The One Word That Defines the Restaurant World in 2018

Following an Eater tradition, we asked a group of restaurant critics, journalists, bloggers, and friends of the site to weigh in on the year in food. Their answers to the annual “Year in Eater” survey will be revealed in several posts this week.

Next up, the dining experts sum up the 2018 restaurant world in one word.

Laura Hayes, Washington City Paper food editor: 77

• Judge Squashes Effort to Revive D.C. Minimum Wage Initiative [EDC]

Tom Sietsema, Washington Post food critic: Whoa!

Jessica Sidman, Washingtonian food editor: Bourdain

• In Anthony Bourdain, the Food World Found One of Its Strongest Voices [E]

Tim Carman, Washington Post food writer: Mike-Madness

• Bethesda’s Kapnos Closes Amid Landlord’s Dispute With Mike Isabella [EDC]

Lori Gardner, Been There, Eaten That blogger: Frenetic.

Nevin Martell, food writer and co-author of Red Truck Bakery Cookbook: Resilient. This was supposed to be the year the dining scene hit a wall. Instead, it kept growing and flourishing.

• Washington, D.C., Gets Its First Three-Michelin-Starred Restaurant [E]
• Dabney Founder Jeremiah Langhorne Wins James Beard Award for Best Chef Mid-Atlantic [EDC]

More from the Year in Eater:

• D.C. Food Writers Predict Headline News for 2019
• D.C. Food Writers Share the Best Meals They Had in 2018
• The Most Annoying D.C. Food Trends of 2018, According to the Experts
• What Surprised D.C. Food Writers the Most in 2018
• D.C.’s Best Dining Neighborhood of 2018, According to the Experts
• D.C.’s Best New Restaurants of 2018, According to the Experts
• Where D.C. Food Writers Loved to Eat in 2018