Southern restaurants in Washington, DC
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A
Vidalia
Is it fair to call Vidalia ‘Southern?’ Chef Jeff Buben, who also runs the kitchen in Bistro Bis, is a man who likes his French influences. But there’s clear Southern roots in his focus on mixing the rich with the filling – ‘Southern’ ain’t just grits, after all. Although with that said, the shrimp and grits here are something else, a sort of Platonic ideal of the shrimp and grits concept. Fare that’s a bit more unique-sounding but just as accessible to the everyman palette (and just as appreciable to a hard-core foodie) includes a cold cucumber soup of sea trout, squid ink and roe – pretty much like a spoonful of winter ocean – and rabbit loin and leg served under smoked …
reviewed
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B
B Smith’s
With its spectacular vaulted ceilings, marble floors and ionic columns, you can’t beat this place’s location in the former Presidential Waiting Hall at Union Station. It is a remarkable contrast to the down-home Southern fare served here by former model Barbara Smith (whose unclouded complexion once graced Oil of Olay ads). Which is not to say the food is not delicious: it is. She upgrades Southern classics to sophisticated oeuvres in ways fun and unexpected, eg vegetarian ribs and the ‘Swamp Thang, ’ a mess of crawfish, scallops and shrimp on collard greens swimming in Dijon cream. The restaurant attracts an affluent African American crowd and is as popular for après-wor…
reviewed
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C
Acadiana
Louisiana probably has the best homegrown culinary tradition in the USA, and all over the country different chefs try to capture the richness of our greatest gift to regional cooking. Acadiana is the DC effort, and it’s a good one. This is rich, heart-attack stuff, so come prepared for duck glazed in pepper jelly, sweet watermelon salad set off by spicy pecans, and veal dunked in mushroom gravy set atop a hot bed of jalapeno grits. The interior is a bit sterile – not nearly colorful enough for a Louisiana restaurant – but the food makes up for this decor deficit.
reviewed
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D
Georgia Brown’s
Georgia Brown’s treats the humble ingredients of the American South (shrimp, okra, red rice, grits and sausage) with the respect great French chefs give their provincial dishes. The result is consistently excellent regional American cuisine: high-class Southern food from the Carolina Lowcountry served in a warm, autumnal interior. This was a favorite spot for the Clintons during their presidency (we’re not sure if it still is during Hillary’s Secretary of State-ship) and remains very much in vogue with the city’s black elite and professionals.
reviewed
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E
Rocklands Barbecue
We say Southern, but really, it’s just about the barbeque here: slow smoked, red oak and hickory, no electricity, no gas, Texas-style and pretty good for the East Coast. The ribs, as you might guess, are the way to go – or if you wanna splurge, shell out $600 for a 120lb whole barbecued pig. While you wait for your order, check out the huge selection of hot sauces (‘From the Depths of Hell’). Then take a seat at the wooden counter in the window and watch the passers-by drool.
reviewed
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F
King Street Blues
King Street Blues is a crazy Southern ‘roadhouse’ diner that serves really good baked meatloaf, country-fried steak, Southern fried catfish and other diner favorites. The interior is strewn with colorful papier-mâché figures floating across its three levels, while shiny chrome furniture and multicolored tablecloths lend an attractive retro air. Live blues is played on Thursday nights.
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