New York Times’ Latest Tour of D.C. Restaurants Barely Mentions Steak

Given that it’s apparently impossible for a New York Times contributor to avoid referring to steak/steakhouses/This Town when writing about D.C., consider it progress that the latest travel piece at least promotes an exceptional beef dish at Petworth stunner, Himitsu.

“It’s now entirely possible to spend a couple of memorable days here without once eating a New York strip steak or darkening a marble corridor,” New York Times Magazine writer Robert Draper says in the latest installment of “36 Hours in Washington, D.C.” — a semi-regular sweep through the District that outrages locals sick of being depicted as occupants of some cultural backwater.

As opposed to a 2014 roundup that stuck pretty closely to Capitol Hill, this time around the NYT pokes around the entire city.

The recommended dining destinations tilt more towards neighborhood eateries than expense account-favorites. A seasonal attraction makes the cut. As does a dive bar local drink makers tend to keep in their back pocket.

The full list of restaurants and bars includes:

• Himitsu: perhaps best known for its crudos and adventurous cocktails, the photographer assigned to capture the essence of Eater DC’s editor’s choice for Restaurant of the Year focused on a brilliant take on steak and eggs.
• Ruta del Vino: the year-old wine bar is billed as a convenient place to kill time while waiting to get into neighboring Himitsu.
• Hank’s Cocktail Bar: ditto for restaurateur Jamie Leeds’ two-year-old cocktail haven.
• Showtime Lounge: seeing this Bloomingdale watering hole on a New Yorker’s to-do list caught at least one loca blogger completely off guard

• Union Market: Northeast’s bustling dining hub is billed as “Washington’s swankiest and most-trafficked indoor market.”
• District Winery: Draper says D.C.’s debut winery is pouring “uniformly excellent” wines; his favorites include the zinfandel and cabernet franc.
• Top of the Gate: the temporary skating rink atop the Watergate — and the “cocktail-laden views of the city” — get Draper’s attention
• Del Mar: In his boldest pronouncement yet, Draper declares restaurateur Fabio Trabocchi’s debut Spanish restaurant “the only reason anyone needs to visit the Wharf.”
• Primrose: Brookland’s new wine bar is so enchanting, Draper says “you would have no reason to suspect that you’re in anybody’s idea of a swamp, much less a drain-worthy one.”
• Tiger Fork: the year-old tribute to Hong Kong earns praise for its decor, dim sum, and fruity brunch cocktails.

Correction: An earlier version of this story said the NYT piece only covered three of D.C.’s four geographic quadrants.