Move over Big Apple, and make room for the new foodie city: Washington, D.C.
The District already is the setting for this season’s “Top Chef,” and as Washingtonians continue to indulge in the food scene, more New York restaurateurs are opening establishments here.
Just in the last year or so, New York restaurants Kellari Taverna, BLT Steak and Bond 45 (at National Harbor) opened in Washington. Burger joint Shake Shack and Serendipity3 are expected to follow.
So what is it about this market that is so attractive to New York restaurateurs?
“D.C.’s a great city. There’s a lot of diversification. You have tourists, students, a lot of government workers. The demographics are perfect,” said Jeffrey Bank, CEO of Alicart Restaurant Group.
Bank invested between $6 million and $7 million in the 670-seat, 20,000-square-foot Italian restaurant Carmine’s in Penn Quarter. The popular family-style eatery, which opened this month, is the newest and biggest addition to the growing trend of New York restaurants to hit the D.C. palate.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg endorsed D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty in his re-election bid during a lunch fundraiser Tuesday. A Yeas & Nays spy tells us Washington Kastles king Mark Ein and D.C. developer Douglas Jemal were among the 100 donors who each paid $2,000 a plate for a meal with the mayor. That meal included a variety of oversized dishes including penne alla vodka, lemon chicken, calamari, salmon oreganato, eggplant and scarpariello wings.
Fenty told us he didn’t have a chance to eat at the fundraiser, but he has enjoyed Carmine’s cuisine before … and “highly recommends” the fried zucchini.
