Not long ago, a chef like Eric Ziebold would have stood alone atop D.C.’s food hierarchy. Today, there’s no shortage of worthy peers, notably Michel Richard of Central and Citronelle, Johnny Monis of Komi, and Cathal Armstrong of Restaurant Eve and Majestic.
When Zagat’s published its first guide to Washington-area restaurants in 1987, it comprised 79 pages and 187 restaurants. Today, the Washington-Baltimore guide includes 1,155 eateries listed on 284 pages.
The quality of the restaurants has risen just as impressively. In 1987 the highest food score earned by Zagat’s readers was 27 out of 30 — and there were only two restaurants that achieved that distinction. In the 2009 guide, two restaurants rated a 29, and 15 scored 27 or higher (CityZen tied for third, with 28 points).
Not only is the city a more passionate food culture than it was a decade ago, Ziebold says, but the style of D.C. diners has changed a lot as well. While neckties are still more welcome here than in California, he says, “the younger dining public isn’t necessarily looking as much for the ‘I need to wear a jacket, I need to wear a tie, I need to act a certain way’ restaurant. They want to enjoy it and they want to leave feeling excited.”
He’s right: Only three restaurants in the city require a jacket for men.
So what sells in D.C.? The better question, Ziebold says, is what doesn’t sell. “Squab is one of the things we love, but it’s hard to get people to buy into,” he said. “A lot of your wild birds you have a harder time with. I don’t know whether people are hunting less or having less of those types of experiences with pigeon, partridges. We try to balance that out. We have some dishes that are a little more alternative. And we try to have some dishes that are a little more traditional. We still don’t have a green salad on the menu, but we will make one if somebody wants one. I just don’t see a need to put it on the menu.”
