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!

Pumpkin Recipes from Gourmet

With Halloween rapidly approaching and the last week of Octoberfest already upon us, we’re dubbing this week “Pumpkin Week” and consuming as many pumpkin-flavored goods as possible.  And what could be better to inspire our baking and cooking at home than one of the final articles to be published by Gourmet Magazine?

We’re sad to be losing such a great publication, but thankful their recipes and current articles are still up on the website for us to enjoy a bit longer!

Recipes featured are:

Orange Pumpkin Cloverleafs
Caramel Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin Ginger Rice Pudding
Pumpkin Flan with Spiced Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin, Corn and Lemongrass Soup
Pumpkin Ginger Cheesecake Pie
Pecan Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin Cake with Sage Ice Cream and Pumpkin Cherry Compote
Pumpkin Seed Brittle
Spiced Pumpkin Souffles with Bourbon Molasses Sauce
Roast Pumpkin with Cheese Fondue
Pumpkin Stuffed with Vegetable Stew

And remember, its Gourmet – they aren’t meant to be easy!