Dining Out 1 minute 19 July 2018

What to Eat in D.C. This Summer

Summertime livin' just got easier.

Summer is in full force and restaurant menus throughout the District are singing songs of the season.

We’ve rounded up some noteworthy new dishes at a few of our favorite spots in Washington, D.C.—here’s what you should nosh on this summer.

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The Dabney

At Jeremiah Langhorne’s one-Michelin-starred oasis in the middle of the District, hyper local ingredients shine in Mid-Atlantic cuisine through a wood-fired hearth. Per our anonymous inspectors, “the food is nothing short of stellar.” Roving diners will cool their heels with summer small plates like crispy soft shell crab with sungold tomatoes, charred onions, pickled chiles and lemon; hearth-roasted vegetables with summer farro salad, ricotta and basil pistou; and charred broccoli and crab with garlic-chive cream, lemon balm and yogurt (pictured above).

Masseria

Chef/owner Nick Stefanelli gives a generous nod to his Puglian heritage at his one-Michelin-starred restaurant by way of four-, five- and six-course tasting menus. New additions to the roster this summer include pinzimonio, a.k.a. a summer vegetable crudité salad; paccheri with spot prawns, zucchini, squash blossom and basil; and ciliegia with fresh cherries, pistachio pasta frolla, ricotta Bavarian, pistachio cream and pistachio sour cherry sorbet for dessert.
(Photo: The Inn at Little Washington Facebook page.)
(Photo: The Inn at Little Washington Facebook page.)

The Inn at Little Washington

“Guests choose from three tasting menus that highlight American cuisine, much of it prepared using local products pulled from the restaurant’s own garden,” state inspectors of chef/owner Patrick O’Connell’s 40-year-old mainstay in Washington, Virginia. The summertime Gastronaut’s tasting menu includes peanut-crusted soft shell crab tempura with orange and lemongrass; caramelized Catalan custard with foie gras and Montmorency cherries; and a “colossal cherry surprise” served with toasted almond ice cream for dessert.

The Partisan

Adjacent to butcher shop sibling Red Apron, executive chef and butcher Nathan Anda cooks up haute gastropub fare for brunch, lunch and dinner. A summer tomato salad with feta, sourdough and cucumber purée; zucchini tian with gratin potato, tomato and onion; and charred octopus with gigante beans and batutto verde are sure fire ways to beat the summer heat.

Blue Duck Tavern

This upscale American tavern set inside the Park Hyatt Chill—complete with a wood-burning oven centerpiece—is not to be missed. Be on the look out for chilled sweet corn soup, lime crema, brown butter popcorn and Maryland blue crab (pictured above); cherry tomato salad with macerated stone fruit, sumac onion, whipped goat cheese and aleppo vinaigrette; and halibut a la plancha with pickled green tomato, chile oil, crispy carrot and chamomile leaf-lard emulsion.

Marcel’s

At chef/owner Marcel Weidmaier’s eponymous restaurant on Pennsylvania Ave., NW, “patrons come to linger over French-influenced meals enjoyed over multiple courses,” say Michelin inspectors. Sample menu items this summer include pan-seared Hudson Valley foie gras with macerated mulberries, tarragon mulberry gel and toasted almonds; roulade of skate wing with zucchini tart; and a Bing cherry compote with pistachio cream and lemon-ginger granité.

Hero image courtesy of The Inn at Little Washington Facebook page.

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