Welcome to Talk to Tom, the dining-advice column that aims to point you toward good meals, steer you from the dross and solve your pressing restaurant queries. Look for a fresh Q&A every Thursday in this space.
Questions and comments can be submitted to TalkToTom@washingtonsun.com. Submissions may be edited for length and clarity.
But first! I’m excited to share a fresh development with you: Starting next week, I’ll be publishing a newsletter for The Washington Sun, “Next Course,” scheduled to run Saturdays. Look for a concise menu featuring mini reviews, the occasional recipe, and restaurant news. It’s free, so all you have to do to join the party is register.
Have you noticed any restaurants taking into consideration the number of diners using GLP-1 weight-loss medications?
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Here and there, area restaurants are paying attention to the estimated one in eight U.S. adults using drugs including Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound.
For instance, the fledgling Bar Nuestro in D.C.’s Navy Yard leans into the trend with a list of spirit-free drinks and alcohol-free wines, plus a $10 (pre-batched) “Tiny Tini” — 3 ounces of vodka made for slow sipping.
At Neutral Ground in McLean, chef David Guas is testing for his fall menu full-flavored, appetizer-size specials that cost less than $10: beef chorizo meatballs draped in red sauce, dairy-free cauliflower-and-turnip soup, and tuna tartare presented on Chinese soup spoons (hold any cracker or chip). Like some of his peers, Guas has watched a drop in dessert sales and an uptick in to-go cartons. While he says GLP-1 drugs make him “super-excited for humanity,” particularly for people who have battled weight issues, the medications have also forced chefs to figure out on the fly what food (and how much and at what price) to serve customers.
Lonie Murdock, the chef-owner at the Caribbean hot spot Isla downtown says she’s instructed servers to “read the table” to get an idea of how people might want to order and eat. One thing she’s noticed is more customers splitting main courses versus ordering one each. Murdock’s response has been to suggest dishes with bold flavors — dishes that “pack a punch” in just a few bites — and high-protein combinations, such as lamb tartare with pickled shrimp and a Scotch bonnet-lit sweet potato crema.
Bottom line, says the chef: “We want diners (on weight-loss drugs) to get the full experience” of Isla and “not make them feel like an ‘other,’” someone who’s missing out.
What local menu items did you immediately think, “I need to figure out how to make this at home,” and follow up?
Two dishes spring to mind. The latest is my go-to starter at Buck’s Fishing & Camping: a bitter-crisp mix of radicchio, celery, and Gorgonzola cheese tossed with a sweet-sour raisin vinaigrette. I so love the interplay of textures and flavors, I reached out to Buck’s owner James Alefantis for directions for recreating the salad at home. Earlier this year, I shared the recipe with subscribers of my online newsletter, “Next Course.”
The second dish is a long-ago example, but whenever I encountered a consommé from chef Frank Ruta, best-known for his food at the much-missed Palena in Cleveland Park and last seen at Rosedale (now Malabar), I swooned. Truly. The ethereal broth, which Ruta routinely made as a White House chef for Nancy Reagan and refined over the years, was nothing short of wondrous. Ruta generously shared his labor-intensive set of instructions, written as if he were coaching me in person — with the caveat that I not publish them. (Sorry, gang, but I also saved you from lots of clarifying and straining.)
To readers: What recipes would you like to get from area chefs?
One of my favorite things about living in D.C. is that we have such a great selection of mom-and-pop restaurants. (I still miss Little Serow, from chef Johnny Monis and his wife, Anne Marler.) Which partnerships do you suggest I try?
Some of the District’s star couplings can be found at Rooster & Owl, the creative tasting menu concept on 14th St. NW from chef Yuan Tang and managing director Carey Tang; the Hong Kong-style Queen’s English in Columbia Heights, the vision of chef Henji Cheung and sommelier Sarah Thompson; Rye Bunny in Adams Morgan, which marries the talents of chef Jon Sybert and hospitality ace Jill Tyler; and La Merna, a young celebration of Midwestern, tavern-style pizza and from-scratch pasta from husband-and-wife team Bradley Shorten and Meg Schmitt.
As for Monis and Marler, they’re now behind the popular Gemini, another source for pizza and pasta (plus ice cream and vino!) on 17th St. NW.
Further afield, I’d add the warm-hearted Three Blacksmiths in Sperryville, Virginia, run by co-owners Jake and Sara Addeo, and the Venezuelan standout Alma Cocina Latina in Baltimore. The latter, co-curated by Caracas native Irena Stein and Mark Demshak, offers reason enough to visit Charm City.
Please share any recommendations you have for Mexico City.
It’s been a minute since my last visit to one of the greatest food cities on the planet, so I reached out to Isabel Coss, the chef at the sublime Pascual in D.C. and a veteran of the kitchen at Pujol, one of the most acclaimed restaurants in CDMX.
Her short list highlights Fugaz, a casual, gently priced space that highlights tostadas, Mexican-Mediterranean combinations and natural wines; Páramo, an upstairs cantina popular for its night energy, inventive tacos, and mezcal cocktails; and the newish Tacube, a celebration of female chefs.
Other food friends recommend Contramar for seafood; Taqueria Los Cocuyos for late-night tacos, some made with offal; and Quintonil for seasonal, sustainable fine dining.
If you were not a food correspondent — or in the industry at all — what would you be doing right now?
Maybe working as a diplomat? A younger me aspired to go into government service, especially something that would take me abroad. (For background, I graduated from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown.)
True story. The same question was put to me years ago during an online Q&A for The Washington Post. At the time, I responded that if I weren’t a food critic, I’d like to have a job as a morning news anchor on TV or be the head of protocol for the State Department. A week later, I got a letter from Pete Selfridge, the actual U.S. chief of protocol in the Obama administration (2014 to 2017).
In essence, the ambassador wrote, “You might want my job, but I’d like yours.”
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