Dining (May 2011)

It isn’t often that a restaurant review presents an opportunity to learn about an unfamiliar cuisine and, at the same time, gain valuable insights into an international crisis, especially when the restaurant in question is within minutes of your home.

With paintings of President Abraham Lincoln adorning the walls and pennies arranged in a mosaic on the floor, a new restaurant in McPherson Square that bears the name of the 16th president stays true to its theme.

Art and Soul
415 New Jersey Ave. NW
Southern comfort food may seem like a world away from Capitol Hill, but it’s not. Just a few blocks away from the Senate side of the Capitol, chef Art Smith’s creative twists on Southern cooking taste even better than what’s on the table back home.

With so many restaurants to choose from in Washington D.C., finding good, authentic international food can be a challenge. The embassies of Mexico, Ireland and France have suggestions for great spots that stay true to their culture.

Looking for something a bit different from traditional, belt-busting Italian food? Save a table for you and your familia at Fiola da Fabio Trabocchi in Penn Quarter for a modern take on Italian cuisine, where you can experience the chef’s homeland like never before, complete with foam and edible 24-carat gold.

Baseball fans heading to Nationals Park this season will find a few new venues inside and outside the ballpark that spice up the experience at the three-year-old stadium.

Residents all over Washington are eating food bought out of the side of a truck, as the popularity of the mobile kitchen movement makes its way along the East Coast.

Offering fresh, delicious sushi, Yosaku has earned an outstanding reputation as the most authentic Japanese restaurant in D.C. since its establishment in 1982. Their wide variety of mouthwatering sushi and rolls run at an average price and fill you up.

They say the sky is big in Texas — so is the taste of Hill Country Barbecue in Penn Quarter. Located next door to the Shakespeare Theatre Co. and only a block from Verizon Center, Hill Country just opened its first D.C. location in March after four years in New York City.

If you missed the Kentucky Derby last week and want to recreate your own, Co Co. Sala on F Street’s “Chocolate and Bubbles” happy hour will make you want to don a huge hat and take a jaunt downtown.