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Tallula
Tallula
Photo: R. Lopez

Last Days of Summer: An Eater Guide

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Tallula
| Photo: R. Lopez

Labor Day has come to signify the end. No more white pants. Kids go the "Billy Madison" route and head back to school. And summer's just generally considered over. A number of D.C.-area restaurants, though, aren't quite ready to turn their backs on heirloom tomatoes, watermelon, corn and other fresh seasonal ingredients. As long as chefs can get their hands on these hot-weather staples, they're serving summery dishes for just a bit longer. That means for the next few weeks, here are some last tastes of summer to tide diners over before the onslaught of pumpkin and autumn.
—Dena Levitz

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Evening Star Cafe

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Executive Chef Jim Jeffords grows heirloom tomatoes on his own rooftop garden, so he’s able to extend the tomato season a tad. Through the end of summer the Del Ray neighborhood joint is able to serve Summer Succotash which also includes corn, red pepper, green beans and basil. The succotash is either served as a side dish or along with the Grilled Pork Chop entrée that’s accompanies by a bourbon apple reduction.

A popular dish at the Cleveland Park eatery is a light spin on pasta that chef Marjorie Meek-Bradly designed for a summer crowd – and will keep around a little longer. The carrot cavatelli has chunks of fresh lobster, seasonal mushrooms and flowers as a decorative element.

Matchbox Vintage Pizza Bistro

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The summer menu at both the Matchbox locations in Merrifield, Va. and on D.C.’s 14 available to diners a few more weeks. On it is a panzanella salad with a number of seasonal highlights – arugula, frisee, house-made cornbread croutons, cucumbers, red onions, heirloom tomatoes and a red wine vinaigrette.

Poste Moderne Brasserie

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The Chinatown establishment known for its large courtyard is keeping a few menu items with a summer flair. Chef Dennis Marron is still offering a chilled pea and mint puree soup for the next two weeks; an Endless Summer Harvest Salad with arugula, garden strawberries, cucumber and a rose vinaigrette for another two weeks; pea and carrot crepes featuring Monacasy Ash goat cheese for the next four weeks and pan roasted arctic char accompanies by a tomato salad, chilled basil, cream and arctic char gravlax also for four weeks.

Ovvio Osteria

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It’s been open for just over a month, but Ovvio Osteria wants to stay in the summer spirit. Diners can still order the restaurant’s heirloom salad that’s been a staple since the opening. The salad combines fresh basil, an assortment of heirloom tomatoes and aged balsamic glaze.

Birch & Barley

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Chef Kyle Bailey also has a trio of late-summer dishes to appeal to diners not yet ready for fall. The current menu offers up seared sweetbreakds with red and yellow watermelon, oranges and a gastrique; hand-cut tagliatelle with braised rabbit, black mission figs, Stanley plums, tarragon and olive crumbs; and lastly seared beef ranchero with blistered corn pudding, minted favas, piperade and queso fresco gnocchi.

Heirloom tomatoes are still part of the food selection at Zentan as well. Chef Jennifer Nguyen hopes to have her rendition of an heirloom tomato salad with Thai basil pesto, burrata cheese and soy basaltic through the end of September. She’s also created an apricot berry parfait with Thai basil and crème fraiche that’s expected to stick around til the end of the month too.

Tallula

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What better way to savor summer flavors and stay cool during the random hot days this September than with the gazpacho that Tallula’s still making available to customers. The gazpacho starter’s ingredients include fennel flower and local cherry tomatoes.

Chef Ris Lacoste also is making a point of keeping heirloom tomatoes as part of her culinary repertoire at her West End area hotspot. Ris’ website lets regulars know that they’ll be serving heirlooms through Sept. 21. The vibrant tomatoes appear in a salad with watermelons, Greek feta, preserved lemon and oregano dressing as well as in an offering of summer squash and tomatoes with fresh ricotta.

BlackSalt

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For those with a hankering for summer-style desserts BlackSalt’s pastry chef Susan Wallace has for them a warm peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. The after-dinner treat is available every day and will be offered for as long as the chef can get peaches, which they anticipate being a few more weeks.

Evening Star Cafe

Executive Chef Jim Jeffords grows heirloom tomatoes on his own rooftop garden, so he’s able to extend the tomato season a tad. Through the end of summer the Del Ray neighborhood joint is able to serve Summer Succotash which also includes corn, red pepper, green beans and basil. The succotash is either served as a side dish or along with the Grilled Pork Chop entrée that’s accompanies by a bourbon apple reduction.

Ripple

A popular dish at the Cleveland Park eatery is a light spin on pasta that chef Marjorie Meek-Bradly designed for a summer crowd – and will keep around a little longer. The carrot cavatelli has chunks of fresh lobster, seasonal mushrooms and flowers as a decorative element.

Matchbox Vintage Pizza Bistro

The summer menu at both the Matchbox locations in Merrifield, Va. and on D.C.’s 14 available to diners a few more weeks. On it is a panzanella salad with a number of seasonal highlights – arugula, frisee, house-made cornbread croutons, cucumbers, red onions, heirloom tomatoes and a red wine vinaigrette.

Poste Moderne Brasserie

The Chinatown establishment known for its large courtyard is keeping a few menu items with a summer flair. Chef Dennis Marron is still offering a chilled pea and mint puree soup for the next two weeks; an Endless Summer Harvest Salad with arugula, garden strawberries, cucumber and a rose vinaigrette for another two weeks; pea and carrot crepes featuring Monacasy Ash goat cheese for the next four weeks and pan roasted arctic char accompanies by a tomato salad, chilled basil, cream and arctic char gravlax also for four weeks.

Ovvio Osteria

It’s been open for just over a month, but Ovvio Osteria wants to stay in the summer spirit. Diners can still order the restaurant’s heirloom salad that’s been a staple since the opening. The salad combines fresh basil, an assortment of heirloom tomatoes and aged balsamic glaze.

Birch & Barley

Chef Kyle Bailey also has a trio of late-summer dishes to appeal to diners not yet ready for fall. The current menu offers up seared sweetbreakds with red and yellow watermelon, oranges and a gastrique; hand-cut tagliatelle with braised rabbit, black mission figs, Stanley plums, tarragon and olive crumbs; and lastly seared beef ranchero with blistered corn pudding, minted favas, piperade and queso fresco gnocchi.

Zentan

Heirloom tomatoes are still part of the food selection at Zentan as well. Chef Jennifer Nguyen hopes to have her rendition of an heirloom tomato salad with Thai basil pesto, burrata cheese and soy basaltic through the end of September. She’s also created an apricot berry parfait with Thai basil and crème fraiche that’s expected to stick around til the end of the month too.

Tallula

What better way to savor summer flavors and stay cool during the random hot days this September than with the gazpacho that Tallula’s still making available to customers. The gazpacho starter’s ingredients include fennel flower and local cherry tomatoes.

Ris

Chef Ris Lacoste also is making a point of keeping heirloom tomatoes as part of her culinary repertoire at her West End area hotspot. Ris’ website lets regulars know that they’ll be serving heirlooms through Sept. 21. The vibrant tomatoes appear in a salad with watermelons, Greek feta, preserved lemon and oregano dressing as well as in an offering of summer squash and tomatoes with fresh ricotta.

BlackSalt

For those with a hankering for summer-style desserts BlackSalt’s pastry chef Susan Wallace has for them a warm peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. The after-dinner treat is available every day and will be offered for as long as the chef can get peaches, which they anticipate being a few more weeks.

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