The 10 Restaurants That Defined Dining in D.C. This Year

Petite Cerise is the second act from James Beard Award-winning chef Jeremiah Langhorne and restaurateur Alex Zink, and it won us over this year with locally sourced ingredients applied to classic French fare.

Right now, it is one of the toughest reservations to score for dinner — but what you may not realize is that this bistro stays open for extended weekday lunch, Tuesday to Friday, and weekend brunch starting at 9 a.m. This is something the Shaw neighborhood was missing — and it got a terrific option, with all the Parisian glitz to make you feel as if you’re on the Left Bank.

Whether you’re an early riser or not, there are star dishes that stay on the menu all day. This includes foie gras beignets served with raspberry and black pepper jam, buckwheat crêpes, and a decadent French onion soup. It’s also mandatory to order the crispy beef fat fries perfect for dipping in the aforementioned soup.

Point being: This may be a restaurant of the moment, but it also has built a case for longevity, by keeping us well fed all day and night.

The Stephen Starr restaurant empire expanded this year in Washington — and El Presidente has likely become the most see-and-be-seen dining room in all of D.C. right now. A colorful Mexican escape is the order of the day, and a menu filled with robust flavors, including a raw bar, shareable plates like a tomahawk ribeye, and whole grilled fish, plus à la carte tacos. Brunch is the biggest affair and includes make-your-own Michelada service … something the District didn’t know it needed.

While cocktail names like the Wolfe Spritzer and Air Force Uno conjure up D.C. politics, El Prez is really all about its flavorful Mexican food. We love it because it ventures well beyond the scope of many traditional Mexican restaurants, drawing on ingredients and techniques from the country’s 32 states.

You certainly can’t beat the rooftop view at Perry’s, plus the expertly crafted omakase tasting menu from chef Masako Morishita. One bite of her edamame dumplings, and it’s easy to see why this restaurant is one of the most talked-about in Adams Morgan.

What kept us coming back for more this year? For one thing, a Japanese-style breakfast menu, the likes of which D.C. has never seen before. It’s offered Saturdays for $42 a person and is a hearty spread of favorites, including grilled salt-cured ocean trout, a Japanese-style soft omelet, and nasu agedashi — fried shishito and eggplant served in a sweet dashi soy broth.

With the new era of tasting menus in seemingly constant flux, it’s a joy to experience one that has stood the test of time. And Robert Wiedmaier’s Marcel’s in the West End is very much that — a classic meditation on the French form of elegant dining, complete with live piano on weekends.

There’s also a dose of new energy here: The kitchen has a dynamic duo in executive chef Jenn Castaneda-Jones, and her husband, Stephen Jones, who serves as sous chef. This is a rare power couple moving forward on a multi-course menu that sustains local Maryland farms (their home state), including boudin blanc with chanterelles, pan-roasted rockfish, and grilled squab served with sous-vide figs and pickled baby leeks.

Draped tapestries, muraled walls and glowing lanterns make this feel as if you’ve entered a hidden portal direct to Marrakesh. Medina envelopes guests in hospitality, and invites them to explore experimental cocktails. It’s a mood and menu unlike any other bar to open in the District this year, and probably no surprise that it’s the latest from Rose Previte, who has proved with restaurants like Maydan that she can perfectly telegraph the vibe of far-off destinations.

In this case, beverage director Drew Hairston has created signature drinks including the Rose-Tinted Glasses, blending Bombay Bramble gin with pickled raspberry-rose sorbet, pink peppercorn, pomegranate liqueur, and Txakolina. There is also a martini service for two using Moroccan olive oil-washed vodka, dry vermouth, and your choice to add smoked and spiced olives, lemon zest, or sumac onions.

This popular bakery from chef Michael Rafidi of Albi has evolved into a fully operational restaurant serving up wood-fired sourdough “(not) pizzas” topped with the season’s best. As soon as the clock strikes 4 p.m., service turns from all-day bakery to a moody, fire-powered restaurant. You’ll find za’atar honey (not) pizza, and a playful take on a sausage-and-pepper pie using fire-roasted Jimmy Nardello peppers, kefta and smoked eggplant puree.

That’s in addition to other Levantine dishes like charred corn labneh and smoked brisket hummus, plus a wide array of natural-minded wines, beers, and ciders. Rafidi has found a way not only to amp up the city’s (not) pizza scene, but to create a place that serves its community all day long in delicious and unexpected ways.

The Square is a brand-new food hall that brings some of the best chefs to downtown D.C. for a curated culinary experience you can enjoy at lunch, happy hour ,or dinner.

The biggest force behind this effort has been chef Rubén García (formerly of Minibar) with three Spanish-style concepts — three stalls: Brasa (serving Spanish street food), Jamón Jamón (a tapas bar), and Junge’s (a churro stand), as well as a marquee restaurant Casa Teresa channeling Basque and Catalan cooking.

García is joined by other top-tier chefs, including Ann Cashion (Cashion’s Rendezvous), John Mooney (Yoacho), Teresa Padilla and Geraldine Mendoza (Taqueria Xochi), and Tom Wellings and Camila Arango (Flora Pizzeria). You can sample a bunch of items at each counter, then relax with a cocktail in hand at the midcentury modern Atrium bar.

More info here.

Bronze melds fantasy and gastronomy with the culture of the African diaspora for one of the most unique restaurants to appear on H Street — or anywhere in D.C. — this year. This Afrofuturistic menu is brought to life by executive chef Toya Henry, a critically acclaimed chef from Brooklyn, and executive sous chef Martel Stone.

The menu features their creativity in dishes like boards of hamachi crudo with crispy dasheen, frisée, and rose apple, torched oysters slathered with flying fish roe, and platters of braised bright heirloom carrots on beds of charred cabbage. On the third floor, bartender Al Thompson has debuted Crane Room — an intimate bar serving up drinks like the Wild Seed, a cocktail inspired by Ethiopia and spiked with berbere-mitmita honey.

Chef Paolo Dungca has put a lot of care and attention into his new H Street cafe celebrating his Filipino roots and bayanihan — a concept that centers on loving community and uplifting others. What defines Hiraya is a sense of fun, one that permeates all the way from ube and rainbow-colored lattes to happy hour cocktails, like a pandan daiquiri.

The all-day dishes are sure to brighten your day. There’s an option to add a hash brown (McDonald’s style) to the brisket, egg, and cheese served on a golden-brown laminated bun. And a plate of fried maitake and enoki mushrooms comes served with heirloom garlic fried rice, afarm egg, and atsara (grated and pickled papaya). The best part is that all of this is prelude: We’re eagerly awaiting Dungca’s tasting-menu experience coming to the upstairs space at Hiraya in coming weeks.

More info here. Reservations for upstairs will be available on Resy soon.

Love, Makoto is what chef Makoto Okuwa describes as “a culinary love letter” to Japan, with full-service and quick-service options that encompass many of the best forms of that country’s cuisine. This includes an omakase sushi option at Dear Sushi: The menu lets you choose between old- and new-school paths through nigiri, with splurges like barbecued eel and foie gras to add on.

It also includes the red-hot Beloved BBQ where you can sample sampling delicious cuts of wagyu beef cooked on a tabletop grill. In addition are  fast-casual options including Love on the Run and the traditional bar-top experience at Hiya Izakaya.

Each of these is exceptional, but taken together they form a truly unique experience — one chef’s heartfelt interpretation of the many forms of Japanese cooking.