Cashion's Eat Place

Description:

• The name remains, even though original chef/owner Ann Cashion is no longer in residence, having sold her restaurant to her longtime sous chef, John Manalatos. Cashion has turned her full attention to Johnny's Half Shell, which she owns with Johnny Fulchino. Fans of this award-winning restaurant are glad to find that so far it hasn't changed. Cashion's Eat Place is still very much a neighborhood restaurant -- easy, warm, comfortable -- that also just happens to serve out-of-this-world cuisine. Manalatos is putting his own stamp upon the cooking and changing the menu daily. A recent menu listed eight appetizers, including a Pennsylvania-raised goose egg, with arugula, Parmesan, truffled peaches, and bread crumbs, as well as seven entrees, including an Ecofriendly Foods pork leg with parsnip purée and sautéed local asparagus. An "after dark" menu is served Friday and Saturday nights from midnight to 2am at the bar; items include pork carnitas and wild mushroom risotto, ranging in price from $4 to $14 each. Sunday brunch is popular, too; you can choose from breakfast fare (challah French toast, spinach-and-Gruyère omelets) or heartier items (grilled rainbow trout, croque-monsieurs).

  The charming dining room curves around the slightly raised bar. In warm weather, the glass-fronted Cashion's opens invitingly to the sidewalk and its tables. Tables at the back offer a view of the small kitchen. In winter, ask for a table away from the front door, which lets in a blast of cold air with each new arrival.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

The Washingtonian

•  Top 100 Restaurant 2008
•  Top 100 Restaurant 2009

Frommer's

•  Highly Recommended 2009