[Two of America’s best restaurants] are in Washington, D.C., according to a new list from The New York Times.
To develop The Restaurant List, 14 New York Times reporters and editors took 76 flights to 33 states, where they ate more than 200 meals …
Dōgon at the Salamander Washington DC is led by Chef Kwame Onwuachi, who brings Afro-Caribbean cuisine. According to the restaurant, the concept draws inspiration from D.C. surveyor Benjamin Banneker and the chef’s heritage with the West African Dogon tribe.
La’ Shukran comes from Chef Michael Rafidi, the 2024 James Beard Award winner for Outstanding Chef. The New York Times describes the restaurant as a speakeasy with cocktails, a wine bar and mezze bistro bringing flavors from the Levantine region of the Middle East.
The federal Height Act that limits most buildings in the District to a maximum of 130 feet will not stop the Washington Commanders from topping their new stadium with a dome that reaches well above the theoretical ceiling.
… domes don’t count toward building height, per the 115-year-old federal law. “Spires, towers, domes, minarets, pinnacles, penthouses, ventilation shafts, chimneys, smokestacks, and fire sprinkler tanks may be erected to a greater height than any limit prescribed,” according to the statute.
The D.C. Council, back from its summer recess, is scheduled to take a final vote Sept. 17 on a $1 billion public investment in the $3.8 billion stadium project. The team, meanwhile, is closing in on an architect, and that designer will need to be clear on any regulatory restrictions if it wants to get to work immediately. The Commanders hope to open the stadium by 2030.
Acqua Bistecca, Mina’s latest project and second DC restaurant … blends elements from several of these earlier efforts. It opens on Wednesday, September 10 in the City Ridge development near Tenleytown.
DC has thus far been kind to Mina. He currently runs dozens of restaurants from Saudi Arabia and Dubai to Florida, California, Las Vegas, and Hawaii, but the Bourbon Steak in Georgetown has been one of his most enduring hits. Mina says it’s stayed busy even as other restaurants have taken a hit from Trump’s federal takeover of the city.
“I know what’s going on in the world and I know people say that DC’s a tough market, and I get it,” he says. “But the reality is, our clientele has been extremely loyal to us here. They’ve kept us moving forward constantly even with the ups and downs.”
Seattle cybersecurity firm F5 Inc. has inked a deal to buy CalypsoAI, an artificial intelligence startup with D.C. roots and backing from local defense technology investors Paladin Capital Group and Lockheed Martin Ventures.
The publicly traded F5 (NASDAQ: FFIV) announced Thursday that it is acquiring the 7-year-old CalypsoAI for $180 million in cash.
The deal represents a major exit for D.C. cybersecurity investment firm Paladin Capital Group — CalypsoAI’s largest backer — and Lockheed Martin Ventures, the venture capital arm of Bethesda’s Lockheed Martin Corp.