This week's top dish from Eater DC, Curbed's restaurant, bar, and nightlife blog...
DUPONT CIRCLE—Chipotle's new concept ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen is already one year old and in a special two-part edition of One Year In, Eater talks to culinary manager Nate Appleman and director of concept development Tim Wildin about how the restaurant came to life and where it's going in the future.
STATE DEPARTMENT—Last Friday, the State Department kicked off its Diplomatic Culinary Partnership and the American Chef Corps with a party full of gossip and enthusiastic hopes for the future. Graffiato's Mike Isabella was the first chef to represent the program abroad and Eater has the video of his trip to Istanbul.
COMING ATTRACTIONS—Eater was on the scene for the press conference/birthday party/television viewing party for the Bachelor Pad's Chris Bukowski, who is opening a restaurant in the DC area. There were cakes with rose icing, life-sized cardboard cutouts of Bukowski and lots of reflection on what his "ladies style" sports bar is going to be like when it hits DC.
PENN QUARTER—For those eager to get in the doors at Elisir, this month's Gatekeepers reveals it may be easier than you think to get a table — plus some of the celebrities you might see when you do.
H STREET—Shockingly, satirizing racist remarks with a drawing of an Asian stereotype turned out to be a bad idea on H Street. The DC government forced The Pug to remove a sign for its "Marion Berry Dirty Asian Summer Punch" as a violation of the city's Human Rights Act. The drink is now the Mayor For Life punch.
MARYLAND—This week saw a spate of Maryland-based restaurant openings, including a location for Chef Geoff's in Rockville and Potomac's brand new Grilled Oyster Company.
FOOD TV—Word came out this week that DC's own José Andrés is consulting on a forthcoming NBC series Hannibal, which is about the fiction Hannibal Lecter. So, yes, he's been eating a lot of non-human organs as a consultant to cannibals.
THE SHUTTER—A few DC neighborhoods were hit with restaurant shutters this week, including Georgetown's Uno Chicago Grill and the Daily Deli in Ballston.