Great restaurants worth the expense

Gourmet's Top Restaurants

While perusing Gourmet a bit further, we stumbled upon a second great find from this month’s issue.  Mindful of tightening household budgets, the magazine recently embarked upon a study of restaurants nationwide, resulting in a short list of ten restaurants for each region that are worth spending a good chunk of your income.

Although we consider Washington, D.C. to fall into a No Man’s Land somewhere north of the Mason-Dixon but south of the Mid-Atlantic, Gourmet generously groups the city with Virginia, North Carolina and the rest of the South.  The selections are not surprising, however.  The two popular District eateries selected to top the list are Komi (on 17th Street) and Central Michel Richard (on Penn Ave).

While Central has been aided in its rise to popularity by the success of its predecessor, Citronelle, Komi has reached its popularity more slowly, as its young chef (Johnny Monis) steadily builds accolades and a solid reputation in town.  Since its creation in 2003, Komi has proven its ability to maintain consistent quality and innovation and – judging by the recent reviews – the restaurant may just now be hitting its stride.  In 2007, Monis was named Food & Wine’s Best New Chef, and in 2008, a James Beard Award winner.  Earlier this year, the Washingtonian ranked Komi the best restaurant in town.

Restaurants from Miami and New Orleans fill out much of the remainder, but we did spot one additional highlight.  Poole’s Diner – a relatively new addition from our home state of North Carolina – is featured as well.  Not bad, Raleigh!