DC foodie groups/links?
September 3, 2010 6:09 AM   Subscribe

DC area foodies - Lend me your recommendations!

I'm from Charleston SC, and there's a very small but diverse scene of people interested in private tastings, restaurant previews, ethnic grocery updates, specials at suppliers, cooking classes, all the usual foodie stuff.

I'm new to the DC area and I'm looking for similar stuff especially good blogs. But there's just so.. much.. stuff.. it's hard to know where to start looking. Even looking for local foodie blogs turns up several thousand hits on google.

So local (DC, MD, NoVA) people - clue me in.
posted by anti social order to Food & Drink (14 answers total) 15 users marked this as a favorite
 
One of the first ones to check out is definitely Tyler Cowen's Ethnic Dining Guide.
posted by inigo2 at 6:17 AM on September 3, 2010 [1 favorite]


Tom Sietsema (Washington Post) is a pretty reasonable reviewer and all around good dude. Browse his articles and reviews to get a good idea of some of the good places around here. Another good blog is Washington City Paper's Young & Hungry. Though if I were new in town I'd honestly browse around Yelp to get an idea of all the hot spots (go to Bens once - but onyl so you can say you've been. It's otherwise nothing special.)

I'd look at the top rated Zagat spots like Komi and Inn at Little Washington if you can drop that sort of money.
posted by windbox at 6:30 AM on September 3, 2010


DonRockwell.com is where most of the eGulleteers went during the food fora diaspora of '04
posted by JPD at 6:40 AM on September 3, 2010


If you're looking for blogs, then the first stop is generally DCist, which while not a food blog, is a general all-sorts blog about DC that does include foodie news (amongst statements of Metropocalypse). Wonkette, the political satire blog, also has posts about the DC food/bar scene. The last time I lived in town was 2-3 years ago, though, so my knowledge of more specific blogs isn't as good.

If you're looking for specific places to go nosh, the Jose Andres restaurants in/around Gallery Place are some of my favorites (Oyamel, Zatinya, Cafe Atlantico, Jaleo [less so]). minibar is probably the most unique seat in town, but you have to call a month in advance for reservations there - they only seat 12 people per night.
posted by SNWidget at 7:04 AM on September 3, 2010


I have lately been reading Capital Spice, though the jury's still out on it (I am moving to DC, but I'm not there yet, so I can't really follow up on anything I read yet). But it seems to have a youngish vibe and the sorts of things they're highlighting are the sorts of things I want to know about.

(And, yeah, I'm in Chicago where it's easy to be a foodie and am totally concerned about the food in DC. Everyone says the food in DC is so good but, I'll be honest, every time I've gone to a "good" or "upscale" restaurant in DC, it's been a chain. So I also want to know where the awesome local stuff is. I'm sure it exists, yes?)
posted by devinemissk at 7:08 AM on September 3, 2010


The DC Chowhound board is pretty active. Seconding DCist and City Paper as well.
posted by JoanArkham at 7:36 AM on September 3, 2010


Also: not only is there good food in DC, the food scene has really exploded in the past few years. It's not all stuffy expense-account steakhouses and "continental" cuisine, I swear.
posted by JoanArkham at 7:38 AM on September 3, 2010


Everyone says the food in DC is so good but, I'll be honest, every time I've gone to a "good" or "upscale" restaurant in DC, it's been a chain. So I also want to know where the awesome local stuff is. I'm sure it exists, yes?

I've lived in D.C. for a decade - the food here is, for the most part, overpriced, and mediocre. Nora and Raskia deserve the hype that they get, though, and I've also had very good (and less expensive) meals at Cashion's and Little Fountain Cafe.

Chowhound's Baltimore/DC board and DCFoodies are worth having a look at.

Skip Ben's and check out Mangialardo's or A. Litteri if you want a good, greasy sandwich.
posted by ryanshepard at 7:54 AM on September 3, 2010


Try some Ethiopian food. There's a huge community in the DC area (around U-District, mostly)... and zero Ethiopian restaurants in Charleston. Cheap*, tasty, and a novel experience to eat with your hands/injera bread.

*There are also upscale Ethiopian restaurants in DC, so this isn't a guarantee.
posted by deludingmyself at 8:34 AM on September 3, 2010


Ethnic groceries and restaurants are almost always better in the suburbs here, which may surprise you. Falls Church and Annandale have the best Asian and Latino food around, and Super H and Lotte are both outside the beltway. Ethiopian is an exception--the really fantastic places are in DC, mostly concentrated around U St., though there are good ones elsewhere. I heartily agree that any of Jose Andres' places are fabulous (though Jaleo is at the top of my list--go figure).

Some of it depends on your location. My wife and I live near the quickly-developing H St., NE, area, and I could tell you all about those places, but I'm not really sure it'd be worth a trip from upper NW, you know?

The one TasteDC event I went to was impressive. They do wine, beer, and food, tastings and classes. They can be pricey, but the rum tasting I went to was well worth it, top-shelf stuff and plenty of it, and no crowding.
posted by MrMoonPie at 8:47 AM on September 3, 2010


Check out this place... custom drinks and dinner.

Best steak dinner in town at the W Hotel. Better than Rays the Steaks in NoVA, but barely.

Can't beat lunch at Teaism.

DCist.com tracks some good food happenings around town in their food and drink section.
posted by matty at 8:56 AM on September 3, 2010


I'm now thinking of some things I never had before coming to DC, which I now love (with links to my favorite places to get them, mostly outside of DC proper):I've also been to some of the finer places in the area, Minibar and Inn at Little Washington. It's the little ethnic places that I love best (and Tyler Cowen's a great way to find those).
posted by MrMoonPie at 9:01 AM on September 3, 2010 [1 favorite]


For sourcing wonderful ingredients and finding interesting ethnic markets, eatwashington.com is a great resource.

EatWashington turned me on to the joys of Eden Center :)
posted by Westringia F. at 10:02 AM on September 3, 2010


Seconding DC Foodies and DonRockwell. Also wanted to point out the Washingtonian's Best Bites Blog and The Washington Post's Ask Tom chats and Washingtonian's Kliman Online chats. As for delicious restaurants, my favorite is Rasika. I also really like Dino. I think Palena is WAY overrated.
posted by echo0720 at 11:14 AM on September 5, 2010


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