I had both hands wrapped around a foil-sheathed burrito, hefting its weight like an edible dumbbell. Peeling back the silvery casing exposed a leopard-spotted tortilla neatly tucked into a familiar tubular shape. Cranking my jaw open wide, I took a big bite, then surveyed its interior as I chewed. There was a lot going on: a gooey layer of mozzarella and Monterey Jack, juicy pico de gallo, onions flecked with verdant bits of cilantro, sour cream, guacamole, a sizable patch of rice, and a large helping of vegan chorizo forged from tofu and mushrooms. As if that wasn’t enough, I drizzled on some smoked chipotle salsa. Heaven on earth.

I was happy I didn’t have breakfast that morning, because this burrito was going to require a fair amount of belly space, especially when paired with the jumble of crackly tortilla chips and house-made salsas on the side. I wasn’t complaining. Wimpy burritos are a contradiction in terms, an affront to tradition, an unsatisfying proposition to be avoided at all costs. This was a magnificent monster, pilgrimage-worthy and utterly satiating.

To enjoy one of your own, set out for San Pancho in Takoma Park, a San Francisco-style burritoria from chef David Perez and front-of-house guru Carolina McCandless, the husband-and-wife team behind celebrated Mexican restaurant Cielo Rojo. The new concept is grounded in the burrito culture of San Francisco, where the couple met while working at famed vegan Mexican restaurant Gracias Madre. The new spot takes over the original location of Cielo Rojo, which opened in a larger location just down Carroll Avenue at the beginning of the year.

The layout of the space is generally the same, with 20 seats inside and another 20 out front, but the aesthetic got a switch-up. The walls now sport black-and-white photographs from San Francisco’s Mission District, the beating heart of the city’s burrito culture. Meanwhile, the front of the bar is covered in cheeky modern tiles mimicking Mexican loteria (bingo cards) and featuring items such as El Bitcoin, El Mason Jar, and El VR.

It’s a straightforward operation. For lunch and dinner (or an epic afternoon snack), choose between a regular burrito brimming with Mexican rice, pinto beans, cilantro, onions, and pico de gallo, plus your choice of filling and soothing avocado salsa verde on the side; or get the super burrito, which includes all that plus melted cheese, guac, and sour cream (all burritos can be served as bowls). Filling options include grilled chicken, chicken wallowing in mole made with pepitas and peanuts, carne asada, barbacoa, shrimp in spicy diabla sauce, carnitas braised in dark Modelo beer and oranges, garlicky mushrooms kicked up with tequila, and house-made vegan chorizo. For another buck, you can add a salsa, including fiery habanero, guajillo tomatillo, and charred chipotle. Those not in a burrito mood can get a torta or quesadilla.

In the morning (8 to 11 a.m. on weekdays; 9 a.m. to noon on weekends), the operation focuses on breakfast burritos packed with eggs, refried pinto beans, potatoes, and rajas (sauteed onions and poblano peppers), along with your choice of melted cheese, barbacoa, chorizo, or vegan chorizo.

Breakfast burritos run $13 to $15 for standard options, while lunch and dinner choices are $13 to $18 without any upgrades, which can push the price over $20. “A lot of the taquerias in San Francisco are known for being affordable,” says McCandless. “And while we want to pay homage to Mission-style burritos, we want to offer an elevated experience with more premium ingredients, like local, hormone-free meats, cage-free eggs, and vegan Mexican-made Sonoran-style tortillas.”

The beverage options start off with Vigilante cold brew, coffee, espresso drinks, a horchata latte, and dirty horchata (horchata depth charged with cold brew). As the day progresses, more choices come online, such as maracuyá (passion fruit) and lemon mint nonalcoholic slushies, agua frescas, Mexican Coke, Topo Chico, frozen margaritas, a few Mexican beers, four wines, and tequila shots.

If you still have stomach space after your burrito (I didn’t), there’s vegan chocoflan (flan-topped chocolate cake) sitting in caramel sauce and hiding a hint of maracuyá.

San Pancho,7056 Carroll Ave., Takoma Park, Md. (301) 270-0876, sanpanchoburritos.com.

Takoma Park is on fire, arguably the most exciting dining scene in the D.C. suburbs right now. There’s the new, larger location of best-in-show Mexican restaurant Cielo Rojo and its recently opened San Fran-style burrito shop, San Pancho; Muối Tiêu is winning rave reviews for its vibrant Vietnamese cuisine; Koma Café is killing it with creative soft serve, pizzas, and house-made pastas; and still standing tall are Takoma Bev Co., The Girl and The Vine, Motorkat, and Soko butchery.

Now there’s another notable new kitchen on the block: Red Hound Pizza, powered by two Seylou Bakery alums, chef Charbel Abrache and his wife, Andrea Alvarez, who handles the front of the house. Their venture joins a growing legion of pizzerias in the Maryland burg. Within a block or so, you can score ’zas at Roscoe’s, Carpe Diem, and Pizza Movers; plus, there’s Koma Café on the other side of town.

The couple aims to differentiate themselves by offering square, Roman-meets-Sicilian pizzas built on whole grain crusts. They’re sourcing flour and produce from Takoma Park’s Purple Mountain Grown; Grapewood Farm in Montross, Virginia; 20/20 Farms in Muncy, Pennsylvania; and Next Step Produce in Newburg, Maryland—relationships they began cultivating while working at Seylou. Flours are mixed and matched in house to deepen the dough’s flavor and create a fantastic tabula rasa for whatever Abrache wants to put on it.

Dough is fermented for 24 hours, then stretched into 12-by-12-inch pans and dressed grandma style, starting with cheese, followed by toppings, and sauce to finish. Depending on the number of pies in the oven, it takes a square 15 to 25 minutes to bake. They come out crackly and caramelized on the sides and bottom, the cheese bubbly and browned, skeins of sauce looking like the map of a red river system, the toppings adding flash and panache.

The margherita is a staple; everything else rotates. There is always something meaty—sausage and peppers one week, pancetta with corn and shishito peppers the next—and a vegetable-centric option. For best results, go in with no preconceived notions and just pick whatever looks best on that day.

To complement the carbs, there’s a whatever’s fresh and fun salad. When I visited, there was a summery jumble of roasted corn, tomatoes, shaved shallot, and punctuating splotches of whipped feta, all united by hot honey dressing that delivered a nice balance of sweet and heat.

For finales, there are soft-serve sundaes—vanilla corn ice cream with blackberry sauce or lemon verbena-accented roasted peaches on a pirouette of vanilla—as well as baked goods, such as cookies, brownies, and cake. An assortment of nonalcoholic drinks is on offer, though the couple is applying for a wine and beer license.

Red Hound was a long time in the making. Abrache and Alvarez met nearly two decades ago while studying at pharmacy school in their home country of Venezuela. She obtained her degree, spending seven years working in hospitals. He didn’t, switching tracks to enroll in an intense culinary program at Mariano Moreno Institute in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Ultimately, he came to the United States to stage at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, where he met Jonathan Bethony, who was consulting on their bread program before moving to D.C. to open Seylou in 2017. That same year, Abrache relocated for a job as a pastry chef at the bakery with Alvarez in tow. She joined the team after the pandemic began, helping at their farmers market stand.

It was their 62-pound red hound, Arepa, who showed them the way to their pizzeria. The couple started coming to Takoma Park to hit up Big Bad Woof pet shop, and quickly fell in love with the family-friendly progressive suburb with a burgeoning food scene. They moved into the neighborhood and found a 475-square foot commercial space on Carroll Avenue in the center of town.

Red Hound opened in July with room for 10 diners inside and seating in the back for another 15 guests (patio seating in front is in the works). Available for dine-in, takeout, or delivery, the restaurant is open from 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 12:30 to 8 p.m. on the weekend.

Red Hound Pizza,7050 Carroll Ave., Unit 101, Takoma Park (240) 531-2988. redhoundpizza.com

Whatever chef Seng Luangrath is cooking is what I want to be eating, whether it’s the boundary-pushing jungle menu at her Lao standard-bearer Thip Khao in Columbia Heights or a bowl of explosively flavorful Thai green curry-powered gaeng keow wan at Padaek in Northern Virginia.

Now there’s a new spot to satisfy my craving for her cooking: Baan Mae, which means “mom’s house,” debuted in June. It’s a celebration of homestyle cooking across Southeast Asia, especially in Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar.   

Baan Mae takes over the space in Shaw that was once occupied by Hanumanh, her on-again, off-again Lao bar with her son, chef Boby Pradachith. That venture was a roller-coaster ride, opening in 2019, closing three months later for gas line maintenance, reopening at the beginning of 2020, shuttering during the pandemic, and rising again for a brief stint before closing for good in 2023.

With just over 30 seats inside, plus another two dozen on the patio in the back, the slender spot feels cozy and comforting. Holdovers from Hanumanh reinforce the sensation of familiarity. Striking monkey murals by Henley Bounkhong adorn the walls, and kratip (bamboo sticky rice containers) hang over the bar, now interspersed with oversize colorful paper umbrellas that look like they’re waiting to garnish Goliath-size cocktails.

The spirited touches reflect Luangrath’s joyful mindset about her latest project. “I don’t have room to play at Padaek or Thip Khao,” she says. “Baan Mae allows me to step out of my comfort zone. This is a playground. I can come in here and have fun.”

Accordingly, the menu changes every day, based on whim and what’s available. There are a few favorites from Hanumanh, including the crab curry and hua pii, banana blossom and jicama salad tarted up with tamarind sauce, freshened with mint leaves, and punctuated with crunchy peanuts and fried shallots.

Another standby is the sakoo, which she calls a “forgotten snack.” The dainty dumplings come across like giant tapioca pearls stuffed with crunchy, herbaceous peanut butter, a combination I never knew I craved until I bit into one. I’m now a stan for life. They are meant to be wrapped in little lettuce leaves, but I just popped them into my mouth like a kid unrepentantly eating marshmallows around a campfire.

The wings are equally addictive. Super sticky with a crunchy coating that gives way to tender meat, they start off with a rush of sweetness before giving way to a lingering spicy sting courtesy of the jaew bong (Lao preserved chili paste). As the kids say, they’re swicy AF. Another finger-licking option: thom khem, ribs shellacked with caramelized fish sauce and lychee for an acidic fruitiness. For something more oceanic, dive into the playful Fi-Lao O’Fish sandwiches. Inspired by Luangrath’s memories of going to McDonald’s after church on Sundays, slider-size brioche buns hold crispy cod filets slathered with tofu mayonnaise and perky cilantro chili sauce.

Moving into entrees, a bowl of khao soi gleams with golden turmeric curry, a tangle of yellow noodles nestled at the bottom, creating an island for grilled chicken, purple pickled onions, crispy onions, herbs, and half a hard-boiled egg. Southern Thai-inspired, pan-fried branzino is a showstopper. Spread across the plate with the head on, the crispy fish sits in a puddle of turmeric coconut sauce. For the perfect bite, pull off some of the flaky flesh, drag it through the garden of herbs and salad running along its spine, then add coconut rice shaded blue with butterfly pea.

Larger, shareable mains include naem paa, a whole fried branzino surrounded by fixins, including vermicelli noodles, a fusillade of fresh mint, peanut punctuated ngoc cham sauce, and lettuce wraps. It’s DIY deliciousness.

At the end of the meal, there are a few desserts. You would be well served ordering the mango black sesame sticky rice, crisscrossed with condensed milk, and a dollop of creamy White Rabbit candy gelato custom-made by Dolcezza. Taking its cues from two of Luangrath’s favorite childhood treats, it’s a taste of her having fun and reconnecting with her roots, a sweet encapsulation of what makes Baan Mae such a rousing success.

Baan Mae, 1604 7th St. NW. (202) 897-4826. baanmaedc.com.

I cannot stop devouring the bowl of chaat. Over the years, I’ve eaten several hundred renditions of the multi-textured, taste bud-spanning Indian street snack-turned-restaurant staple, but this one is an especially irresistible iteration. A tumble of golden fried kale, crackly but still toothsome, is punctuated with bright pockets of dried cranberries and fresh pomegranate seeds, adding a tart yet sweet counterpoint. Also in the mix: curry-rich chana masala, playfully referred to on the menu as sloppy Joe chickpeas.

The kale chaat is my first dish at Tamashaa, a glitzy, glammy Indian restaurant that opened in mid-May in the heart of Columbia Heights, taking over the Heights space. The venture is powered by restaurateur Rajiv Chopra, who owns Bombay Velvet in Reston, chef Manoj Goel, an industry veteran whose career began in New Delhi, and general manager and beverage director Satyam Rai, whose resume includes time at Sean Brock’s Husk in Charleston and the Treasury by Indian celebrity chef Harpal Singh Sokhi in the Boston suburbs.  

Tamashaa means performance in Hindi, an ideal that shines through on every level. Everywhere you look around the dining room, well-lit by a sweep of windows, there are vibrant bursts of color—rich purples, brilliant oranges, burnt gold—along with flashes of greenery. At the back of the restaurant, past the service bar and kitchen, is a small 10-seat lounge where guests can enjoy a cocktail before moving to the dining room for their meal.

The design was overseen by Rajiv’s wife, Shivani Chopra, who gave the space a bold Bollywood sensibility that really pops, including an eye-catching backdrop for diners looking to capture their experience for social media.

What’s happening on the plate is just as pretty. Decorated with a purple pansy and a pair of red-veined sorrel leaves, deep-fried soft-shell crab wallows in rich coconut curry the color of a bouquet of marigolds. Or there’s the riff on bhel puri: a tower made of makhana, popped lotus seeds that play like oversize puffed rice, which are mixed with a pair of chutneys to add zip and zest, plus creamy avocado and vivifying mint emulsion.

Speaking of chutneys, there’s a range of unexpected flavors that will rotate with the season. Right now, options include tomato fennel, smoked pineapple, and gooseberry cilantro. Although they come with featherweight crisps for dunking, they’re even better with a few pieces of one of the breads, such as warm amul cheese and onion kulcha, black garlic naan, or paratha.

Desserts are designed to be worthy finales to the performance. A real showstopper is the chocolate dome, partially gilded and crowned with an orange flower and hiding pistachio ice cream yellowed with saffron and enriched with cardamom and cinnamon. Around this fertile island is a sea of not-too-sweet rabdi, Indian condensed milk, a worthy complement to the other components.

The meal is designed to be enjoyed tapas style—a bit of this, a nibble of that, a few scoops of something else (though if someone tries to take more than a bite of my kale chaat, I just might have to fight them). There are nearly 60 dishes on the menu, meaning there are plenty of options for almost every dining philosophy, allergy, and aversion.

Currently open seven days a week for lunch and dinner, the restaurant hopes to start offering brunch in late summer. The menu will include some existing dishes, as well as exclusive offerings, such as Kerala-inspired fried chicken with curry leaves on spicy waffles, masala-accented omelets, and anda bhurji, Mumbai-style scrambled eggs spiked with green chilies.  

Tamashaa, 3115 14th St. NW (202) 918-1000. tamashaa.us.

In the mood for Mexican? Get over to Pascual pronto. It’s the newest restaurant from the power team behind Lutèce: chef Matt Conroy, pastry chef Isabel Coss, and the Popal Group, the family-owned restaurant group, which opened Adams Morgan’s celebrated Afghan spot, Lapis, and the colorful cocktail bar, Lapop, next door.

The first glimmers of Pascual shimmered into existence more than a decade ago. Conroy and Coss met in 2012 while working at Alex Stupak’s Empellón in New York City’s East Village. She was a pastry sous-chef when he arrived to take a sous-chef position, his first time tackling Mexican cuisine.

In the beginning, Coss didn’t like Conroy. “Who is this gringo who thinks he can cook Mexican food?” she remembers thinking. But their stations faced each other, so they would chat and share whatever they were making. He would give her a taco; she’d slip him some dessert. She was impressed. The guy had a natural way with the flavors of her homeland. He was equally smitten with her and her talents. They married about a decade ago.

Eventually, he left Empellón to work alongside chef Justin Bazdarich at Brooklyn’s Oxomoco, which specializes in modern, wood-fired Mexican cuisine. She went on to be the pastry chef at Cosme, the celebrated modern Mexican restaurant by Enrique Olivera, who owns the two-Michelin-Starred Pujol in Mexico City, where Coss got her first kitchen job, baking bread, when she was 17.

The couple always dreamed of helming their own Mexican concept. Eventually, Conroy crossed paths with Popal, and the two sketched out a plan to open a Mexican project down in the District. Conroy quit Oxomoco and headed to Oaxaca, planning on taking six months of some R&R and R&D before starting on the new project. But he cut his time short when Popal called to ask if he could take over the kitchen at his fledgling French “neo bistro,” Lutèce, which opened in Georgetown at the tail end of 2019. Conroy was only there for a month before the pandemic hit.

Originally, Coss was going to stay in New York, but she came down to work at Lutèce doing whatever needed doing: working as a hostess, handling social media, doing graphic design. As time passed, she got a pastry station up and running and transitioned back to making pastries full time. Over the next four years, the couple helped build Lutèce into one of the buzziest restaurants in the city, earning it (and themselves) a bevy of accolades along the way.

Eventually, Conroy, Coss, and Popal began to focus on opening the long-discussed Mexican project. It took some searching, but they finally found a space in Capitol Hill that checked all the boxes. Formerly home to Kenny’s BBQ Smokehouse (Remember when Obama randomly ate there?), the neighbors were used to the smell of burning wood. It’s on the corner and has a patio. There aren’t many other restaurants nearby, and they love the area.

They named the restaurant Pascual in honor of the patron saint of cooks. It opened in mid-February, a welcome addition to a growing list of new wave Mexican restaurants, including Christian Irabién’s Amparo Fondita and the recently expanded Cielo Rojo in Takoma Park.

The space itself is a small, light-toned room, just 30 seats packed closely together, including the tiny bar at the back; a patio adds 40 seats to the equation. Given the coziness, everyone can see into the open kitchen where the center of the action is the wood-fired custom-built grill throwing off alluring smoky scents. Keep an eye out for the pair of women devoted to making tortillas, made with corn from Masienda and Tamoa.

At the bar, mezcal is the spirit of choice, but they have fun with all of them. The No Whey Jose is powered by green tomato juice-infused vodka, spiced with chilies, and sweetened with simple syrup made with leftover whey from the kitchen’s cheesemaking.

All meals should begin with the guacamole, playfully served on a Lazy Susan. Choose your own adventure by topping bits of warm crackly tostadas with the dip and your choice of addendums, including three salsas (matcha, verde, and habanero), various pickles, grilled pineapple, and Tajin-spiced papaya.

Then it’s your choice of small- to medium-size plates with plenty of options for plant-focused eaters. Whatever tlayuda is on offer is worth exploring. A recent spring rendition highlighting asparagus was complemented with green pumpkin seed sauce, streaks of spring onion-infused labneh, and melted pools of Oaxacan cheese.

An aguachile is always in rotation. When I visited, it featured tender folds of raw tuna covered in brilliantly red smoked strawberry juice and dappled with nasturtium leaves for a peppery pop.

There are three large-format entrees, including showstopping lamb neck barbacoa. Cooked overnight in agave leaves, the meat is slip-off-the-bone tender. Paired with an herby onion salad, salsas, and tortillas, it becomes DIY taco night. Speaking of which, there is only one stand-alone taco on the menu—a straightforward al pastor. I wish there were a few more options on that front; it feels like a missed opportunity.

When it comes time to bring your meal to a close, you cannot leave without trying one of Coss’ creations. My recommendation is the oversize bunuelo. Glittering with canela-laced sugar, the crispity crunchity deep-fried dough plays like a giant piece of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Snap off a shard, then spoon on dark chocolate sauce or cajeta (caramelized goat’s milk).

Later this year, there will be more opportunities to sample Coss’ baked goods when the couple fires up Volcán, a daytime walk-up window on the side of Pascual with some outdoor seating. Expect Mexican BUNA coffee, which will power boozy carajillos (think of them as Latin America’s answer to Irish coffee) and dirty horchatas, as well as a range of Mexican pastries, potentially conchas, flan, orejas (elephant ears), tres leches, chocolate chip cookies with toasted cacao nibs, and even bigger bunuelos.

Pascual, 732 Maryland Ave. NE. (202) 450-1954. pascualdc.com.

One of the great pleasures of my life is getting to dine with my 11-year-old son, Zephyr. The time we spend together at restaurants frees us both from our normal responsibilities and rhythms, giving rise to candid conversations and deeper engagement. On top of that, they love to eat and have strong opinions (just like Dad on both counts).

At a recent dinner at Cucina Morini in Mt. Vernon Triangle, Zephyr had nothing but good things to say as they savored the spread. I was equally impressed.

The restaurant is a reunion of talents. Matt Adler worked for the Altamarea Group for roughly eight years—including time as the executive chef of D.C.’s Osteria Morini and a stint at Convivio, a now-closed southern Italian restaurant in New York City—before leaving in 2016 to work for Michael Schlow and then finding success on his own with red sauce redoubt Caruso’s Grocery.

While cooking at the 10th anniversary celebration of Osteria Morini in November, Adler talked to the ownership team about how they were going to rebrand and reboot the space that was home to Nicoletta Italian Kitchen, which closed in January. At that moment, he didn’t think much of it. But after going home, he began considering his long-held dream of doing a southern Italian/Sicilian restaurant in D.C. He emailed the Altamarea Group’s CEO, Ahmass Fakahany, and corporate executive chef Bill Dorrler. They were intrigued, and the project came together quickly from there. 

“They trust me as a chef, and I trust them as business partners and operators,” says Adler, who is the chef-partner of Cucina Morini.

The front lounge area is consistently abuzz thanks to $7 martinis, which are only available in that part of the restaurant. With high ceilings, top-to-bottom windows facing the corner of 4th and I streets NW, and packed tables, the entire space gets loud quickly.

Crudos lead off the menu. Start with at least one. My favorite starred kampachi glistening with vinaigrette and featuring colatura di alici (fermented Italian fish sauce made with anchovies), along with orange and lemon juices to brighten up all the briny notes. To balance it out, each piece is finished with a small dollop of pistachio-based pesto sweetened with agrodolce.

Don’t sleep on the salads, especially the treviso. Its bitter chicory is mellowed by a lemon tahini harissa honey dressing, goat cheese, and toasted almonds. A slew of little plates demand attention as well, especially intensely flavorful roasted cauliflower vibrant with apricots, pistachios, lemon aioli, and more.

Available in half and full portions, pastas are a must. Think lamb ragu topped rigatoni and tubular paccheri hiding under eggplant, tomatoes, and ricotta salata. To keep OG Osteria Morini enthusiasts happy, Adler is rotating in a few classics from the sister spot. Right now, he’s featuring the rave-earning curlicue gramigna pasta, creamy with egg yolk, studded with sausage, and powered by plenty of black pepper.

There is also the beloved ricotta Parmesan cappelletti. The cherry yellow “little hats” are tossed in truffle-rich sauce punctuated with slender pink ribbons of prosciutto. Zephyr hoovered up two orders of it, minus the proscuitto since they’re vegetarian. “This is the best pasta ever,” they gushed, before guiltily adding, “Don’t worry, I still love the pasta you make at home, Dad.”

Speaking of carbs, it took nearly three months (and an assist from renowned cottage baker Jill Nguyen of Capitol Jill Baking) to create the sfincione: Sicilian pizza with spongy crust brushed with thick tomato sauce that reads like an individual-size focaccia. If you’re feeling a little bit extra, get it crowned with stracciatella or anchovies. We got ours with the milky, creamy cheese. Zephyr approved in a big way. “They nailed it,” they murmured approvingly between bites.

For hungry couples and groups, there are a handful of large-format dishes, such as seafood soup, seared scallops on lemony, herbaceous risotto, and roasted game hen fired up with a sheen of hot honey. The black bass baked al cartoccio (in parchment) is a head-turning showstopper. When the paper packet is cut open at the table, there’s a whoosh of aromatic awesomeness: saffron, roasted garlic, and lemon butter. Once the puff of steam clears, the whole fish comes into view, resting on a tender bed of fingerling potatoes, chickpeas, and cherry tomatoes.

Desserts are handled by executive pastry chef Katie Knevals, who has fun riffing on a couple classics. Think tiramisu hiding the flavors of creme brulee and an affogato-inspired sundae featuring vanilla and pistachio gelati, salted caramel sauce, marsala, and the requisite jolt of espresso. 

My favorite finale was an early taste of summer: tender orange-zested olive oil cake dusted with rosemary powder and complemented by whipped yogurt and tangy blueberry conserva. It was Zephyr’s fave, too. We didn’t leave a single crumb on the plate. “That was so nice,” they declared. “The orange was a really nice touch.”

On weekends, the restaurant offers brunch via its Caffè Morini alter ego. Those seeking something sweet will appreciate the croissant-like cornetti plumped up with pistachio cream, raspberry jam, whipped cream, and chocolate with toasted hazelnuts. For diners in a savory state of mind, there are plenty of choices: a crispy prosciutto fontina egg breakfast sandwich on hot honey-slathered brioche, ciabatta toast topped with smoked salmon and Calabrian chile crema, and truffled omelet.

I’m pretty sure Zephyr would be up for taking down a few cornetti. I’ll have to get a father-son brunch on the books soon.

Cucina Morini, 901 4th St. NW. (202) 697-6888. cucinamorini.com

This article has been updated to clarify that Jill Nguyen helped create the recipe for the sfincione.

The recently opened Namak in Adams Morgan takes its name from the Persian word for salt, but it also refers to the idea of hospitality. It’s a well-chosen moniker. The Eastern Mediterranean–inspired restaurant welcomes guests in such a warm way, you feel like a longtime regular on the first visit. Meals unfurl as a series of mostly smaller plates, potentially punctuated by a few big ones, so you want to linger, pick at this, nibble on that, and chat about everything.

A collaboration between Saied Azali, who owns Perry’s next door, and John Cidre, also a partner at Unconventional Diner, Namak replaces Mintwood Place, which the partners shuttered in 2022 after a 10-year run.

The two restaurants could not be more different. The darker and louder Mintwood Place featured heavier French-influenced fare, while the new venture is bright with a more moderate volume (thanks to new noise-deadening panels installed on the ceiling) and a menu highlighted by much lighter options taking inspiration from Iraq, Turkey, and Greece. Eventually, the goal is to add more North African–influenced dishes in the mix.

The dine-in-only menu begins with breads and almost-too-beautiful-to-eat spreads, known here as dips and rips. Walnut labneh arrives decorated with dill sprigs and traced with a golden bracelet of olive oil, while borani laboo, a fetching blend of beets and yogurt, gleams a regal purple worthy of Prince. Scoop it all up with torn off chunks of tombik, puffy bread that’s like a cross between pita and Neapolitan pizza crust.

Salads and mezze follow. Make time for the saganaki, sesame-crusted feta with slivered almonds that offer a crunch, and a drizzle of honey that helps keep the brininess of the cheese in check. Golden kotlet-e-kadoo (zucchini fritters) play like latkes accented with plenty of onions, a flavor amplified by the garlic yogurt you drag them through.

Kuru patlican dolmasi are a sleeper hit. Sun-dried eggplant shells imported from Turkey are rejuvenated in slightly sweetened water, then stuffed with bulgur, rice, and lentils, all brightened up with mint and parsley. They’re lavished with a sweet-and-sour sauce of sorts made with tomatoes, peppers, and pomegranate molasses. Altogether, they happily remind me of the stuffed peppers my mother used to make.

Of course, there are kebabs. One skewer sporting tender ground lamb arrives on oblong lavash bread with a few blistered cherry tomatoes and shaved red onions on the side, so you can create little sandwiches made even better with any remaining dips. Another standout: grilled chicken breast with creamy garlic toum. Mains include a delightful head of roasted cauliflower with turmeric and dappled with za’atar, and tender dorado on a bed of sauteed spinach enriched by onions and nutmeg.

For drinks, there’s a small, Greek-heavy wine list, classic cocktails with Medi flourishes, a pair of beers: a Greek summer wit and a Turkish pilsner. The nonalcoholic choices include honey lemon ginger soda, denuded Aperol Spritz, and deeply savory salgam made with purple carrots and bulgur wheat, which is billed as a probiotic and may be an acquired taste as a complement to dinner.

Save room for the Namak version of on-trend Basque burnt cheesecake. Fortified with feta for a briny layer of complexity, it is sweetened and tarted up with a dollop of sour cherry compote. A special during one visit was a golden disc of kunefe, its top layer of crunchy kadayif pastry filaments hiding a cheese pull worthy of a mozzarella stick.

Finding someone talented enough to create such a diverse menu proved to be a daunting task, but Azali finally located Tolgahan Gulyiyen through a headhunter. The chef follows in the footsteps of his father, once the personal chef for Turkey’s 22nd prime minister, Tansu Çiller, as well as countless generations of family members who worked as private chefs for the Ottoman dynasty. Gulyiyen has been in kitchens since he was 14 years old when he took a job at Istanbul’s Çırağan Palace, a onetime palace now transformed into a luxury hotel. He studied the culinary arts at the Tourism and Hotel Management School in the northern Turkish city of Mengen and eventually made his way to the D.C. area, where he spent time working at two Greek spots: José Andrés’ Zaytinya and Nostos in Tysons Corner.

When it came time to redo the space, the partners turned to NAHRA Design Group’s Michael Mason, who worked on designs for Rose’s Luxury, Bread Furst, and the now-closed Emilie’s. With white walls, fetching archways framing transitional spaces, and modern-minded furniture by Daniel Donnelly, the 98-seat space includes a 14-seat bar and another 24 seats on its high-visibility patio on Columbia Road NW.

Look closely around Namak and you’ll see all sorts of Eastern Mediterranean Easter eggs scattered throughout the restaurant, such as persimmons (a symbol of fertility), Turkish suzani (hand-embroidered textile panels taking their name from the Persian word meaning needle), and an Evil Eye.

Namak, 1813a Columbia Rd. NW. (202) 234-6732. namakdc.com

With distressed brick walls, radiators hanging from its pounded tin ceiling, and artfully scuffed green and white tiled floors, La Bonne Vache, perched at the corner of Prospect Street and Potomac Street in Georgetown, feels like it’s been there forever. Although most of this charmingly timeworn aesthetic is recently installed, the underlying lived-in sensibility isn’t a complete deception. The space was home to beloved sandwich shop Booeymonger for 50 years before it closed last spring.

La Bonne Vache—which means “the good cow” and opened at the end of January with 30 seats inside and plans for nearly a dozen outside—is a partnership between two hospitality industry power couples: Claire and Ari Wilder (Kappo, Zeppelin), and Robert Aikens (whose impressive burger credentials include time at Ghostburger and Stephen Starr’s gastropub Dandelion in Philadelphia), and his wife, Rachel Aikens, a pedigreed restaurant designer responsible for Espita and Opaline. The goal was to create an accessible, affordable restaurant for Georgetown families that would offer a blend of familiar French favorites along with cheffed-up burgers.

Robert Aikens now lives in London full time but plans to return to D.C. regularly to check in with the operation. That leaves the open kitchen in the hands of chef de cuisine Scheyla Acosta, who last cooked locally at the already-shuttered Cashion’s Rendezvous in the Square, along with none other than Ann Cashion serving as sous-chef.

Despite the French fare on hand, burgers are really the focus. Made with a blend from rock-star butcher Pat LaFrieda, patties can be doubled on any burger and arrive on a Martin’s Potato Roll. The Classique was my favorite. A classed-up, utterly crushable cheeseburger, it comes with Gruyere fondue, LBV sauce (aka mayo, ketchup, Worcestershire, and a bunch of other seasonings), red onions, and dill pickles.

Aikens brings classic French flavors to bear on the specialty burgers. There’s a riff on steak au poivre using green peppercorn cognac aioli instead of the traditional sauce, though the most prominent flavors are Auvergne-sourced blue cheese and sauteed mushrooms. Another burger comes topped with beef bourguignon (does that make it burguignon?) braised with roasted tomato and fresh herbs, then shredded and piled atop the patty with caramelized onions and smoked bacon. Finally, there’s one with truffle-amped Brie and truffle aioli.

For those who want to steer clear of cow, there’s a vegetarian burger crafted from green lentils and roasted mushrooms, and crowned with goat cheese, frisee salad, and tomato, as well as a crispy cod sandwich with dill pickles and tartar sauce punched up with cornichons, capers, and diced shallots.

Of course, there are fries. On the slender side, with the skin off and frizzled golden, they arrive with garlic aioli or addiction-forming Gruyere fondue with the consistency of queso, which is a very good thing.

When I visited, hors d’oeuvres included gougeres, foie gras parfait with toast points and cornichons, deviled eggs packing a hefty dose of curry, and salmon rillette accompanied by dilly cucumbers, though they are cycling through new options on this front. There is also a selection of salads, including a standout with royal purple beets, apple slivers, and goat cheese.

For dessert: silky chocolate mousse topped with Chantilly cream and crunchy chocolate pearls, creme caramel, and a madeleine sampler featuring honey lemon, chocolate, hazelnut, and pistachio. To accompany the meal, the thoughtful drinks list includes plenty of bubbles, easy drinking wines, classic French cocktails, and a good selection of NA options.

Still-despondent fans of Booeymonger should know there are three sandwiches available, including one with shaved rib eye with Gruyere, frisee, and horseradish aioli. It is not intended as a replacement for the former tenant’s well-loved Manhattan sandwich with grilled roast beef, cheddar, spinach, and house dressing, but it may begin to patch the hole in some hearts.

La Bonne Vache,3265 Prospect St. NW (202) 222-0620. labonnevachedc.com.

Wanna get down on some of the best sandwiches around? Your Only Friend wants to hang out.

The nostalgic sandwich shop and bar in Shaw began as a pandemic pivot from hoagie maestro Paul Taylor and cocktail pro Sherra Kurtz, who were both working at the Columbia Room when the world shut down in March 2020.

“We had a ‘What can we do now?’ attitude,” says Kurtz. “We were really determined to do what we could to bring whatever comfort we could to people at a time when there was so much uncertainty. And it was a stress relief for me to not have to be in my very tiny apartment by myself. I probably would have started a scarf that I never finished.”

Partnering with Erik Bruner–Yang’s Power of 10 initiative, which worked to keep restaurant workers employed while feeding the community, he and Kurtz created the “Get a Hero Be a Hero” pop-up in spring of 2020, which donated a sandwich to local hospital workers and first responders every time they sold a sandwich. The work felt especially personal to Taylor, since his sister, a naval nurse, was stationed aboard the USNS Comfort in New York City.

As they built a following, Taylor and Kurtz renamed the project Your Only Friend, a riff on a phrase Taylor found himself saying when someone came through in a pinch with something he really needed, as in “Thanks for bringing that milk I needed to make eggnog for the Christmas pop-up bar. You’re my only friend.” It was a creative time for the hoagie maker, who began building a recipe repertoire. Not every experiment was successful. An effort to replicate Arby’s roast beef sandwich was a failure, though they hope to return to the idea in the future.

As 2021 unfolded, the Columbia Room team geared up to reopen for normal service, which intensified a dialogue between Taylor and Kurtz. “We loved it and wanted to see it come back,” Kurtz says. “But, for us, we had changed that space so many times, the thought of going all the way back was just one bridge too far.”

Plus, there was serious momentum and a devoted fan base for Your Only Friend. If there was ever a time to strike out on their own with the concept, this was it. The partners left Columbia Room in the late summer of 2021 to begin the hunt for a location, initially steering clear of Shaw because they didn’t want to be near their former workplace. But when Derek Brown decided to sell the legendary bar to New York’s Death & Co., they started looking in their old neighborhood, ultimately finding a spot on the Ninth Street NW drag just around the corner from their old digs.

The 1,600-square-foot building was a shell, but the partners appreciated its two distinct spaces, perfect for their dual sandwich shop-bar concept, as well as its pleasingly faded brick walls and historical facade. Taylor and Kurtz took over the space in late 2022, spent more than a year renovating it, and finally opened the 36-seat spot in mid-January.

On the sandwich side of the operation, there are eight options, all served on bread from Lyon Bakery. These are the kinds of sandos that make you want to get dirty. Take the Hot Nug, a big-ass Nashville hot chicken sandwich topped with bread and butter pickles that arrives on a sesame bun. I dare you to not hoover up this beast, regardless of how many napkins you burn through.

Or check out the Mort & Mootz—an OG from the pandemic pop-up days—their Italian sub plump with mortadella and mozzarella (thus the name), along with shredded lettuce, shaved onions, red pepper relish, and Duke’s Mayo. The latter is surely a point of contention for some hoagie purists, though it’s never bothered me that much.

Purists will also probably put up a fight about the Sub Club, which lacks the usual three slices of toast. Instead, there’s a tubular roll, allowing greater focus on the fillings, including smoked turkey, bacon, Swiss cheese, and “fancy pants” ranch (i.e., house-made dressing with lots of fresh herbs).

Don’t sleep on the Caul Me Maybe—also from the original lineup—essentially a vegan banh mi (though you can sub in Duke’s for the usual vegan mayo). Packed with roasted cauliflower, cucumber slices, jalapenos, and bursting with sprigs of fresh cilantro, this hefty hoagie is designed to satiate any diner regardless of their food philosophies.

Not to be overlooked is the spicy take on a Salvadoran icon, the Spicy Panes con Pavo (turkey on bread). Tender braised meat gets paired with curtido (pickled cabbage), salted cucumber, and a Crystal Hot Sauce-amped chili oil that needs to be bottled and sold. To anyone who never orders the turkey sandwich because they’re afraid it won’t be flavorful enough, this sandwich will change your mind.

I appreciate Your Only Friend’s dedication to the classics, which are deftly blended with their irreverence and inventiveness. This mindset extends to the snacky sides, too: house-made Miso Chex Mix taken to another level of umami thanks to the incorporation of miso; pimento cheese served with potato chips instead of the usual Ritz Crackers; Caramelized Shallot Dip that plays like fancy French onion dip; and cacio e pepe-inspired fries doused in a snowfall of butter powder, white cheddar powder, and Kraft-style grated Parmesan.

On the bar side of the equation, Kurtz wants to keep her offerings low-key, but highly enjoyable. “The idea is that cocktails can be fun and nuanced, but also approachable,” says Kurtz. “A cocktail should never make someone feel like they’re a dummy.”

Think a see-through rum and Coke, gimlet accented with celery, and carbonated margarita with Mountain Dew, mezcal, and Smirnoff Ice. Don’t forget to look up while you’re drinking to marvel at the epic stained-glass window, created by Devin Balara of Solid Space Glass, which stars a godly jar of Duke’s, ribbons of bacon, pickles, bread, Swiss cheese, and sheaves of lettuce. And before you leave, make sure to pop into the bathroom on the left to take a selfie surrounded by wallpaper decorated with—you guessed it—Duke’s-esque mayo jars.

Your Only Friend, 1114 9th St. NW. (202) 912-1999. youronlyfrienddc.com.

Downtown Takoma Park and Takoma, D.C., are exploding with fresh dining options. Beloved Mexican standard-bearer Cielo Rojo recently moved to larger digs; vibrant Vietnamese concept Muối Tiêu recently opened; and Sticky Fingers debuted a location across from the Metro. But if you head through downtown, eastward on Carroll Avenue, and take a left on Flower Avenue into a quiet back neighborhood, there’s another new addition worth seeking out: Koma Café.

The cozy, all-day, seven-days-a-week cafe-bar-Italian eatery, which opened last October, is the latest effort from chef-owner Brad Feickert, who co-owns nearby Soko butchery, helped open Zinnia, and worked for Bryan Voltaggio and Arlington’s now-closed Australian concept Oz. “It was kind of a no-brainer,” he explains. “There’s tons and tons of housing around here, and everybody wants their own personal bar within walking distance, where they can also get pizza and pasta.”

Koma resides in a 1,100-square-foot space previously home to two separate pizzerias and, most recently, an insurance office. The cozy one-room restaurant, designed by Natalie Tokić, has 40 seats, including the bar, and they are hoping to add a 30-seat patio in the coming months. Its facade features a feathery latte art mural painted by Feickert’s longtime friend Christopher Lynch.

During the day, Koma (as in short for Takoma) offers breakfast and lunch until 4 p.m. On the former side of the equation, there are smoothies, grain bowls, eggy options, and a series of toasts, including those topped with honey lemon ricotta and seasonal fruit, and avocado with hummus, feta, and everything bagel spices. Plus, there are pastries from Pluma by Bluebird Bakery, bagels by Bullfrog Bagels, and a full coffee menu powered by beans from Philadelphia’s Elixir Coffee Roasters.

Lunchtime choices include half a dozen straightforward but satisfying sandwiches—including prosciutto, egg salad, and tuna—all served on baguettes from Lyon Bakery and accompanied by chips or a side salad. There are a trio of salads, which are also available at dinner, including one topped with ribbons of prosciutto, pear, and whatever berries are available.

Starting at 4 p.m., when breakfast and lunch end for the day, a selection of happy hour friendly “shareables” rolls out. Think marinated olives, Marcona almonds, burrata glistening with extra virgin olive oil, caramelized onion fig spread, and charcuterie. These pair well with drinks handled by Dylan Greer, who presides over a well-composed selection of classic-minded cocktails, wine, and beer.

Pizzas and pastas—the real stars of the show—become available at 5 p.m. Since he was never a pizzaiolo, Feickert tried to visit every pizzeria of note within a 50-mile radius for research, walking away especially impressed by Baltimore’s Little Donna’s and the recently shuttered JBGB’s. His dough is made with Caputo 00 flour and fermented for 96 hours, yielding a puffy golden crust with pleasant chew and subtle tang. On top of straight-up cheese or pepperoni, there are four specialty pizzas, including those starring fennel, bresaola, and prosciutto.

Pastas are handmade as well. Think fusilli greened up with pesto made using brown butter croutons instead of pine nuts (a Massimo Bottura trick) and dotted with dollops of ricotta, along with rigatoni with prosciutto bolognese glimmering with a little three-pepper chili oil. The latter sauce is made by Soko, a cross-pollination Feickert hopes to increase since recently buying a pair of dry aging cases for the butchery, where he hopes to make bresaola and salami for Koma.

Koma is a real win for the far side of Takoma Park. Really, every neighborhood deserves a Koma—a friendly, all-purpose, well-executed cafe where you can work, catch up with a friend, take a meeting, relax with a drink, or have a family dinner. Its warmth and welcoming vibe make me want to move in nearby so I can make it a regular hangout.

Koma Café,8006 Flower Ave., Takoma Park (240) 268-0630. koma-cafe.com.

Correction: This story originally reported that chef Brad Feickert helped open Takoma Bev Co, which is incorrect. This version has been corrected.