MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

For a Christmas gift this year, we're taking you to three new places where the cuisine is outstanding, the environment is fun, and we can get together for some good times. Let's eat some great food together in DC.

1. Del Mar @ The WHARF

Chef Fabio and Maria Trabocchi bring the flair and fare of coastal Spain to the District Wharf in celebration of their family traditions and tastes. Prepare to be dazzled. Located at the District Wharf, Del Mar is a celebration of Maria, her Spanish heritage, and the family's traditions created and preserved at their home on the island of Mallorca. Featuring authentic seafood fare and flavors from the coasts of Spain, the robust menu includes tapas, raw bar, charcoal grilled fish, seafood stews, and a variety of rice dishes (yes, paella)! 

2. Le Diplomat on 14th

Le Diplomate pays homage to French café culture by providing a comfortable place for everything from a cappuccino and croissant on a lazy weekend afternoon at brunch to a celebratory dinner out with friends or just a drink and dessert at the close of an evening.

The extensive menu features a variety of classic favorites including Onion Soup Gratinée, Steak Frites and Escargots as well as daily plats such as Bouillabaisse and Entrecôte de Boeuf. Towering plateaus of oysters, clams, shrimp cocktail and lobster are the perfect start to a meal or a main course unto itself. The crusty baguettes are made in-house and are the ideal accompaniment to a selection of regional French cheeses.

3. Bistro Aracosia in the Palisades

Unveiled in October, Bistro Aracosia cooks without butter, cream, a fryer or microwave ovens and is staffed by a dozen or so members of the owner’s family, including wife Sofia, who executes the long menu from a kitchen that used to be the French-Thai Bistroquet. Meal benefit from an opener of lentil soup, thick with chickpeas and the option of minced beef, plus dried mint and rings of yogurt. There are pumpkin dumplings, cayenne-kissed aushak, filled with leeks and scallions and draped with a sauce of ground meat. Rumi’s chicken, a tantalizing tomato-based stew, seesaws from sweet to tangy on the palate. Of the new entrees, veal sabzi lawaan is one of the best, braised cubes of meat seasoned with turmeric and bolstered with spinach and other greens.