We made it out of New York! Woohoo! Out-of-town will be its own niche in the right on Franklin codex, to mark every newsletter that is not written about New York City. I can’t wait to share my favorite places in my favorite cities!!
In 2021, my parents moved out of our childhood home in Arlington, Massachusetts and relocated to Washington D.C., where my mom grew up and most of her family resides. We grew up coming to D.C. for holidays and family visits, though it has only been home base for a couple of years.
It has been a fun and exciting new challenge to find our Weiss-family “spots,” reliable restaurants for easy dinners and special occasion, though I fear we have a long way to go. I was very lucky to spend the last few days on the couch with my dog, cooking with my mom, and watching golf with my dad—a needed and restful reset with my favorite people!!! Being out of the city, though, provoked a nod to the restaurants we have come to know and love in our new home. This is a short list, but if I am here for just a weekend, here is the breakfast, lunch, and dinner I am jonesing for.
Breakfast: Ellē
We moved to D.C. at the tail-end of COVID regulations and pandemic panic, so the city was still figuring out navigating hospitality in a new climate. Even when it was only a window of an old, repurposed, D.C. coffee shop and bakery, Heller’s, it was clear that Elle was a special establishment—and one I would go out of my way for every time I was in town.
The initial draw, and how I had vetted the coffee shop in the first place, was that they carry and brew Tandem Coffee Roasters, my ride-or-die favorite coffee beans, produced in Portland Maine. This is not the easiest coffee to find, so I was already on a mission. Then we discovered their pastries, bread, and sandwiches… and the rest is history.
In the summer. they have nice sidewalk seating, and they have opened up their indoor tables for daytime seating as well, which at night are converted to a delicious dinner service (that I also recommend!!)
The coffee, is delicious. The bread, is delicious! They do an egg sandwich on a sesame potato bun with brisket (! ) if you want it, a perfect fried egg and cheddar cheese. At peak tomato season, they also make the best BLT any of us have ever had. Juicy heirloom tomatoes, crisp romaine, and thick cut crunchy bacon are objectively components of a perfect sandwich. Whatever they are doing to make theirs stand out is absolutely working. Huge fan. They offer bagels topped with beet cured salmon, cream cheese, and capers—which are good even by New York standards. They make incredible buttermilk biscuits and scones, adjust the flavors of their baked offerings seasonally, all while making and seling delicious bread. Of all the breakfasts we have had in D.C., Ellē is always at top of mind for being reliable, delicious, and seasonally conscious. Steak ‘n Egg is a close second though…
Lunch: Yosaku
Yosaku holds a very special place in the heart of the Weiss family. We have been going to this restaurant since before I really understood what sushi even was. It was the destination of choice for holidays, big family visits, and most importantly, afternoon cousin lunches. I will not claim that this is unilaterally the best sushi in D.C. but is consistent, delicious, and was something I truly looked forward to ahead of our D.C. visits.
What about this unassuming sushi spot with a banner flaunting its sushi happy hour deals is so special? Great question—the interior is modest, coloring is sort of bland and the tables are compact, we often pushed 3 or 4 of these together to fit our family. In the back, two gentleman efficiently roll sushi as it is ordered, and during lunch, a small salad bar sat on the right hand side of the restaurant. They also gave us a paper menu with all of the roll and sushi options, that we could mark with a pencil like a mini golf score card. That always caused a lot of excitement and raised voices.
Starting with the salad, that orange ginger dressing was what dreams are made of. I haven’t had it in years (I think the salad bar was a casualty of Covid), and I still remember exactly how it tasted. A slightly thick, bright orange dressing was citrusy and sweet with a bit of bite, and was the main focus of the salad—we never had an appropriate dressing-to-lettuce ratio going on at Yosaku. And they had these marinated bean sprouts… could not tell you what was on them but I could (and did) eat them by the bowl. The salad bar was somehow a highlight and I feel like that is unusual at 11 years old?
My grandma always ordered the Tuna Avocado salad, a sort of tower of sliced avocado and raw tuna with roe and miso dressing. I always order the Mushroom Miso Soup, which is exactly what it sounds like but a welcome variation to one of my very favorite things to eat. The Udon was also very good, and I believe a few family members were bento-box orderers.
This was also the first place I ever had Chirashi, and they were the arbiters of our family’s obsession with Sweet Potato Tempura rolls. I don’t know if this is a common thing, it is not on a lot of sushi restaurant menus, but it was my mom’s favorite order in the entire world (as someone who doesn’t get super excited about raw fish). A sweet potato tempura roll is self explanatory, they were always warm and rolled way too big, with super fresh soft sweet potato, crunchy tempura flakes, and spicy mayo. YUM.
The rice is always soft, the rolls are always fresh, the Chirashi is generous, and their miso soup is ridiculous—though that one is harder to mess up. It is a staple, and it is so reasonable! And yum! Support small businesses!
Dinner: Lutèce
I am a harsh dinner critic, surely a symptom of my dining escapades in New York. Finding an incredible dinner in D.C., or in any new place really, is often a difficult feat. When Lutèce opened, it was a lively, bright blue addition to Wisconsin Ave, a brick-accented cozy restaurant with big bright windows, counter seating, and a nice sidewalk seating arrangement. D.C. was due for a very well-branded, cool kid restaurant that catered to the sophisticated palate of the Washington crowd. By cool kid, I don’t mean Brooklyn cool kid waiting for a table at Bernie’s, I am talking Michelin Chef, tough-to-get reservations, and tasting menu cool kid—which is more D.C. speed.
I will admit I still haven’t been here for brunch, despite over two years of trying to coordinate it. Maybe next time I am in town… But our dinners there have been notable. The menu is small and thoughtful, and changes weekly, though a lot of themes and dishes remain for extended periods of time with small tweaks to produce additions. At our last visit, we had the Sourdough Foccacia with cultured butter—a mainstay and a delicious way to start every meal. Marinated Olives are obviously a must and very New York. Not a lot of Washington restaurants offer an olive app the way every single restaurant in New York does. I wonder why that is…
We had a delicious snap pea and burrata salad that was creamy and crunchy, rich and super bright, as well as a beautifully fresh tuna crudo with jalapeño, nectarines, and radish. As it was summer, we were required to order the fig salad, which was a very simply dressed green salad with incredibly fresh figs, thinly sliced, scattered across the leaves. I love, more than most things, a really delicious, simple salad. We had the Parisian Gnocchi, a rich plate of little pillows of pasta sitting in a creamy butter sauce, an order of perfectly tender seared scallops, a beautifully roasted chicken dish, and my dad ordered a steak which, on the current menu is plated with turnips, mustard greens, and bordelaise which sounds amazing.
AND, the desserts!!! We had a chocolate mousse and a little citrus pavlova covered in whipped cream and dusted with matcha. The desserts were small and complex without being pretentious, and felt like the perfect bite to end the meal, rather than an overbearing addition. They currently have a Rhubarb Sundae with buttermilk, almond crumble, and chamomile that is tempting me to immediately turn around and go back to my parent’s house.
Of all the old-timer, classic restaurants that populate D.C.’s food scene, this is definitely a welcome newcomer. It isn’t gimmicky or over-experimental. The food is accessible, the menu is exciting, the space is adorable, and it is just very good.
I am currently coming to you live from L.A. but I will stick to the theme with some Washington D.C. spots I want to head to next.
See you next week and as always, if you have any requests… let me know! xo
the yosaku bowl looks FIREEEEEEEEEEE