Washington, DC's Next Big Trend Is Small

Small is big in Washington, D.C. At least the small plate trend is big, and the little tastes on offer at a few area restaurants are as fresh and inventive as can be.

Iron Gate, for example, an old D.C. establishment reopened and set in a pretty garden, begs diners to share everything. Chef Anthony Chittum reflects his Greek roots in arancini spanakopita, made of baby spinach with dill and feta; patzarosalata, with heirloom beets, black walnut, dill and house yogurt; and cumin-spiked tahini dip with sumac, spring vegetables, and fennel seed cracker, among other selections, which could be accompanied with one of his imaginative cocktails such as Criteria for Wisteria with wisteria (which drips from the garden roof beams of the restaurant), Champagne, grapefruit, and Cocchi Americano.

Black Jack, a casual American restaurant and bar on 14th Street, offers even more whimsical cocktails — such as the Mexican Pancake with jalapeño, tequila, Aperol, lime, sugar, and Angostura — alongside its pizzas, crab cakes, and Southern-style seafood dishes such as gumbo and spicy shrimp, all of which can be shared. Its Daisy Chain drink, a combination of vodka, elderflower, lime, lemon, sugar, and sparkling wine, tastes like a margarita with personality. Behind a secret door at the back of the restaurant is a pinball game-style speakeasy called Tilt, with a members-only feel and more inventive drinks.

You would not expect to find any kind of dim sum at a restaurant called Hazel, but this V Street NW restaurant does not disappoint. Bring five or six friends with you for a Dim-Sunday shared meal and order "the whole shebang!" — on which you'll find healthy, green salad-like dishes and one nostalgic zucchini bread from grandma's recipe book, but not one shrimp dumpling or chicken finger. A clever contemporary take on the old Chinese lazy Susan brunch includes such delights as an asparagus salad, shaved red onion, fragrant herbs, nuoc cham and peanuts; the smashed cucumber salad is paired with fried garlic and chile oil. Delicious rice cakes that look like carrot sticks are seasoned with gochujang glaze, sesame seeds, and scallions. All choices are lighter and healthier than Chinatown dim sum, and much more fun to share than to eat alone. (We know someone who has lost all taste on his tongue, which is sad — except at Hazel's he was thrilled with the varieties of textures he encountered here.)

Share the Maryland crab dip or street tacos at the Embassy Row Hotel's Station Kitchen + Cocktails, where the beer is local and the Mexican street corn salad comes with wild rice, cheese, and quinoa. Station's seafood truffle pasta is covered in tiger shrimp, black mussels, diver scallops, and artichokes. It's much more fun to share these little offerings than to order a big dinner for yourself.