Made with 100-percent pure Blue Weber agave from Jalisco, Mexico, 1953 is aged for 15 months in American Oak barrels. | 1953 Tequila/Facebook Meet the three former D.C. politicos behind 1953 Tequila In 2018, former Obama administration official Lindsey Davis Stover ran against human rights expert Alison Kiehl Friedman in the Democratic primary for Virginia’s 10th Congressional district. What started as a classic D.C. political introduction resulted in an unexpected twist. “There were so many absurdities that went on in our campaign,” recalled Stover (incumbent Rep. Jennifer Wexton ended up win ..read more

Cafe Fiorello will bring a parade of Italian plates to Pennsylvania Avenue NW. | Cafe Fiorello The treasured Italian chophouse will plant roots along Pennsylvania Avenue NW later this year Cafe Fiorello’s first foray outside of Manhattan will reactivate a prime downtown D.C. corner that’s sat empty since 2018 (1001 Pennsylvania Avenue NW). The NYC fixture, situated across the street from Lincoln Center since 1974, continues to lure theater-goers with its reliable Italian fare and a destination antipasti bar overflowing with vegetables and seafood. Other familiar favorites making their way down ..read more

Executive chef Masako Morishita finishes her unagi donabe rice dish with kinshi tamago and scallions. | Rachel Paraoan For her latest culinary act, rising chef Masako Morishita hopes to make her unagi donabe rice special stick at Perry’s To satisfy demand for her hit rice bowls, Perry’s Restaurant’s executive chef Masako Morishita bought two more donabes — traditional Japanese clay pots — to have three in rotation at the Adams Morgan stalwart she’s been leading since fall 2022. Deb Lindsey/Washington Post Perry’s executive chef Masako Morishita standing in her sleek, wood-framed dining room. T ..read more

A.Kitchen+Bar specializes in seasonal American ingredients and natural wines. | a.kitchen+bar A.Kitchen+Bar debuts at the foot of a new Foggy Bottom hotel later this spring The nation’s reigning restaurateur is entering the D.C. market. The award-winning team behind Philadelphia’s a.kitchen and a.bar, one of the city’s hottest dual dining destinations, will plant roots in Foggy Bottom later this spring. Jeff Schear/Getty Images for The James Beard Foundation Ellen Yin (right) of High Street Hospitality Group accepts the 2023 James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurateur from Andrew Zimmern (l ..read more

Chef Peter Prime teams up with local restaurateur Bernard Gibson to reboot Bammy’s. | Adra Williams Navy Yard’s waterfront fixture resurfaces this month with a big focus on smoked meats Bammy’s, the beloved island-hopping fixture on the banks of the Anacostia River that suddenly closed last fall, makes a surprise return this spring under new ownership. Bammy’s originally opened in 2020 under Maydan alums Chris Morgan and Gerald Addison, who wooed Caribbean chef Peter Prime to join the team two years in. The co-founders ultimately ended up parting ways with Bammy’s last year to tackle a wave of ..read more

The elegant salmon starter riffs on a California roll. | Photo by Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images It’s cured salmon, dry-aged ribeye, and a Paul Simon performance as the cherry on top The President and First Lady are eating well this week. Tonight’s state dinner to honor Japan’s visiting Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his wife will feature house-cured salmon, dry-aged Maryland beef, and a salted-caramel pistachio cake prepared by the White House’s chefs. After the lavish three-course meal, plated on George W. Bush and Lyndon B. Johnson china, 230 well-dressed guests at ..read more

The Santorini Spritz blends blood orange-infused Aperol with passion fruit, elderflower, prosecco, and soda. | Rey Lopez Year-round Rooftop Kitchen makes a surprise spring debut on Friday, April 12 at City Ridge Fifteen years after bringing his resilient Bourbon Steak brand to the lobby of Georgetown’s Four Seasons hotel, James Beard Award-winning restaurateur Michael Mina introduces D.C. to a different kind of dining destination this weekend. MINA Group’s scenic new Rooftop Kitchen, situated five floors up at the glossy City Ridge development near Tenleytown, swings open on Friday, April 12 ..read more

An aerial shot of the Rammys last year. | RAMW/Facebook The winners will be revealed at a glitzy gala on Sunday, July 21 D.C.’s resident dining association announced the finalists for its 42nd annual Rammy Awards, providing a snapshot of top performers and favorites across the local restaurant industry. The nominee ceremony returned to its longtime downtown venue, the Hamilton Live, on Monday, April 8. Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) will announce the winners during a black tie soiree on Sunday, July 21, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Nominees must be memb ..read more

Town 2.0 signed a lease for this historic church in 2019. Years after signing the lease, it looks like Town 2.0 won’t be resurrected in St. Phillip’s Church after all As D.C.’s LGBTQ+ community preps to host World Pride 2025 — just over a year away — it was just dealt a huge blow to learn “Town2.0” nightclub isn’t making its highly anticipated comeback as originally planned. On Tuesday, April 2, Town2.0 filed a civil complaint in D.C. Superior Court against Jemal’s Sanctuary LLC, an affiliate of Douglas Development Corporation. The mega landlord with millions of square feet across D.C. has own ..read more

Street corn at Planta Cocina. | Nina Palazzolo Planta Cocina opens with “crab” tostadas and sweet potato ceviche Planta Cocina, a Latin-leaning member of the growing Planta group out of Toronto, debuted at a prime P Street NW corner in late March. Planta planted its first flag here in 2022 with its namesake cafe in Bethesda, followed up by Asian-influenced Planta Queen in the West End last spring. With a national presence in Florida, New York, LA, Chicago, and Atlanta, the DMV is now the only metro area to call all three Planta brands home. Planta Cocina is “conceptualized from Latin roots,” s ..read more