ashley Williams of Mie N Yu, Mark Politzer of Bourbon Steak, Fernando Contreras of KAZ Sushi Bistro

• Employee: Corina August of Mie N Yu, Joe Bolam of Urbana, Adolfo Cajchon of Seasons, Marco Guzman of Café Atlantico, Jose Orantes of Dino

• Neighborhood Gathering: Bar Pilar, Belga Café, Cork, EatBar, Kemble Park Tavern

• Restaurant Power Spot: Art & Soul, BLT Steak, Bombay Club, The Source, Teatro Goldoni

• Hottest Restaurant Bar Scene: Birch & Barley and ChurchKey, Bourbon Steak, Masa 14, Posto, POV

Where I've Been Eating

Some recent meals of note:

• Kellari Taverna has some tasty new items on its spring menu, including a lobster salad with dragonfruit and stuffed pasta with truffle sauce and parmesan, reminiscent of some tasty bites I had a PS7's. The dessert menu includes profiteroles filled with vanilla gelato and topped with bitter sweet chocolate sauce.

• Granville Moore's is a spot I've long wanted to go to, but I rarely get up to H Street, NE. Ever since my visit, I've been thinking fondly about the crave-worthy moules fromage bleu, with bacon, blue cheese, shallots and spinach. The moules Moroccan, with beer poached fennel, lamb sausage and curry cream sauce were also good, but every time my friend and I switched bowls, I was ready to get the blue cheese mussels back. With Belgian beers and a side of frites, it was a delicious night out.

• I mentioned Zentan a couple weeks ago for their Chinese New Year celebration, and I'm a fan of the sushi, Singapore slaw and the carmelized black cod, which has been causing some serious cravings.

• Eco-friendly Mixt Greens, which has opened two locations here this year, is a new contender in the city's salad trend. I like the Dagwood, which is full of roasted red peppers, roasted zucchini, roasted portabella mushrooms, caramelized onions, goat cheese and garlic croutons and topped with a lemon herb vinaigrette.

• Oh and if you're looking for a new happy hour, Nage has one of the best in the city: $2 glasses of wine, $1 frites, and an excellent bar menu.

Chinese New Year Dinner at Zentan

If you're looking to celebrate Chinese New Year with delicious dishes, head to Zentan, where you can get a four-course prix-fixe dinner through February 28. I was lucky enough to taste the dishes the other night, and loved the Spicy Thai-ger cocktail, with Thai chili-infused vodka, sake, elderflower liqueur and cranberry, garnished with candied ginger.

Kick off the four courses with vegetable dumplings or a light melon and ham soup. The second course is Zentan's tasty Singapore slaw, and for the main course choose from crispy garlic chicken, barbecue pork and whole fried red snapper, and finish with green tea creme brulee, sweet sticky rice cake, or star anise pomelo granita. The prix-fixe costs $47.08.

This was my first trip to Zentan, and besides the delicious Chinese New Year dishes, the sushi we started with was great - especially the spicy lobster and calamari sushi rolls.

Holiday Baking Classes

Fabrice Bendano shows students how to make macarons in his monthly class at Adour.

Gifts made with love in your kitchen are some of the best presents. Take a cooking class at an area restaurant, and your friends and family will receive delicious presents while you'll add new desserts to your recipe box.

Adour offers its next monthly macaron making class tomorrow, when Fabrice Bendano shows how to make pumpkin macarons and Emmental cheese gougères.

At Culinaerie, sign up for Gifts From Your Kitchen, a 1 p.m. class on Nov. 28 that teaches you to make scone mix, lemon curd, preserves and white chocolate bark.

Attend 'Tis the Season… for Baking at 1 p.m. on Dec. 5 at PS7's, to learn how to make Christmas cookies and more while sipping a cocktail.

Fancy Cakes by Leslie in Bethesda offers a holiday cake-decorating workshop on Dec. 7 from 7-9 p.m.

Visit each spot's web site to sign up.

Ris Opening Soon

There have been lot of restaurant openings this fall, though none as highly anticipated as chef Ris Lacoste's new restaurant, Ris, which is just about to open at the corner of 23rd and L Streets, NW. I went in for a tour yesterday, and here are some photos and things to look forward to when the restaurant opens sometime next week.

Lacoste calls Ris an "upscale neighborhood café" with Wi-Fi throughout the restaurant and quick to-go options for breakfast and lunch coming within a few months. Also coming later is weekend brunch, weekday breakfast and Sunday supper.

It's also going to be part gallery — Lacoste is teaming up with Adamson Gallery to arrange for a rotating selection of artwork to be on display in the restaurant. The space has dozens of nooks and crannies designed for that purpose.

When the weather warms up, there will be 60 seats outside, and inside 170 can sit in the bar, lounge, private dining spaces and dining room.

Lacoste will be teaching cooking classes from the kitchen — doors (above) open up the kitchen (below) to the front of the restaurant and participants can look right in to the kitchen to see demos.

Lacoste will be heading up the kitchen, chef de cuisine will be Ed Kwitowski (Bistro Bis) and pastry chef will be Chris Kujala (Potenza, Kinkead's).

Spicy Menus at TenPenh

The Terra Cotta Warriors go up today at the National Geographic Museum, and TenPenh has unveiled a clever new menu promotion — a three-course prix fixe menu showcasing a new spice or herb each week until December 13.

Executive Chef Cliff Wharton will be doing tasting menus at dinner ($38), along with a lunch dish ($18), weekly at the restaurant.

Wharton says he researched ingredients in imperial Chinese cuisine and read everything he could about the Terra Cotta Warriors on the Internet to decide which herbs and spices to use. He decided on Szechuan peppercorns, coriander, saffron, cardamom and cinnamon. This week’s menu focuses on chives, so expect shrimp chive dumplings, smoked salmon-chive pancakes and sesame crusted halibut with chive salad.

Chinese chef Susanna Foo, a two-time James Beard Award Winner, will be in town Saturday from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. to teach a Terra Cotta Warriors cooking class at TenPenh ($100). Foo blends traditional Chinese cooking and classical French techniques in dishes like chicken kobocha soup and braised beef short ribs. Call 202-408-0201 for more information.

News from around town

This site has been rather boring lately, and for that I apologize. Having an event or dinner after work every single night, coupled with having a miserable cold this week, doesn't exactly leave much time for web site updating. Recent dinners include Againn, a new gastropub that features an extensive Scotch menu, along with delicious sticky toffee pudding, charcuterie and fish stew. Kellari Tavern is a great new Greek spot that focuses on seafood (like wonderful grilled octopus and shrimp from Madagascar that are bigger than your face), but their spanikopita, avgolemono soup, and desserts are delicious as well. And I made a visit to Et Voila! in the Palisades, and it is a charming spot to nosh on mussels, crepes and other Belgian fare.

What else have I been working on? Today I previewed the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit that opens next week at the National Geographic Museum, and it's awesome (and you can read much more about it in next Thursday's Express). I've also been working on a big piece on the gay attacks at Georgetown, did an interview with Dresden Dolls' Amanda Palmer, and checked out Masa 14.

I'll be taking it easy this weekend and making a trip to Eastern Market for Second Saturday at Capitol Hill Books (wine and cheese and 10% off), SeventhHill Pizza and the market, but if you're looking for a fun activity, Strathmore is hosting its annual Museum Shop Around today, tomorrow and Sunday, where you can find gifts from 16 area museum gift shops.

Recent Eating Excursions

If you're curious about where I've been eating lately, there's a lovely little section of this blog devoted to just that, which I update every couple weeks. I mention mostly highlights, occasionally lowlights, and notable dishes I think you should try. Here are some of the most recent entries:

• Sou'Wester
The new spot in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel has fun cocktails (like the Root Beer Float, made with Jack Daniels) and Southern dishes, like a lovely poached egg with grits and sweetbreads, and chicken and dumplings.

• Bibiana
A long lunch there recently revealed delights that weren't apparent on my first visit — lovely figs stuffed with ricotta, gnocchi tossed with Brussels sprouts, black spaghetti with blue crab, a marvelous chocolate bombe for dessert...

• Oval Room
The lobster cooked in butter with jalapeno and Thai basil and served with coconut ginger rice with yellow curry? Delicious.

• Masa 14
This new 14th Street hotspot is the combined effort of Kaz Okochi (Kaz Sushi Bistro) and Richard Sandoval (Zengo), and the menu reflects their Latin and Asian influences in small plates. I found it to be hit or miss — I loved the grilled baby octopus with pickled vegetables and the vegetarian hand roll made with sweet tofu. The tuna ceviche had a nice sweetness from an addition of pineapple. But I wasn't wowed by the Kobe beef and pork meatballs, or the seaweed-jicama salad, or any of the desserts. It's still relatively new, so I'll give it a re-visit later.

Bibiana's black spaghetti with crab is a recent dish I've been eating. (Photo credit: Greg Powers)

A Recent Pizza Tour of D.C.

In the past month, I've been exploring some of D.C.'s pizza options. I love pizza, but hadn't yet been to some of the places that are well-known for their pies.

First up was 2 Amys in Cleveland Park, which I hadn't been to because it isn't Metro accessible. Several writer friends and I headed there on a Tuesday night, and the place was hopping with American University students. With pizza, I think simplicity is key, so I ordered the Two Amys, with tomato and fresh mozzarella. I also sampled the Norcia, with tomato, salami, grilled peppers, fresh mozzarella and grana, and the Margherita (above), with tomato, mozzarella di bufala and basil from my friends' plates. Crust makes or breaks a pizza, and I liked 2 Amys' puffed and slightly blistered edges. And while I liked the classic Two Amys pie, I wasn't exactly upset when our leftovers got switched and I ended up with two slices of my friend's leftover Norcia.

The next pizza excursion was to Comet Ping Pong for date night, and this place was hopping with small children and their parents. (The small children also precluded us from playing ping pong, so opt for a dinner later than 6 if you want a little more quiet and to bat ping pong balls around.) Here we went with the Steel Wills pizza, with ricotta, garlic and black olives, and a calzone with merguez sausage and ricotta that comes with an addicting tomato sauce. The crust here is thinner than at 2 Amys, and Comet comes in third place in this pizza survey, though it is probably due in part to extremely slow service and loud children.

I saved the best for last — SeventhHill Pizza. Located in Eastern Market next to Montmartre (it has the same owners), Seventh Hill employs a pizzaiolo (male pizza chef), who makes fabulous pies. A friend and I recently went and had two — the Eastern Market with goat cheese, herbs and Portobello mushrooms (which I am still dreaming about) and the Seventh Street, with roasted red peppers and prosciutto. It's also warm and cozy inside, as it only seats about 25. We went on a Sunday and a football game was on the TV, and we sat at the bar where you could see right into the pizza oven and carry on a conversation with the pizzaiolo. It's unfortunate this place is so far from the parts of the city I'm in on a daily basis.

Two Amys, 3715 Macomb St., NW, 202- 885-5700‎, 2amyspizza.com.
Comet Ping Pong,5037 Connecticut Ave., NW, 202-364-0404, cometpingpong.com.
SeventhHill Pizza, 327 7th St., SE, 202-544-1911, seventhhill.com.

Things to Read

• Restaurant news, including D.C. Beer Week and D.C. Restaurant Week.

• Interview with director Nora Ephron. Julie and Julia comes out today.

• Farmers Market dinners, and trailing a chef around a farmers market.

Room 11 Opens Monday

Room 11, the new wine bar at 11th and Lamont Streets, NW, opens Monday. This is great, because it's about a 10 minute walk from my house and I've long lamented the lack of restaurants/bars in my neighborhood. And it's also great because this place is adorable, with 15 seats inside and 28 on the patio.

Ben Gilligan, the chef, hails from Australia, and previously worked at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Phillips Collection. He calls Room 11 a "pinky down wine establishment."

"It's just wine," he says. "You don't need high heels and lipstick to drink wine."

The menu matches Gilligan's goals for accessibility — look for charcuterie, paninis, small bites and desserts. Desserts are made by Paisley Fig, the same women who do desserts at Cork.

The drink menu has two dozen wines (red, white, sparkling and dessert), 9 beers and 6 cocktails.

Check out their blog for more info, including pictures of the bat-wallpapered bathroom.

Other writers and bloggers at the opening.

A seating corner.

Asia Nine's Full Moon Party

I'm popping into Asia Nine tonight (before a screening of Paper Heart at E Street) for their Full Moon Party, which is based on a celebration in Thailand. Each month on the night of a full moon, people head to the Koh Phangan Beach to view the moon.

I'll be interested to see how they transform the restaurant into a beach party, but look for food and drink specials (like beer and wine, sushi and shumai), and prizes and other activities. A $3 donation at the door benefits the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Asia Nine is located at 915 E Street, NW.

D.C. summer restaurant week 2009

D.C. summer restaurant week dates were unveiled this week: August 24-30.

I'm thinking that this year I want to do some lunches, which are $20 a pop for three courses and would get me out of the office during a really slow time. Anyone up for it?

Squash Blossom Festival at Oyamel

I'm a fan of squash blossoms, and cooked some last week after finding them at the Penn Quarter market. I stuffed them with goat cheese and herbs and then fried them — really easy and delicious.

If cooking them isn't your thing, but you still want to try the bright orange blossoms, head to Oyamel, where the second annual squash blossom festival is going on through July 26. Dishes, which cost between $8 and $14, include squash blossoms stuffed with Westfield Farm goat cheese, poblano chile and epazote and a house made corn tamal with squash blossoms, braised pork, queso fresco, corn, zucchini and epazote. Wash it down with a Mexican gin and tonic, a twist on the cocktail with Mexican herbs and squash blossoms.

D.C. Restaurant News

There's been so much going on restaurant-wise lately, so here's a run down of some highlights:

- Blue Ridge opened last week in Glover Park. It's headed up by Barton Seaver, so the menu will have an emphasis on local ingredients and sustainability. Look for dishes like fried catfish with sorrel aioli and roasted butternut squash with poached egg and chorizo vinaigrette.

- Proof just hired Adam Bernbach as bar manager. Bernbach is formerly of Bar Pilar and he creates great cocktails, so it will be interesting to see what he does at Proof. (And this reminds me that I haven’t been to Proof in entirely too long. Anyone want to go soon?)

- Chef Geoff opens a new eponymous restaurant in Tysons Corner on June 25. Featured items will be day boat scallops with mushroom risotto and Cuban salmon with mojito vinaigrette.

- Georgetown Cupcake will be opening a second outpost in Bethesda.

- Metrocurean has a great rundown of Kids' Restaurant Week, which runs through June 21.

- Poste is hosting 'Poste Roasts' this summer. Chef Robert Weland roasts duck, goat, pig, brisket, lamb, squab, salmon or poussin all sourced from local farmers and serves it with seasonal side dishes made with ingredients from the Poste Garden. The roasts are served family style at the Chef's Garden table and cost $27.

2009 Rammy Winners

Chef of the Year
Robert Wiedmaier - Marcel's/Brasserie Beck/Brabo Tasting Room & the
Butcher's Block, Washington DC

Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year
Restaurant Eve, Alexandria VA

Upscale Casual
Rasika, Washington DC

Rising Culinary Star
Anthony Chittum - Vermilion, Alexandria VA

Best New Restaurant
Cork, Washington DC

Power Spot of the Year
Central Michel Richard, Washington DC

Neighborhood Gathering Place
The Liberty Tavern, Arlington VA

Hottest Restaurant Bar Scene
Co Co. Sala, Washington DC

Pastry Chef of the Year
Kate Jansen - Willow, Arlington VA

Associate Member
Belair Produce Inc./Watermark Foods

Wine and Beverage Program
CityZen, Washington DC

Restaurant Employee of the Year
Juan Francisco Lopez - Marcel's/Brasserie Beck, Washington DC

Restaurant Manager of the Year
Ryland Johnson - Zola, Washington DC

Your Favorite Restaurant (voted by online/newspaper ballot)
Teatro Goldoni, Washington, DC

Duke Zeibert Capital Achievement Award
Dimitri Mallios

WHERE MAGAZINE Visitors' Choice Award
The Prime Rib

2009 RAMMY Honorary Award
Billy Martin's Tavern

2009 RAMMY Honorary Award
Frans Hagen

Mid City Caffé

I wish this were a wee bit closer to where I live, but still good news — Mid City Caffé is opening on June 14 at 1626 14th St., NW.

Look for coffee from Counter Culture Coffee (made in a French press) and pastries like
sweet potato spice cake with cream cheese frosting, lime chiffon cake and bagels.

There will also be an outdoor patio.

Mid City Caffé will be open Monday-Thursday from 7 a.m.- 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 8 a.m.- 6 p.m.

EDIT: The opening has been delayed.

Chef's Best Recap

Last night was Chef's Best, and while I didn't have the stomach capacity to sample every dish, there were a few standouts among the plates I tried.

Georgia Brown's low country lobster and grits were delicious, and Posh's chicken and waffles were something different for these kinds of events. Lebanese Taverna served lamb skewers and a wedge of pita in a mini-martini glass filled with hummus. On the sweet side, I loved Hello Cupcake's mini cupcakes, Art and Soul's lemon pound cake "baby cakes," and Nage's cayenne and sea salt truffles.

But stealing the show was Inn at Little Washington's Patrick O'Connell. He called his table "Heaven's Kitchen," and there were oysters on the half shell topped with cucumber salsa and cucumber sorbet and then cocktail sauce and cocktail sauce sorbet. Everyone was dressed like nuns, and O'Connell was dressed as the pope. At the end of the table he had everyone kneel down (as if receiving communion) and he fed you paper thin potato wafers with caviar in the middle. So delicious and a reminder that I've been wanting to go out for oysters for awhile.

Softshell Crab Season

I recently met with Equinox and Chef & Co-Owner Todd Gray, and I learned how to cook soft shell crabs and sampled a number of really delicious dishes using them.

Soft shells are blue crabs caught in their molted state, and the natural molting process creates the soft shell crab season, which runs from late spring to early fall. I don't have very much experience eating them, and usually just like crabs when they're steamed and coated in Old Bay, but Gray made them seem really easy to work with.

While I don't think I could clean them myself, since I get squeamish about them, you can order them at Whole Foods, where they will clean them for you. You can also find them at Black Salt and River Falls Seafood Company in Potomac. And you can find them on the menu at Equinox as well.

One of my favorite dishes of the night was the soft shell crab with Vidalia onion puree, Rappahannock spinach and Equinox bacon. Recipe is below.

Ingredients:
• 6 soft shell crabs, cleaned
•2 cups Wondra Flour
•1/2 cup clarified butter
•1 cup sweet onion puree
•1/2 lb spinach
•3 shallots, sliced
•1 tbsp olive oil
•1/4 cup bacon lardons
•1/2 cup white butter sauce
•1/4 cup chives, minced
•1 tsp preserved lemon

Directions:
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Heat a large sauté pan to medium and clarified butter to pan.
• Dredge crabs in flour and season with salt and pepper and lay them into pan back side down. Cook crabs for two minutes and turn over. Place pan in oven and cook additional 2-3 minutes.
• Heat up sweet onion puree in a small sauce pot. Keep warm.
• Heat another medium-sized sauté pan and add olive oil and shallots. Sweat for one minute. Add spinach, season with salt and pepper. Cook two minutes. Drain spinach onto paper towel-lined tray and keep warm.
• Heat up butter sauce. Add lardons, chives and lemon.
• Remove crabs from oven. Drain onto paper towels.
•Take six warm plates. Spoon onion puree into center of dish and place spinach on top of puree. Place one crab onto each dish and drizzle with bacon butter.

Taberna del Alabardero Happy Hour

Spring weather always inspires me to go out for happy hour after work, and my new favorite spot is Taberna del Alabardero, where you can get half-off pitchers of sangria and half-off tapas during their happy hour.

I recently had the tortilla española, a potato and egg omelet, and sautéed artichokes with sherry vinegar and foie gras shavings. Both were delicious, and along with a basket of bread and pitcher of red sangria, were sufficient for my dinner that night.

I'm looking forward to heading back to try deep fried squid with paprika aioli and grilled chorizo.

Happy hour runs from 3-7 p.m. Monday through Friday.