DMV Dining

It’s been well documented how the restaurant scene on 14th Street has blown up over the last year or so. The Washington City Paper reported that no less than eight restaurants have opened up on the 14th Street corridor within the last month! Rachel and I learned first-hand how the demand for tables is sky-high no matter what day of the week it is.

For example, we ventured down to Logan Circle on a Tuesday evening to check out Ghibellina, the new Italian gastropub by the owners of Eastern Market’s outstanding Acqua Al 2. We were quickly taken aback as we found out the wait for a table of two would be one hour. And this was on a Tuesday!

I’m sure the same could be said for the bustling Le Diplomate, whose patios were filled to the brim with diners across the street eating al fresco in the warm, summer weather. Pearl Dive Oyster Palace was adjacent to Ghibellina, so we grabbed some barstools at their outdoor bar and had a few drinks while we waited for our table. Exactly sixty minutes later, the restaurant had called informing us our table was ready.

Unlike Acqua Al 2, Ghibellina’s menu is focused around small plates, featuring everything from salads to meats & cheeses to pizzas and pastas. Rachel and I started out the evening with their Salame Toscano, which featured salami sourced from California’s Fra ‘Mani. Topped with picked vegetables, this was a nice way to kick off our Tuscan meal.

Our next course was a cheese plate – Quadrello Di Bufala. This creamy buffalo milk cheese was accompanied with raisin walnut bread and fig jam. All three items really complemented one another as we spread the soft cheese across the bread and lightly topped it with the fig jam.

Next was the Insalata Ghibellina, the restaurant’s signature salad. Featuring arugula, avocado, confit, tomatoes, Emmenthaler Swiss cheese, pine nuts, and pesto, this made for a light and refreshing dish given the summery weather. The ingredients really worked well together and we loved the subtle touch of pesto in the salad.

We moved onto the main courses with the carne portion of the menu. If there’s one item to order it’s definitely the Stracotto. The dish features a very generous portion of succulent pot roast prepared with white wine and tomato. This was my favorite dish of the evening as the beef was incredibly tender and flavorful, plus this was a perfect amount to split between two people.

For the pasta course, we ordered the Tortelli Di Patate Al Ragu, which was basically potato-filled ravioli. Topped with a wonderful beef ragu and sprinkled with Parmesan, we had no problem finishing it off. Granted it was a little heavy, especially since we already had the Stracotto, but it was a still a great pasta selection.

Our final dish of the evening was their Napoli pizza. Prepared with tomatoes, anchovies, olives, oregano, garlic, and mozzarella, this pizza had some bite. It might have been just a tad too spicy for Rachel, but we both remarked how chewy the crust was while being soft and gooey in the middle. And yes, the pizza was uncut, which is how it should be since Ghibellina serves Neapolitan-style pies.

Overall, we had a lovely time at Ghibellina. We enjoyed everything we ordered, the plates came out in a timely fashion, and we never felt rushed despite how packed it was. If you’re looking for a casual Italian eatery with plenty of options to choose from, we cannot recommend Ghibellina enough.

One of my biggest pet peeves about Mother’s Day is that it gives restaurants an opportunity to offer patrons an overpriced prix fixe brunch menu, making what would be an affordable Sunday meal suddenly more expensive. Thankfully, Ripple decided to stay the course and offer their entire menu a la carte, just like every other Sunday the restaurant serves brunch (in fact, they just started offering brunch only a few weeks ago).

Considering that we have wanted to try Ripple for quite some time, it was the ideal place for Mother’s Day brunch, especially since this was Rachel’s first time celebrating the holiday after giving birth to our son last September.

Do yourself a favor and be sure to order a skillet of their homemade cinnamon rolls. Pastry chef Alison Reed does wonders with this breakfast pastry as the moist, gooey rolls were delivered piping hot out of the oven right to our table.

Whenever there’s some sort of hash dish on the menu, it’s more than likely that I’ll order it, so it should come as no surprise that I went with the smoked hash. It featured chunks of locally-sourced pastrami, potatoes, and onions, and is then topped with a pair of farm-fresh sunny side up eggs. I loved every bite as I spread the creamy egg yolk over the tender pastrami.

Rachel ordered the Sally’s Bennie, which was essentially a regionalized version of Eggs Benedict featuring Maryland blue crab. Served atop a homemade English muffin, the mountain of crab, eggs, and hollandaise amounted to a great brunch entrée.

What really stood out, however, was the outstanding service. To begin with, the hostess was very apologetic about our table not being ready in time (we had a reservation) as the previous party was taking their time. The second instance was when Rachel, having only taken a few sips out of her cocktail, got in arm’s reach of our very curious baby and inadvertently spilled her entire drink. Our waitress quickly came over, cleaned it up, and brought Rachel a new one without charge.

We had a very positive experience at Ripple. Not only did we appreciate that they offered brunch a la carte when every other restaurant was charging an arm and a leg, but the food and service was excellent. The prices were also very reasonable given the high quality of the ingredients used by executive chef Marjorie Meek-Bradley. We can’t wait to return and try dinner there one of these days. Oh, and their grilled cheese bar, too. Yes, they do in fact have a grilled cheese bar.