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Lots of luscious things passed my lips in the course of dining around the region for my 22nd annual fall restaurant guide. These 10 dishes are the ones I can’t stop thinking about. Let the ordering begin.
[The food critic gets critiqued: What Tom Sietsema learned in a year of pandemic home cooking]

Mushroom soup

Celery root fritters
Chef Rob Rubba says he wanted something fun to launch his $75 plant-based tasting menu at Oyster Oyster in Shaw. Sure enough, it’s smiles all around when diners pluck a hot celery root fritter off a napkin pillow. The crackle of fried julienne celery root is followed by the rush of creamy smoked tofu in the center of the golden orb. On with the show.

Tofu skin salad

Pan con tomate

Country-style pâté
There’s no flour, cream or egg in the superior, Armagnac-fueled pâté ($18) at Annabelle in Dupont Circle, where chef Frank Ruta opts to bind his appetizer — developed and served during his White House years — with liver. Heart, kidney and beef tongue weigh in with more richness; the organ meats are diced so recipients can see the chunks. Pistachios punctuate each porky slab, garnished with something pickled and set on a brushstroke of mustard glaze.
[A food critic returns to a favorite dining room to find hugs and laughs instead of masks]

Samusa

Green bean tartare
Who says a tartare has to involve meat or fish? The starry Inn at Little Washington in Washington, Va., demonstrates #greenisgood with a vegetarian alternative. Green beans from the property’s garden are minced, blanched, shaped into a cake with potatoes and capers, and finished at the table with spiced fried onions that suggest French’s by way of France. Rounding out the verdant pleasure (a selection on the $265 vegetarian tasting menu) is toasted bread slathered with tomato jam and a sublime tomato vinaigrette.

Grandma pizza slice

Peking duck confit
David Deshaies loves Peking duck, says “duck confit always sells,” and combines cuisines as deftly as Bob Woodward gets people to talk. At Unconventional Diner in Shaw, the French chef offers confit duck legs ($27) treated to honey, Chinese five-spice and sesame seeds, and served in the company of Korean-dressed chopped cucumbers, a housemade hoisin sauce and steamed buns for bundling the bird. Asia meets Europe in every bite.

Hari Daiquiri
Bar ace Tom Martinez took inspiration for his best-selling cocktail at the new Daru off H Street NE from mint chutney, an Indian staple. The drink incorporates curdled, clarified kefir, which is turned into a syrup; the fetching green base is courtesy of mint and cilantro, pureed just ahead of dinner service to retain their brightness. Mix in some Denizen white rum with three years of age on it, and you’ve got a Hari Daiquiri ($14) — a vivid cocktail that neatly captures its restaurant.
Illustrations by Kristen Sgalambro. Design and art direction by Clare Ramirez.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2021/10/05/best-restaurant-dishes-dc/