Food Town!

Wanna send an urban activist into a tizzy? Just say Times Square. “Any kind of comparison of Penn Quarter to Times Square really irks us. Times Square is described, even by New Yorkers, as a tourist trap. In contrast, Penn Quarter is a cultural center for DC,” say the editors of Penn Quarter Living (pqliving.com). The blog’s authors, who write under pen names, chart the ’hood’s growth.

Over the span of a decade, the space around the 7th Street corridor went from blighted to booming. It helps that the National Mall, Verizon Center, museums, theaters, retail stores and new condos are within a short walk. But the success of Penn Quarter owes a debt to the pioneering local restaurants—Jaleo, Tosca, 701, Clyde’s—that took a gamble and established the area as a truly DC place to be. Then along came Hooters.
 
With an army of small restaurant chains moving into the area—following last year’s Vapiano and Nando’s openings—we wonder: Has growth gone gonzo? Will outsiders devour the locals? “Our readers love to debate the local-versus-chain restaurant question. The general consensus is that we need a healthy balance,” the pqliving.‌com editors tell us. “We think that locally owned [or very small chain] restaurants help give Penn Quarter an identity. They give residents a sense of ‘I can only get that dish back home in Penn Quarter and I miss it.’”
 
Red Lobster can wait, but quirky and cool micro-chains are welcome. More than that—they’re setting up shop. First out of the gate is Ping Pong Dim Sum (900 7th St., NW, pingpongdimsum.‌com), a hip haunt for dumpling diving that comes to DC by way of London. If Kate Moss ate food, she’d order up a steamed set of spicy chicken, black prawn, pork shu mai and vegetable dumplings. Savory soups, sweet sticky rice parcels, clay pots, puffs and cocktails round out the menu.
 
The March opening of Manhattan-based Carmine’s (425 7th St., NW, carminesnyc.‌com) will star gigantic, family-style plates piled high with Southern Italian cuisine. This menu may put a pinch in the downtown domination of hometown favorite Potenza.
 
Old Havana’s bites and moods will rumba into DC in May with the launch of Cuba Libre (799 9th St., NW, cubalibrerestaurant.‌com), a spectacularly saucy restaurant and rum bar that evokes the sensuality and culinary sensations of a pre-Fidel Cuba. With outposts in Orlando, Philly and Atlantic City, this spicy stop may take over Penn Quarter.
 
May will also bring London noodle shop Wagamama (418 7th St., NW, wagamama.‌us) to our doorstep. The cheeky chain—its name means “naughty child” in Japanese—sports a menu of noodle and rice dishes, serious ramen, toasted coconut reika and much more.
 
Atlanta’s funky Flip Burger Boutique (flipburgerboutique.‌com) will enter the DC burger wars when it moves into its undisclosed location in spring. Former Top Chef star Richard Blais will serve surprises like the A5 burger (Japanese Kobe, seared foie gras, truffle oil and red wine syrup), veal sweetbread nuggets and a foie gras liquid nitrogen milkshake.
 
Finally, what would the Fourth of July be without barbecue? The midsummer opening of Hill Country (410 7th St., NW, hillcountryny.‌com) will bring Texas-style beef brisket, chipotle deviled eggs and ancho chile cherry brownies to the table. Giddyup!