2011: The Year in DCWD

Homemade duck pho

Long-time readers of the blogs (or even just Official Friends) will know that I am nothing if not a fan of ranking things. And lists. And metrics. So just like last year, we're going to try and measure the best and worst of what we've had this year. Not like last year, we're going to do this more paragraph-style.

Included in this best-of-worst-of are meals that we both had this year (so, minibar, Rasika, I still love you, just not here), and that we posted about this year (thus the mad rush this week). We're also using a similar formula to measure Hype as last year (though, this time we're only using Washingtonian rankings). And yes, I fully admit that most of these metrics are completely arbitrary.

Anyway, it being that time of year after all, the Official DCWD 2011 Best and Worst Lists:

Drinks at The Cajun Experience

The Worst:

Let's just get this over with. Being bad is one thing, lots of places suffer from the disease of meh. We had some terrible service at Urbana (though they later shaped up) and not-so-good food at Vento (man, shape up P Street!). We had restaurants that came nowhere near their past performance (Bibiana), or their lofty Washingtonian hype (Cafe du Parc)

But the winner (or loser, I guess) by far is Montmartre. Awful service, mushy food, but with the added burden of expectations; you wouldn't know it, but the place has been in the Top 100 four years running now.

The Best:

Dessert at Cafe Boulud

First, some minor awards. Buzz Bakery wins this year's Little Cafe/Bakery That Could Award (last year's winner, also a NoVa product, Northside Social). Owing to its relative low cost, it killed the competition in best bang for your buck and produced a range of quality baked goods that is just missing in the district. We need more of you in the district, Buzz Bakery; I don't just want cupcakes all the time.

Honorable mention goes to Bar Pilar, but by far our favorite cheap but awesome date was Comet Ping Pong. Sit aside, 2 Amy's, there's a new best pizza in town. Comet also wins points for also being the most fun waiting-for-your-table experience: grabbing a beer, and playing some ping pong before dinner = freaking awesome.

Now for the also-rans. This year, we went to plenty of places that gave us great times but also nearly broke the hype meter: the two devastatingly cool 14th Street relative newcomers with delicious food but no space at the bar on a Tuesday night in Pearl Dive Oyster Palace and Estadio. And the granddaddy of hype: the up-and-down flavors but definitely fun-with-food experience that was Rogue 24. Both were great, but not enough to break into the Top 7.

Radish carpaccio at Obelisk

2011 was also filled with checking off restaurants from the uppermost echelon of D.C. cuisine, and most of them met their lofty hype, but also left a large dent in our wallet. So while Marcel's, CityZen, Obelisk, Sushi Taro, and The Inn at Little Washington all provided some great meals, they all were just not as competitive in our quality-to-hype, or quality-to-cost metrics. Sorry, guys.

So without further adieu then, the Top 7 for 2011 (Best Food Dates in the D.C. Area):

Comet Ping Pong

7) Comet Ping Pong - We've already said above why Comet Ping Pong is such a cool place for a date: low-key setting, a fun atmosphere, in-house entertainment before and after your meal in the form of friendly ping pong competition. That pizza that good should also live there is just unfair.

6) Posto - Official Girlfriend of DCWD Texas, for obvious reasons, has most often been my dinner companion for the second half of the year, and she would literally slap me across the face if I didn't include Posto on this list. Sure, you can have a slightly more white-cloth experience at its big brother Tosca. But our service there was legendarily good. Thoughtful, friendly, and made the fresh pasta that much better.

5) Trummer's on Main - It's sad that some of the most beautiful dining rooms in the area are out in the middle of nowhere, Virginia. This is especially the case for Trummer's, a gorgeous roadside inn with three levels of handsome modernized-country-decor space. Throw in a kitchen that knows how to work its flavors, and a selection of local wine that's actually delicious, and it's well worth the Zipcar reservation.

Beer sampler at Lyon Hall

4) Tallula - To think, we almost left the restaurant, after getting stuck on the Metro and no-showed with a supposed 30 minute wait. But we stuck it out, and I'm glad we did: fried oysters that were alternately silky and crunchy, an inspired pork belly and clams noodle dish, and some of the best duck I've ever had. The best moderate value this year.

3) Fiola - In any other year, Pearl Dive would have run away with the Best Opening of 2011. This was no ordinary year. Fiola is an instant Top 10 challenger, and marks Fabio Trabocchi's grand return to D.C. A cute dining area with a fairly large bar area, an excellent drink program, and the best overall pasta this year.

2) Komi - There isn't much to say. It's a little more expensive than your average meal. It's a decently hard reservation to get. It has the burden of three straight #1's in the Washingtonian Top 100. And yet, it's also the best meal in D.C., with the coolest sommelier on the planet, and food that just literally blows your mind.

Amuse bouche at Eola

1) Eola - Of the restaurants on this list, Eola comes in second a lot. Komi has better food (though Eola has recently switched to only-tasting-menu). Trummer's has a better dining room. Tallula offers more bang for your buck. Fiola is trendier. Posto had slightly better service. Comet's more fun. But when you factor in everything, pound-for-pound, there is nowhere better than Eola. A charming but beautiful dining room that's small enough that the service can be personal. Dishes that are both imaginative but true to their ingredients' flavor. A special occasion restaurant that's less expensive than its culinary contemporaries. Eola is a relatively unknown treasure hidden in plain sight, and 2011's Best Food Date.