When he opened his Maryland pizzeria seven years ago, friends told him he needed to round out the menu with appetizers and pasta. Wisely, Barry Dindyal kept Al and Adrienne Carters Southern theme fried whiting and $14 lamb chops enjoy a serious constituency, after all while expanding the menu to include the Indian food Dindyal grew up eating. His cooking is careful and consistent. Schooled to be a priest, Onyona has his waiters watch how the food is made before they become guides, and the effort pays off at the restaurant. Unclaimed. In a small strip mall, the facade is nothing to look at. Takeout via Toast, Caviar and DoorDash. Wavra says she moves the votives on the mantle only when nobody is there.. Layer on citrus peel and green olives, and suddenly youre hungry for "Casablanca." My father was a perfectionist, says Jermaine Smith, who co-owns the operation with his sister, Henrietta Smith-Davis. Further crowding the table is a brass plate set off with a bed of rice topped with a fried egg, sprinkled with ground chiles and enhancers of purple onion and lemon wedge. Frederik De Pue has moved the indoors outside at his destination restaurant in Annapolis, where a 30-seat patio dressed with carpets, curtains even a temporary roof makes for a considered and cozy backdrop for his creative tasting menu. He has also written for Food & Wine. Want to light up your dining room table? Curries, kebabs and kofta burst with color and flavor. I envision many more meals in whats become my choice Chinese spot in the region. The self-taught chef says his flavors are going to be Korean even if his techniques are otherwise. A lot of guests have opinions about vegetables, based on unpleasant experiences with say, canned mushrooms or overcooked asparagus, says Rubba. Right on, chef. It takes skill and good timing to achieve jjolmyeon with the desired chewiness. The pastas are mostly rolled out right here; the specials shake up the routine. No barriers to entry; ADA-compliant restroom. Kinship is tasteful in all ways. Your fork doesnt know where to start. On closer inspection, they turn out to be mannequins, convincingly set up with bread on their plates and wine in their glasses. Save. It's the Year of the Noodle. A thali is a lot to take in. Takeout for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday. Indoor and outdoor seating. Proof of vaccination or negative test required. Pizza! (Scott Suchman for The Washington Post). As for the cooking, theres little on the menu that youve likely encountered before. Delivery via Chownow. Hang in there, Pennyroyal Station! Aim for a counter stool and the chance to watch the staff shape rounds of dough on a surface of durum and maybe meet Valerie Harding. End dinner with a show: baked Alaska, as flamboyant as Mardi Gras when its meringue dome is ignited at the table. Your best meal could be in a parking spot or dining pod, Dinner entrees $24 to $36, tasting menu $77 (not available for takeout). I miss the arty dining room, but not the crowds that packed it. [If family-style takeout is on the menu, these 3 restaurants have a whole lot to offer]. [Frankly (Anticipate fingers stained red with paprika, chiles and cayenne, too.). Takeout via Tock or phone. At different times of the year, the organic soil provides much of the makings for meals. The little cup in its box is crab bisque you know, to gild whats already gold. Wheelchair users can enter through a side door; ADA-compliant restroom. Like before, the courses are restrained, and sharing them is encouraged. No delivery or takeout. Grilled rockfish set on a shimmering pool of sungold tomato sauce and circled with brioche croutons and herbs arranged as if with tweezers was beautiful and luscious. Regulars know it as much for its ambitious social mission as its tea leaf salad and catfish mohinga. Right on and right in my mouth slide slices of the round wonder decked out with salami, chopped okra and sweet onions. During the pandemic, the owners resurrected at Komi their popular, plant-based pop-up, Happy Gyro, featuring Greek diner-style creations. A special pop-up becomes a permanent fixture, Entrees $17 to $21, $49 for family platter. If the kitchen is taking shortcuts, I cant taste them. We marvel as a waiter removes the bones from a plate of Norwegian sole with the precision of a surgeon. A server might suggest with your meal a little thimble of what looks like liquid fire: pili pili, a habanero-stoked condiment and an exception to Kenyas relatively tame flavor profile. Customers asked for breakfast and chef-owner Tsehay Beferdu delivered, with a menu offered daily until noon. In another life, OGrady was a representative for the National Pork Producers Council. Did I mention the menu is still printed on the kind of luxurious stock typically reserved for wedding invitations? Corn might be stuffed into pasta and arranged on a piney cream sauce; local beef is sliced over charred shishitos alongside a brushstroke of mustardy Diane sauce. 136 Paramount Park Dr., Gaithersburg, Md. Lunch Tuesday through Friday, dinner Wednesday through Sunday. "The wine is gone by midnight. Diners choose a centerpiece (chicken, lamb, goat, wild boar, potato-cauliflower curry), which is positioned on a long wooden board with a changing vegetable, buttery black lentils, baby spinach sauteed with ginger, garlic and cumin seeds, plus a bite of dessert. I want to be the change, she says. Just because youve been grounded during the pandemic doesnt mean you cant travel. Which reminds me, theres no better place to be a regular. Indoor and outdoor seating. Count on crisp fried chicken, a shrimp curry that pulses with ginger and side dishes of distinction. Magic sometimes returns to the table. The chef uses local ingredients and Indian techniques to come up with such intriguing dishes as a chicken kebab plied with blue cheese, sour cream and cream cheese and set on a pool of spiced sour cherry sauce, a nice foil to the rich meat. Same for dominoes of roseate local beef accessorized with grilled broccoli, burned eggplant and a dollop of ketchup, brilliant with red pepper. Omakase is on hold, but Sushi Taro is still turning out gems. Im thinking of velvety, sweet-hot Goan shrimp curry, and purple eggplant in a cloak of gravy that resonates with tamarind, peanuts and coconut. It would be easy to feast just on vegetables. Additional development by Madison Walls. The slice of blue cheese bordered with berry jelly on one side and savory shortbread on the other is more cheese course than dessert and I love it. A shortage of staff meant a delay in seating guests in the dining room, which partially opened recently. Not to worry. A roulade of flank steak from Paris, as in Virginia, veers Mediterranean with eggplant, olives and roasted tomatoes. A visit to this cozy Belgian outpost in the Palisades proves a welcome exception. They were positioned to adapt quickly to offer takeout at Anju, then, and even have fun with the menu during the pandemic. Salmon also feels like something special with a veneer of falafel and a dilly sidekick of sliced cucumbers and yogurt. Even though Im eating in the restaurants parking lot, beneath a tent, it feels like old times when Im handed multiple menus for dinner, drinks and smoked dishes from a new outdoor kitchen and Argentine grill. Chef-owner Jon Krinn addressed the pandemic by giving customers what they were accustomed to lots of options, expanded in spring to include a cigar "bar" to the side of Clarity and making frequent adjustments to his proactive strategy. Its missing in a lot of places these days, but Muchas Gracias is a poster child for inattention. Craft features halibut poached in olive oil and decked out with a panko crust. Owner Rose Previte thinks of Argentina when she slices into the bavette set off with bold, cumin-laced chimichurri, Argentina being home to asado and the country where the restaurateur spent her honeymoon. The itinerary embraces seven generous courses and can be tailored for vegetarians. "I eat cold chicken all the time," says Lee. Hes onto something: generous portions of serious cooking. Of course, we inhaled it. Dinner daily, brunch weekends. Portioned as if leftovers were expected, the entrees come with a choice of two sides, all of which would look at home at a church social. Wheelchair users can eat on the patio or in the downstairs dining room, which is reached via an elevator in the lobby of the neighboring building; ADA-compliant restrooms. Is there a dish Ruta doesnt excel at? Pan-roasted lamb loin is nearly upstaged by its dagger of red kuri squash, flavorful from a braise of lamb trimmings and saffron. Lately, Im crushing on slender maccheroni tossed with crumbled braised goat, green olives and lemon zest. The prize starts with an allspice cure, continues with a marinade shocked with Scotch bonnet peppers, and moves on to a slow smoke over pimento wood, a stint on a grill and a few minutes in the oven. Guilty! Dinner Tuesday through Saturday. Cheesecake requires some explaining at the table, too. Youre not going to get the usuals here, says the chef. Drizzled with smoked tomato honey, lamb is staged multiple ways on a shareable plate that turns shaved squash into pretty yellow ruffles and tucks some meat into tasty peppers. No barriers to entry, although the small restroom is too snug to accommodate a wheelchair. Dinner Wednesday through Sunday. rather than working. No matter where you settle, youll find a menu framed by what farmers and growers are sending chef Neal Wavra, who co-owns the property with his wife, Star. Spring for the sweet lumps of crab scattered over a tangle of linguine stained black with squid ink. See what I mean? The newcomer, adjacent to the Roost food hall in the Hill East neighborhood, is neither cheesy nor cheffy. We feel comfortable we can get to the other side, Tyler told me recently. Indoor and private outdoor seating. Small plates capture big pleasures. (Even outside, or on the phone, Jaleo lives up to its English translation: commotion. A recent dinner found us tucking into risotto swollen with what tasted like a forest of porcini mushrooms, lamb ragu humming with red wine and rosemary, and pork tenderloin nearly upstaged by its roast potatoes and creamy borlotti beans. Only in July did Flamant reopen for dining, and then with a four-course, $75 tasting menu. It can get nightclub-loud some nights, and servers have a tendency to check in like nervous new parents. A stack of high chairs in the dining room rolls out the welcome mat for young families, and the patio has grown in the past year or so from several outside tables to space for 80 diners. Takeout and delivery via Door Dash, Grubhub, Uber Eats and the restaurant (range is within three miles, minimum of $50, $10 fee). Long and clattery, the dining room is warmed up with vintage accents and young servers who look after you like good neighbors. Customers tend to acknowledge the assembly on the porch when they walk up the stairs, and Anita Baker and Marvin Gaye have a way of loosening up the audience much like the $4 beers and $6 cocktails on Monday, when happy hour stretches from 4 p.m. to last call. Did I mention the crab cake sandwich is all about the crab and the lemon cake is pure sunshine? Katherine excels at sweet endings. Takeout and delivery. From my flower- and linen-dressed table next to a koi pond in the tented garden, I marvel at the honey-lit interior rooms and the focused attention one dapper gent pays to his female companion. Sandwiches are iffy. The entrees sidekicks buttery, pull-apart biscuits, a slaw as bracing as a cold shower on a hot day prove the chickens equal. Ill be with you in a moment this restaurant might disappoint you. Not at Corduroy near the convention center. An outdoor fountain splashes in a back garden. Ive also yet to meet a pasta I havent loved here. Clams, fluke and squid gather in a sublime take on bouillabaisse whose broth, delicately spiced with ginger and lemongrass, is all goodness and light. Tom Sietsema's 7 favorite places to eat in January 2022 - Washington Post, January 2022 We're back to struggle': Confusion and adaptation inside Baltimore's restaurants under omicron surge - Baltimore Fishbowl, January 2022 Read our outstanding reviews online, here: Resy Trip Advisor Yelp For press inquiries please contact: tara@elevenelevenpr.co Takeout and delivery. But I was doing the same thing. The appeal extends to the liquids and the hospitality: The $10 cocktails are improvements on throwbacks, and a spot on your shirt (hello, tomato sauce!) Delivery via DoorDash and Caviar, Afghan flagship is full of heart and heartiness. Open for indoor and outdoor dining. Dont eat meat? For the full Anju experience, you have to try something from the childhood of co-owner Danny Lee, whose mother and business partner, Yesoon Lee, is behind the great comfort of braised chicken thighs, onions and potatoes in a cloak that looks like lava as it bubbles away on the table. The girls got their wish, and Bethesda gained something special, in May: a restaurant with the exuberance of his original Spanish tapas draw, but also a greater selection of comfort foods, including a section devoted to eggs, one of the famous chefs many passions. Seize the chance to taste a role model. "Trust me," says the countrys most famous innkeeper. Then the coronavirus started dominating headlines, and he was forced to rein in anything more ambitious than survival. Diners are instructed to mix the ingredients with a nearby sauce based on gochujang so that each bite delivers the taste equivalent of a little bugle blast. Airbnb could be forgiven for recruiting the all-day, modern American restaurant on Capitol Hill. If the service is a touch more hesitant these days, well, that applies to a lot of restaurants now. ADA-compliant restrooms. No takeout or delivery. The first few moments alone compensate you for having made the trek to Virginia hunt country and the patio of the family-run restaurant, where the background music is spun by a fountain, a handsome stone chimney rises nearby, and the surrounding trees and bushes hint at the possibility of lemon, figs, kumquats and more on the Italian menu. Meet the owners: Lydia Patierno is the welcoming mistress of ceremonies outside and in. Delivery via the restaurant ($3 charge within a two-mile radius). Pizza! With just four stools at the bar and no more than six seats on the sloped patio, this may be the hardest reservation in town right now. All of Zuluagas food is interesting, but two main courses stand out. He previously worked for the Microsoft Corp., where he launched sidewalk.com; the Seattle Post-Intelligencer; the San Francisco Chronicle; and the Milwaukee Journal. The tip of the iceberg finds chicken smoked over tea leaves, cigar-length pork potstickers, crisp cabbage ignited with Sichuan peppercorns, and nugget-size steamed spareribs, coated in soft rice crumbs seasoned with five-spice powder. Foie gras glides to the linen-draped table with an elegant gteau cornbread (layered with foie gras buttercream), a reminder of where youre enjoying it. It would be easy to fill up on pancakes alone; the scroll-like dosas, wrapped in both wax paper and foil and tucked into pizza boxes, are excellent. The bowl packs in seafood and country ham along with seemingly a bushel of vegetables, in a broth made rich with a quartet of stocks. Limiting the number of guests to 100 or so a night means a happier staff and more precision on the plate, he says. Grilled octopus shares its grandma plate with craggy zucchini fritters and hibiscus chimichurri, brined red snapper is circled with a chunky puttanesca that ought to be sold by the jar, and the crusty Royal burger available in three sizes and cooked the way you ask lives up to the billing thanks to a patty of local Roseda beef and a glossy bun from Lyon bakery. Eaten throughout Kenya, it showcases bites of chargrilled beef or goat that have been marinated in a spice blend whose list of ingredients is as long as the Nile. Ribbon-shaped mafalda pasta shows off leeks, thyme and a handful of wild mushrooms, while a mighty pork chop Milanese is accompanied by a little pitcher of mustard sauce to cut the richness. Red Hen adds a 20 percent gratuity to the bill then flags it with a highlighter for transparency. Robert Sietsema's 15 Best Dishes of 2020 Our senior critic champions barbecued pork, a carbohydrate-only sandwich, and delicate scallop crudo eaten in a backyard garden by Robert Sietsema. And one of my favorite tapas here remains the sherry-dressed salad of sliced fennel, green apple, crisp walnuts and manchego cheese the perfect foil to Jos Andrss beloved fried foods. Washington Post's Tom Sietsema Awards Del Mar 3 Stars. Seemingly a bushel of arugula shows up with a hailstorm of pistachios, goat cheese crumbles and juicy blackberries. Im logging on to Jaleos website for tips on how to make paella a la Andrs. (The wine list is a dream, if priced for tech czars.). The most Belgian of them all, though, is a waffle chocolate, served with white chocolate whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Its an amuse-bouche for us, says the chef. Check. Wheelchair users can enter through a side door; ADA-compliant restroom. Another liquid pleasure is an old-fashioned, gold with saffron liqueur, biting with ginger liqueur and softly nutty, thanks to the introduction of Scotch to cashew butter. Those and other dishes were served as part of a tasting menu, introduced during the pandemic, that launched with a trio of snacks, one of them catfish dip garnished with pickled red onions and scooped up with what tasted like a zestier version of Fritos. Make that whole branzino cooked over a wood grill or pasta draped with the chefs wonderful white Bolognese, what she calls a warm blanket of veal and beef cooked in chicken stock and milk and finished with sage and butter. Takeout, no delivery. His rib-eye, for instance, hails from Seven Hills in Virginia and enjoys a salt cure before its pan-roasted and served with two terrific toppings: a puree of herbs and a whip of hollandaise and brown butter. Share. Let the $55 tasting menu of classic and contemporary tapas a dozen or so small plates help out. P.S. Ziebold and his wife and co-owner, Clia Laurent, quietly reopened their luxe, four-star Mtier below Kinship last month yet another reason to venture forth. Youll want to swipe a bite of oh-so-soft lamb through a puree sparked with oregano, parsley, garlic, turmeric and red wine vinegar. Baba ganoush is hardly the most photogenic dish in the world, but chef-owner Michael Rafidi primps it so that the first course eggplant three ways: whipped, charred and pickled holds our gaze. No barriers to entry at the Rockville branch, which has an ADA-compliant restroom. [On Capitol Hill, two ambitious restaurants debut from one thoughtful owner]. His food has more twists than "Parasite," but it always makes sense and it never fails to please, which explains why I rushed to write about it early in the pandemic. Few chefs offer such comforting life lines. 2Fifty expanded into D.C. during the pandemic with a small stall inside Union Market. The green comet tail on the plate? Drinks show up quickly. Executive chef Kristen Essig comes to Washington from the Big Easy, where she co-owned one of its most beloved restaurants, Coquette. Indoor dining only. Ditto. Orders retrieved outside; no access to restaurant. (Maybe youve heard. Ditto Annies Paramount Steakhouse and the Hitching Post, which remain prized members of my collection of D.C.-area classics. Sea bass cooked low and slow with lavender and lime and delivered on steel-cut oats and hedgehog mushrooms is one of those combinations that make you go huh when you read about it and whoa! when you taste it. The supple tortillas derive from fresh masa (and a hand press), and the spicy margarita is true to its word. The weave of cumin, ginger, fenugreek, coriander and more is warm and wonderful. The game-changer prefers to surprise customers and maybe change your mind.. Proof of vaccination required for indoor dining. One of them, Angel Barreto, sees something profound positive even coming out of the mess. "This is the way the world is right now," he says. A year like no other calls for a different dining guide. The fetching chowda packs in fistfuls of clams whose shells collect smoked bacon, grilled sweet corn, diced potato, crisp scallions and hot cream. Meet Andrs-Julian Zuluaga, an alumnus of the school of Fabio Trabocchi. Takeout, no delivery. The prized seats are those at the counter, where patrons no longer sit knee to knee but still get to observe the chef up close. Takeout via Tock and phone. Dinner commences with a flurry of snacks a bite of pork rillettes paired with fig and black garlic, a furl of smoked salmon on a dab of yogurt and pickled herbs before moving on to dishes that ask diners to eat outside the box. India has changed, says Bajaj. Dining in Andalusia, Alabama: See 771 Tripadvisor traveller reviews of 46 Andalusia restaurants and search by cuisine, price, location, and more. Hate the name. Deshaies says he doesnt like to see blank spaces in his takeout containers. is followed by the offer of a Tide stick from a server. Waves of yellow draw eyes to the ceiling and, as at Jaleo, glass-topped foosball tables double as dining spots. Because readers asked, the following reviews offer information on vaccine mandates and accessibility. Which it is, despite some trimming of the drinks and wine lists and a format switch. Takeout via Toast. That said, my preference is a table in the second-floor dining room. The decade-old restaurant has fun with its wine list, a liquid romp around the world. Made by hand, the pastas have included such glories as capunti strewn with poached tuna, tomatoes, fennel and pistachios. singles are more interested in a potential someones vaccination status. Buckboard Restaurant. If the operation sounds strict, it still holds great appeal. My lifeline throughout the pandemic is owned by a native of Guyana who bought it from a Black couple who opened the place 53 years ago and still live above the shop. "They drove straight here," knowing they could crash before dinner, says the amazed and grateful chef. Even after more than four decades, the Inn at Little Washington manages to up its game. 2941 Fairview Park Dr., Falls Church. The richest dish of the lot is the slow-cooked lamb, shaped into a soft terrine and grouped with red cabbage, sweetened with agave syrup, and an uber-silky potato puree inspired by the late French chef Jol Robuchon. Theyre being trained by some of the best in the business, foremost chef-owner Patrick OConnell, who has something fun to talk about as he chats up patrons: a bakery-cafe across the street in what used to be the hamlets post office (look for a late October launch) and a dreamy glass conservatory. The sight of a tall hamburger being ferried through the long and narrow dining room has me rethinking my order, a thought dismissed as I tuck into tender hanger steak lapped with green peppercorn sauce. While Ive experienced his cooking only as takeout, the food inside the bags and boxes is arranged just so, as if waiting for a photo shoot. The tomato sauce a touch sweet, a little tangy comes from an old family recipe; the bacon is made in-house. What always appears to be a full house well, full as defined by safety protocols suggests diners are digging the lot hes delivering. An elegant slice of chess pie piped with chantilly cream and offered with a scoop of bourbon ice cream has me snapping away. A five-course dinner is still served just four days a week to no more than 20 people at a single, 7 oclock seating. No takeout or delivery. Seafood? Indoor seating only. But the white rice is enjoying plenty of attention from chowhounds, too. A host offers her a fresh shield from a basket inside, where shes led to her reserved table and handed how quaint a menu with a cloth-and-vinyl cover. Caramel-colored leather chairs and banquettes prove stylish and comfortable; clusters of elegant wooden lights could double as art installations. Throw in an order of bammies, too, made with ground cassava and fried to a pale gold. While it might seem ticklish to toast the restaurant scene, and some businesses are in flux as this issue goes to press, what better way to honor the community than by showcasing some of its best representatives? Upgrade to special, and the kitfo comes with collard greens and housemade cottage cheese. By the looks of my dinner this summer, hes onto something. Roses at Home, the chefs novel approach to delivery, drops two or three nights worth of three-course dinners at once, and theyre the kind of dishes that fit the company ethos. Pork al pastor with saffron-colored rice and terrific black beans is a fiesta in every bite; watermelon salad, garnished with dried kalamata olives, is a refreshing opener for rigatoni alfredo scattered with sweet peas. No wonder reservations are still hard to come by. Takeout and delivery. Reliability is a hallmark of the restaurants, where the shredded pork and mustard green soup is as delicious and restorative as I remember it back when Facebook was in its infancy, and the shaved dry bean curd, pungent with cilantro and crunchy with peanuts, remains a prized snack. A celebration of the bounty of the Mid-Atlantic look for quail with wild grapes the Dabney occasionally incorporates truffles or foie gras into the menu, and I couldnt live without olive oil, jokes the chef. Wheelchair users are asked to call in advance. Return the paella pan and you get $10 off your next meal. Delivery via Skip the Line. Alone, the stewlike wild boar, cooked with onions and tomatoes, hums with mustard powder, chili powder, lemon juice and sage. Chocolate chess pie is a slice of heaven made possible with a coffee- and orange-flavored cream and candied ginger. History reimagines ratatouille as a summery salad garnished with a savory sorbet. No matter what you think of the bridge between Latin America and the Mediterranean created by Enrique Limardo, you cant say he overpromised. Tacos are probably why youre drawn to a table on the sloping front patio, snug dining room hung with Mexican masks or covered back lot. Cubes of fish cooked with onions, garlic and rosemary demonstrate the chefs passion for Mediterranean flavors (in another life, she cooked in Israel). Takeout via website. Anyone who has been to the Patiernos restaurant might also know it as tranquil and tempting. Then again, I also always fit in the ropy caramelized beef jerky, ignited with ginger and best enjoyed with its stinging red sauce. An elegant riff on a gin & tonic arrives in a glass the size of a globe which didnt stop anyone from the last drop. A tangle of slippery lo mein noodles shows up slick with chile oil, crisp with fried shallots and colorful with red cabbage and chopped scallions. While the siblings have in common hospitality and great things in glasses, Revelers Hour is the more relaxed of the two, a model pasta and wine bar in a room thats dark as a movie theater but illuminated with candles and surrounded by wine. And if the drinks taste true, credit goes to Dauphines spirits maven and co-creator Neal Bodenheimer, whose Cure bar in New Orleans helped fuel the countrys craft cocktail revolution. (The crust is based on the one created by the owners father, who founded what became La Prima Food Group based in College Park.) Tacos are fashioned from herbed Indian flatbread and jackfruit lit with chile paste and lemon juice a vegan draw if you opt out of the sour cream base. Lunch Wednesday through Saturday, dinner Tuesday through Sunday, mercato open daily. The most striking dish of the night arranged grilled broccolini around a cool-with-mint salad of summer peas and pickled shallots. Some of the inns classics arent publicized. Owners Dante Datta and Suresh Sundas bring to their maiden restaurant off the H Street corridor mouthwatering rsums. The multiple rooms soothe visitors with aqua and fuchsia seating, cascades of greenery and servers whose smiles are backed up by polish. Takeout and delivery. Corduroy Outside dining during the pandemic often means traffic and pedestrians in the background. More allure comes by way of ivory dominoes of soft-crisp pork belly, fanned onto a plate shared with julienne radish kimchi, a pungent ssamjang (paste) made with walnuts, and spears of lightly pickled napa cabbage for wrapping the meat and condiments. The stew, dak jjim, is just a few ingredients, including Korean red chile flakes, but oh, what a sight and oh, what a mom! Now and then, the chef offers a taste of the food his mother made back in his native Sicily. Wheelchair users should call ahead so a ramp can be set up at the door and seating at the kitchen counter can be arranged; ADA-compliant restroom. Try it with the citys best collard greens and sweet-sticky plantains, and swoon away. The heart of Spanish Diner, for me, is a category of dishes toasting our grandmas cuisine, everyday food you might find in casual dining establishments or in the home of a conscientious Spanish cook. (Onion flowers help.). Calamari fritti capture the ideal: greaseless, crisp, garnished with fried parsley and sunny with lemon. No bottle on the standing list is more than $43. Breakfast and lunch daily, dinner Tuesday through Saturday. No takeout or delivery.