Les Halles in Penn Quarter served its final steak frites last night. According to the Going Out Gurus, the 15-year-old restaurant shuttered under the pressure of increased rents in the increasingly ritzy neighborhood, and not from a decline in customers. Hopefully some other local French restaurant will take up the Bastille Day Waiter's Race hosting duties -- any nominees for the job? Maybe Bistrot du Coin? And be sure to raise a glass of Beaujolais......

We all know Virginia is hell, and that traffic around Tysons Corner is a nightmare. Well, it looks like it's going to get a little more painful, if celebrity chef and reality TV star Gordon Ramsay has anything to say about it. Don Rockwell confirms that Ramsay's takeover of the old Maestro space at the Ritz Carlton at Tysons is a done deal. Now if only he would name it Junkpuncher's.......

No doubt D.C. area residents have already been enjoying their share of after work, al fresco drinking and dining this summer. That’s what summer’s for, and it actually hasn’t been bikram-yoga-studio-hot in the District much this summer, save an odd week or two. [Yes, I know, I probably just jinxed it. Code Red Air Quality alert here we come.] There’s still a few weeks left of summer proper, however, and even longer for summer-like weather,......

It's a really slow day for local news, so allow me to indulge in a little PoP-style observation and question session. I'm not often downtown during the day, but on the occasion I have a meeting in the middle of the day, I usually install myself someplace nearby with free wireless internet to get back to work as quickly as possible. Today, I picked the Cosi at 14th and H Streets NW. They have salads,......

Not ever having had the luxury of taking anyone to an expense account meal at Taberna Del Alabardero—and having failed on more than one occasion to convince my boss that he should take our staff there for a holiday party or birthday celebration—I chose the Old-World Spanish cuisine restaurant for last week's Restaurant Week pilgrimage. Taking almuerzo there Sunday was a decision that proved delightful at nearly every turn, from the grinning, attentive service to......

Two DCist writers will be on the Kojo Nnamdi Show today at noon, discussing the local restaurant scene on this first day of Restaurant Week. Our new Food and Drink Editor, Jamie Liu, and Assistant Arts Editor Missy Frederick (representing the Washington Business Journal, where she's a reporter) will join Washingtonian Magazine's Food and Wine Editor Todd Kliman. They'll talk about how the current economy is affecting business, as people decide to eat out less,......

The Center for Science in the Public Interest has put out a report that says that many cities are not doing enough to inform citizens about the results of health inspections at restaurants. Predictably, the District is pretty high on the list of cities that the center feels need to be doing more. The report scolds D.C. for forcing people who want to obtain restaurant inspection reports to file Freedom of Information Act requests. CSPI......

CommonWealth, the new British gastropub from Chef Jamie Leeds, officially opened last night. DCist got a sneak peek on Friends and Family Night on Monday. The menu covers a lot of ground, from traditional bar snacks like Scotch eggs to workmen's pastries and pies to fish 'n' chips, Welsh rarebit and mushy peas. Feel free to apply gratuitous amounts of the piccalilli - a relish of pickled cauliflower and carrots - to cut through the......

As we mentioned before, the 2009 Washington DC/Baltimore Zagat Guide was released yesterday. While there have been numerous questions about the methodology used for ratings, the Guides still deserve a lot of respect for compiling the opinions of so many diners and venturing where no Michelin Guide would go. Zagat Guide founders Tim and Nina Zagat were in town publicizing the newest edition and hitting up some of the top local restaurants when they sat......

The 2009 Washington DC/Baltimore Zagat Guide was released today. A lot of the top ten names remain as the most recent previous years, with some newcomers. They also published some interesting data about D.C. dining (national averages are in brackets). Out of 20 guide locations, D.C. diners eat out less than the national average at 2.9 times a week [3.3], but are more generous tippers, ranking fifth with 19.2 percent [19.0 percent]. Either D.C. diners......

After rumblings and hints over the weekend, the Washingtonian's Todd Kliman confirmed today that Butterfield 9 will be closing after eight years. Kliman hints at strife between the ownership and Chef Michael Harr, while another source points the finger at financial hardships. With the economy as it is, today's newest closing probably won't be the last. Harr, a D.C.-area native, hopes to stay in the city, but with fewer openings and more closings, options look......

If constantly counting superdelegates has started to wear thin, public voting for the RAMMYs may provide a much needed respite from politics for the gourmands in us. Until this Friday, May 30, area diners can voice their opinions and mark their ballots in four categories of this year's Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington RAMMY Awards. Aside from the marquee awards for Chef of the Year and New Restaurant of the Year, among others, the public can......

Still of José Andrés and crew at minibar courtesy WETA Local "celebrity" chef groupies and aspiring foodies itching for a glimpse inside their favorite D.C. restaurants' kitchens can get an hour’s worth of behind-the-scenes restaurant dirt (in the figurative, NOT the literal sense) tonight as WETA premieres the latest installment of its local D.C. documentary-style series: The WETA Guide to Fine Dining. The guides, which are produced four times a year, cull together some......

Written by DCist contributor Wade Green Jr. Pull up a chair to the new OpenTable. The online real-time restaurant reservation site has added a new feature allowing diners to contribute their feedback on a restaurant just moments after dining — and even have their opinion provided to the restaurant, if they like. After honoring a reservation, patrons will receive a form email asking what they thought of the restaurant. Food, ambiance, service and the overall......

Maybe you've got a 20-year old bottle of Burgundy chilling in your wine cellar that you want to drink for a special dinner out. Or, you just want to order something nice off the wine list. Up until now, D.C. ABC regulations dictated that you can't carry any remainder out of the restaurant. So of course, most folks would either try to finish the whole thing, leave it behind, or stealthily hand it off to......

If you spend any time on Bloomingdale or Eckington blogs or email lists, there could be no question in your mind that residents of the up and coming neighborhood(s) (Bloomingdale was just treated to a profile in the Washington Post) want more retail and services. They want a full service, sit-down restaurant, by all means. But now that plans for an enormous new dining and nightlife complex in the long-fallow Old Engine Co. 12, a......

You're right, Mr. Pink. Food blogging can be tiring, especially when you're holding a hunk of chevre in one paw and a glass of Riesling with the other -- all while surreptitiously taking notes and snapping pictures. So, while Mr. Pink takes his food coma nap, the DCist Food and Drink team is looking to pick up his slack with a few new enthusiastic Food and Drink writers. But we won't be satisfied with just......

Several people forwarded us this link to local graphic design firm ToolboxDC's blog, where they've posted a nifty time-lapsed video of the creation and installation of the large mixed media mural of Marvin Gaye that's hanging up in the dining room of the popular new U Street eatery Marvin. Owner Eric Hilton (of Thievery Corporation) commissioned the 6 ft. by 10 ft. work to be the centerpiece of the restaurant, but now he's putting......

Much A-Dough About Nothing Over the last two weeks, Todd Kliman's chatters have gotten riled up over CityZen's Parker House rolls. A chatter wrote in about his/her experience at CityZen a few months ago with pleasant servers and delicious food. But then he/she complained that his/her party of seven requested a second serving of the Parker House rolls. Apparently the server hesitated and seemed uncomfortable, but said he would check with the kitchen. The chatter......

The majority of Overheards in D.C. fall into only a few categories: funny sex stuff, dumb tourists and weird kids. There's the occasional amusing political thing, or some quip that somebody sent in because they think they or their friends are funny. But there are always those that make absolutely no sense unless you are knowledgeable about some extremely narrow area of trivia, such as say, documentaries about lost and possibly mythical Brazilian cities. Quote......

Sure, Harriette Walters might have stolen upwards of $44 million from the District's coffers, but at least she wasn't stealing directly from low-income school children. According to a WTOP report this morning, District officials have arrested and charged a city official with submitting false expense reports totaling $11,385 for big bills at local restaurants and strip clubs. Emerson Crawley, a program manager at After School for All at Shaw Junior High School, allegedly spent the......

This is a great time of the year for beer lovers. Winter, more than any other season, is when craft brewers get a chance to flex their creativity and brew some unusual beers that satisfy the palate and warm the heart. Although many have traditionally been called Christmas beers, most brewers these days are going with some variation on the "winter" theme, in a large part because of the stigma of seeing a "Christmas" beer......

Chatty Cathys Warren Rojas of Northern Virginia Magazine was on Rockwell this week shilling his new chat, Grill Warren. Do we not have enough food chats/chogs/Q&As in this town? I guess it's an alternative if you can't get your question answered by one of the three Ts, but this is getting a little out of hand. Or maybe DCist is behind the curve on this one, and we should be starting our own chat. But......

Written by DCist Contributor Eric Denman As the commercialization of Chinatown persists, the number of restaurants and bars continues to increase. For every existing grungy Chinese takeout place, there is a new sports bar, burger joint, or wine bar. Proof, which opened in July, is the newest entry in the Chinatown wine bar field, and it opened a mere block from the established José Andrés outpost Zaytinya (which has been open since 2002). Both places......

>> D.C. Council members have rejected a plan to give a developer city-owned land worth $6 million on which to build a new Radio One headquarters. [WJLA] >> Five new restaurants are coming to Columbia Heights. [Prince of Petworth] >> Traffic was temporarily halted at Union Station this afternoon as Amtrak Police investigated a report of a suspicious package near Gate A in Union Station. Regular service had resumed by 4 p.m. [WaPo] >>......

Fried Chicken Frenzy Returns Fried chicken fanatics have something to get excited about. Both Colorado Kitchen and Ray's the Classics have restored their famous versions of the dish. Everyone lamented when Gillian Clark pulled her chicken from the menu a few years ago. But now, she is hosting burgers and fried chicken nights on December 11 and January 8 (the second Tuesday of the month). Apparently her chicken is so good that she told......

The overwhelming consensus so far at today's D.C. Council hearing on the recent theft of what looks to be $30 million-plus from the District's tax coffers? The scandal has damaged the reputation of the city government, and the council members are pissed. While most statements have clung to the nasty tidbits of information we already know (the enormity of the crime, that an auditor's warnings may have been ignored) and palliative cliches, council members provided......

By DCist Contributor Aaron Morrissey Dogfish Head Alehouse, the third (and we assume not the last) in a planned series of eateries that serve lovers of the venerable Delaware-based brewery with the American basics, is now open in Falls Church, and DCist popped by to survey the scene in advance of Tuesday night's official Grand Opening party. There’s nothing outstanding about the place upon entering. The immediate thought was the episode of The Simpsons in......

Countdown to Westend Bistro It's almost here. The opening that all the foodies in town have been waiting for. The one that all the critics are getting more than a little excited about. The chef that makes all the ladies swoon with his French accent. Westend Bistro by Eric Ripert at the Ritz-Carlton on Thursday, November 8. Menus have been posted to their web site leaving many, including Don Rockwell posters, mystified. Rather than......

Written by DCist Contributor Oscar Bunoan Despite what you’ve read, Vincent Van Gogh was not insane. I mean, what’s the use of an earlobe to a painter anyway? An artist under mental distress, after all, would have immediately deemed his moneymakers a more suitable gift for an unsuspecting prostitute. Why make reference to the 19th century post impressionist? Because, whether James and Miranda Chen—owners of the Asian influenced Sunflower Vegetarian—realize it or not, he serves......