Spring is well upon Washington and the time has come to figure out the best new restaurants that D.C. foodies will be digging into this year.
To help sift through the ever-growing list of new eat spots in the area, Tom Sietsema, The Washington Post food critic and author of the 2019 Spring Dining Guide, spoke with WTOP about his Best New Restaurants Guide.
The Top 10 restaurants on Sietsema’s list represent a wide swath of dining experiences. Haiti, Hawaii, Cuban, Indian and Japanese cuisines all make appearances, many of them dotting the Top 10 list.
Clinching the top spot this year is Mama Chang in Fairfax County, Virginia, the latest and largest creation of chef Peter Chang’s restaurant empire. Sietsema said that while Chang’s restaurants are usually crowd-pleasers, it is the inspiration behind his latest venture that makes it stand out.
“The focus is on Mama — the women in Peter Chang’s life. That would be his mother and his wife,” Sietsema said.
“It turns out that his wife was at one time his superior in the kitchen on an ocean luxury liner when they were both cooking in China. So this is sort of a tribute to both the women in his life … and home cooking. And who doesn’t love home cooking.”
The runner-up is Penn Quarter’s Punjab Grill. Sietsema calls it a “game-changer.”
“The food is quite beautifully arranged and the room — most of it has been imported from abroad, hand-carved things. It recreates this beautiful scene of India, modern India.”
Not one, but two Cuban restaurants landed in the Top 10 this year. El Sapo Cuban Social Club in Silver Spring, Maryland, is No. 5, and Little Havana in Northwest D.C. is No. 9.
According to Sietsema, El Sapo lives up to its name and has the feel of an ongoing cocktail party.
“They’ve got a bongo drum up front. There’s all this energy in the dining room, and this food just lives up to that beat. You just feel like you’re at someone’s backyard party in Havana.”
Sietsema said Little Havana is “the cheapest way to visit Cuba.”
“For $12 you got this great chicken stew that’s worth writing home about,” he said. “Also a really lovely environment and lovely hospitality. I love the drinks there, too.”
For those looking for a seafood fix, two new spots that made this year’s Top 10 are hotel-based restaurants that specialize in seafood.
Estuary in The Conrad is a tribute to the Mid-Atlantic. It serves its menu items with a wink and a nod.
“They take the cooking seriously, but not themselves. You also have great views of the city center in D.C. Who says all views require monuments or water? This is one that disputes that.”
The all-sushi menu at Sushi Nakazawa in Trump International Hotel drew high praise from Sietsema, who called it some of the finest in town.
Check out Sietsema’s full list of 2019 Spring Dining Guide.
