It’s not Decem­ber any­more. Heck, we’re already a week deep into 2013, but some­how I’ve still got my mind stuck in 2012. For the New Year (which I’m reluc­tantly shlep­ping into) I’ve got lots of inten­tions — to write, to net­work, to share, to open myself to new oppor­tu­ni­ties and new expe­ri­ences. So to mark my fourth full month of liv­ing in the Dis­trict and to fol­low these inten­tions with some action, I’ve com­piled a sec­ond list of places to check out around DC.

DC’s din­ing scene cer­tainly has a few holes to be filled, and to more adven­tur­ous and sea­soned big-city (read: snobby) din­ers, the ‘scene’ here may be a bit dis­ap­point­ing at first. But as I learn more and more about the folks in the indus­try here and the new ideas that are com­ing for­ward, I’m will­ing to vouch for a good, solid future in DC dining.

The six places I’ve listed below are def­i­nitely some favorites I’ve fre­quented in the past months, and will con­tinue to fre­quent this com­ing year. In an effort to curb my ten­dency for extreme wordi­ness, I’ve kept rec­om­men­da­tions more con­cise. Hit me up if you want to know exactly what I thought about each, you know I’m happy to spill my guts.

Blind Dog Café

Go here, buzz up on some cof­fee and some stel­lar baked goods, and pound out some work on your laptop

If I’m not at Kafe Bohem like I men­tioned in Octo­ber, you can find me at Blind Dog. The food is bet­ter and the cof­fee a bit stronger (although, no free refills, boo), although the lack of good seat­ing and tables wreak havoc on my back. What keeps me return­ing, in addi­tion to fast free wifi and quiet work time, is the BEST crois­sant I’ve had yet in DC. Plus they have amaz­ing choco­late chip cook­ies — this com­ing from a girl who isn’t a big fan of choco­late chip cook­ies. Of course, i try not to get both the crois­sant and the cookie on the same day.

http://​blind​dog​cafe​.com/

@blind­dog­cafe

944 Florida Avenue North­west, Wash­ing­ton DC 20001

(202) 290‑2865

Monday-Friday 7:30am-4:00pm, Sat­ur­day & Sun­day 8:00am-4:00pm

Graf­fi­ato

Go here with friends for a great Fri­day night din­ner. and also if you are obsessed with Top Chef and still watch every episode of every season

“Is he the guy who make the pep­per­oni sauce?” This ques­tion was asked by Diplo­Man, who impressed me with his sneaky Top Chef dish-recognition skills. Why yes, that would be Mike Isabella, of Top Chef sea­son 7 fame. We arrived for a 10pm reser­va­tion and were instructed to wait at the bar a bit longer — which turned into half an hour (and a weird stare-down from the host­ess). But that’s fine, my friends and I were per­fectly sati­ated with a round of drinks and a com­pli­men­tary char­cu­terie board as soon as we arrived to our table. Frankly, the wait was very soon for­got­ten with an amaz­ing round of small plates and a pretty damn tasty pizza (blis­ter­ing hot out of the pizza oven).

http://​graf​fi​a​todc​.com/

@Graf­fi­ato

6^th Street North­west, Wash­ing­ton DC 20001

202–289-3600

Hogo

Go here to get crunk with a group of folks. Spi­der bowls and ramen bowls all around!!

It’s a dark bar, with one wall crammed floor to ceil­ing with rum and rum-friendly mix­ers. That’s good. But it gets bet­ter. Hogo has also got food — the kind of really good, really cre­ative, un-advertised menu that one might find in dark LES cor­ners and far-flung Brook­lyn out­posts. The bar is located in a seedy strip between Chi­na­town and the Con­ven­tion Cen­ter (no man’s land!!) and doesn’t even have a proper mar­quee, but frankly it all adds to the allure of the bar. Décor is also pretty min­i­mal, aside from the huge pieces of graf­fiti art­work done by a local artist — rumor is the work was com­mis­sioned to com­pen­sate for a bar tab from neigh­bor­ing sis­ter bar, the Passenger.

The kitchen is open as long as the bar is, mak­ing it the pre­mier late-night din­ing option in DC, if you ask me (also, I think the only place in DC right now where you can get Spam Musubi). The menu will change con­stantly along­side the ros­ter of rotat­ing chefs Hogo has planned.

http://​www​.face​book​.com/​h​o​g​odc

@HogoDC

1017 7^th Sreet North­west, Wash­ing­ton DC 20001

Tuesday-Thursday 5:00pm-1:30am, Sat­ur­day & Sun­day 5:00pm-2:30am

Pearl Dive Oys­ter Palace

Go here on a nice date, because you’ll love each other so much more after 6 courses of oysters.

The Diplo­Man doesn’t even like seafood all that much, and we both ate our faces off at this fine estab­lish­ment. There’s usu­ally an absurd wait for the restau­rant, but that fact is assuaged by the fact that you can walk upstairs and enjoy a cou­ple drinks at an equally rowdy and busy bar, Black­Jack (com­plete with a bocce ball room in the back). One of my favorite meals so far in DC.

http://​www​.pearl​divedc​.com/

@Pearl­DiveDC

1612 14^th Street North­west Wash­ing­ton, DC 20009

(202) 319‑1612

Friday-Sunday 11:00am-3:00pm (BRUNCH), Mon­day– Sun­day 5:00pm– 10:00pm

Thai X’ing

Go here if you want an authen­tic taste of South­east Asian cook­ing, a rar­ity in any city in the states. Plus, it’s cheap!

For home­style, straight­for­ward Thai cook­ing, Thai X’ing lives up to the hype. The under­ground restau­rant, once oper­at­ing from a tiny, basement-level apart­ment, has now spread to all three floors of the LeDroit neigh­bor­hood row house. There’s a team com­prised of force­ful Thai ladies, adept Mex­i­can servers, and one funny bum­bling, fum­bling 50-year old Aus­tralian host. The menu is pre-set each day, and is coursed out in appe­tiz­ers, mains, and desserts. Food is plenty and tasty, and beers — assum­ing you’ve brought your own — can be as flow­ing as you’d like. Din­ners on Fri­day and Sat­ur­day are $40 per person.

Also, news­flash.

http://​www​.thaix​-ing​.com/

515 Florida Ave, NW, Wash­ing­ton DC 20001

Tuesday-Sunday 5:30pm-10:00pm

Union Mar­ket (no-brainer)

Go here with your par­ents, your in-laws, your friends, your tod­dlers, or your co-workers. It’s good for any­one because it’s got options for everyone!!

Soooo I work here, which means I hap­pen to eat here a lot too. But, this men­tion has noth­ing to do with a bit of nepo­tism, and every­thing to do with the fact that this place is awe­some, fill­ing a much-needed whole in DC’s din­ing and mar­ket scene. A few stand­outs, aside from Right­eous Cheese of course, hap­pen to be Bor­der Springs Lamb, Neopol Smok­ery, and Trick­ling Springs Cream­ery. But there’s also a kick-ass home acces­sories bou­tique, a spice shop, Rap­pa­hanock Oys­ter bar, and a knife-sharpening joint — where I still have not yet mus­tered up the courage to over­come the embar­rass­ment of bring­ing in $20 JR Henkel knives I bought at Tar­get to get sharpened.

And yes, that’s bacon in my bagel sandwich.

http://​www​.union​mar​ketdc​.com

@union­mar­ketdc, #UMnow

1309 5^th Street North­east, Wash­ing­ton DC 20002

Image Cred­its: Graf­fi­ato pizza/Eater DC, Pearl Dive restaurant/Wash­ing­ton­ian Mag­a­zine, Thai X’ing dish/Thai X’ing web page, Union Market/flickr

Upcom­ing to-do list: Maple, WTF, Two Amy’s, Bar Pilar, Komi, El Chu­cho. Let’s see if I get around to any of those.