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10 fab tastes

Even at the city’s best restaurants, some dishes stand out. Here are 10 favorites Tom Sietsema found while preparing his 2012 Fall Dining Guide.

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The Southern charm at Vidalia starts with a warm welcome of super-moist corn bread, onion-laced focaccia and a potato roll based on a family recipe from co-owner Sallie Buben.

Joseph Victor Stefanchik for The Washington Post /

Meatless and marvelous: red lentil patties ($9) nestled in lettuce leaves, one of the many Middle Eastern mezze competing for your attention at <a data-xslt='_http' href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/restaurants/zaytinya,1079106.html'>
<strong>Zaytinya</strong>
</a>.

Meatless and marvelous: red lentil patties ($9) nestled in lettuce leaves, one of the many Middle Eastern mezze competing for your attention at Zaytinya .

Joseph Victor Stefanchik for The Washington Post

The Colonel has nothing on the golden fried chicken ($13.99) at <strong>
<a data-xslt='_http' href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/restaurants/family-meal,1233453.html'>Family Meal</a>
</strong>. The feast is joined by flaky buttermilk biscuits, pickled okra and green beans, plus a shot of stinging hot sauce. The secret to the bird’s success: a bath in pickle brine.

The Colonel has nothing on the golden fried chicken ($13.99) at Family Meal . The feast is joined by flaky buttermilk biscuits, pickled okra and green beans, plus a shot of stinging hot sauce. The secret to the bird’s success: a bath in pickle brine.

Joseph Victor Stefanchik for The Washington Post

The Bacon and Onion Tart ($12) at <strong>
<a data-xslt='_http' href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/restaurants/central-michel-richard,1134036.html'>Central Michel Richard</a>
</strong> is based on a classic Alsatian recipe. Strewn with crisp lardons and sweet onions, the French-style pizza is finished with white stripes of creme fraiche. Open wide — and ooh la la.

The Bacon and Onion Tart ($12) at Central Michel Richard is based on a classic Alsatian recipe. Strewn with crisp lardons and sweet onions, the French-style pizza is finished with white stripes of creme fraiche. Open wide — and ooh la la.

Joseph Victor Stefanchik for The Washington Post

Local chicken and a whole lot of goodies — grapes, raisins, walnuts, apples, celery, onion, mayonnaise — pack the curry-brightened chicken salad sandwich ($7.25) at <strong>
<a data-xslt='_http' href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/restaurants/the-red-truck-bakery-and-market,1157848.html'>Red Truck Bakery & Market</a>
</strong>.

Local chicken and a whole lot of goodies — grapes, raisins, walnuts, apples, celery, onion, mayonnaise — pack the curry-brightened chicken salad sandwich ($7.25) at Red Truck Bakery & Market .

Joseph Victor Stefanchik for The Washington Post

Chef Nilesh Singhvi marinates sea scallops with house-made mustard paste ($12) before cooking them in the tandoor at the <a data-xslt='_http' href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/restaurants/bombay-club,796038.html'>
<strong>Bombay Club</strong>
</a>, where the starter sits on a puddle of tomato-cilantro chutney.

Chef Nilesh Singhvi marinates sea scallops with house-made mustard paste ($12) before cooking them in the tandoor at the Bombay Club , where the starter sits on a puddle of tomato-cilantro chutney.

Joseph Victor Stefanchik for The Washington Post

Part of the $45 fixed-price, family-style tour of northeastern Thailand at <strong>
<a data-xslt='_http' href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/restaurants/little-serow,1218930.html'>Little Serow</a>
</strong>, nuggets of fried rice, peanuts and fresh mint, or khao tod, will blow your mind.

Part of the $45 fixed-price, family-style tour of northeastern Thailand at Little Serow , nuggets of fried rice, peanuts and fresh mint, or khao tod, will blow your mind.

Joseph Victor Stefanchik for The Washington Post

Originally offered as a special, poached squid with basil sauce ($12) became so popular at the new <a data-xslt='_http' href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/restaurants/izakaya-seki,1236663.html'>
<strong>Izakaya Seki</strong>
</a>, the Japanese small plate now makes regular appearances. Here’s hoping it never goes away.

Originally offered as a special, poached squid with basil sauce ($12) became so popular at the new Izakaya Seki , the Japanese small plate now makes regular appearances. Here’s hoping it never goes away.

Joseph Victor Stefanchik for The Washington Post

A paste of house-made kimchi adds spirit to a bowl of steaming kimchi ramen ($10), swirled with three different stocks, at the white-hot <a data-xslt='_http' href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/restaurants/toki-underground,1207269.html'>
<strong>Toki Underground</strong>
</a>.

A paste of house-made kimchi adds spirit to a bowl of steaming kimchi ramen ($10), swirled with three different stocks, at the white-hot Toki Underground .

Joseph Victor Stefanchik for The Washington Post

Drink up! Among the liquid marvels created by cheftender Bryan Tetorakis at <a data-xslt='_http' href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/restaurants/rogue-24,1211092.html'>
<strong>Rogue 24</strong>
</a> is Resurrection ($12). The cocktail highlights gin, lemon juice, absinthe, house-made cucumber soda and lemon “air.”

Drink up! Among the liquid marvels created by cheftender Bryan Tetorakis at Rogue 24 is Resurrection ($12). The cocktail highlights gin, lemon juice, absinthe, house-made cucumber soda and lemon “air.”

Joseph Victor Stefanchik for The Washington Post

FEATURED PHOTO GALLERIES

epa03708924 Franziska (C) wears a helmet and carries a shield during the recreation of The Battle of the Teutoburg Museum in Bramsche, Germany, 20 May 2013. The everyday life of Romans and the Germanic people is depicted at Museum Park Kalkriese during the Romans and Germanic people days. EPA/Friso Gentsch

Photos of the day

Battle of Teutoburg Forest reenactment, Mars Curiosity rover drilling, massive tornado strikes Moore, Oklahoma and more.

A Burrowing owl tries to perch on a protective rope in a public park in Cooper City, Fla. Monday, May 20, 2013 as rain falls. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

Fun and fascinating creatures around the world.

ANNAPOLIS, MD - MAY 20: The Herndon Monument Climb is the traditional culmination of plebe year at the United States Naval Academy. The plebes climb to the top of the lard-covered 21 foot high monument and remove the 'dixie cup' hat at the top replacing it with an upperclassman's hat. After completing this, the freshmen are called 'fourth class midshipmen.' This class completed the task in 1 hour 32 minutes and 43 seconds. The hat was placed by Patrick Lien from Orlando. (Photo by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

The Herndon Climb

The Herndon Monument climb is the traditional culmination of plebe year at the U.S. Naval Academy.

This combination of Associated Press photos shows left, a neighborhood in Moore, Okla., in ruins on Tuesday, May 4, 1999, after a tornado flattened many houses and buildings in central Oklahoma, and right, flattened houses in Moore on Monday, May 20, 2013. Monday's powerful tornado in suburban Oklahoma City loosely followed the path of a killer twister that slammed the region in May 1999. (AP Photo)

Okla. tornado loosely followed path of 1999 twister

Monday’s powerful tornado in suburban Oklahoma City loosely followed the path of a killer twister that slammed the area in May 1999.

Lea Bessinger salvages a picture of Jesus as she and her son Josh Bessinger sort through the rubble of the elder Bessinger's tornado-ravaged home Tuesday, May 21, 2013, in Moore, Okla. A huge tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburb Monday, flattening an entire neighborhoods and destroying an elementary school with a direct blow as children and teachers huddled against winds. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Tornado near Oklahoma City causes more damage

Rescue workers are searching for survivors after a twister carved a long path of destruction in a suburb of Oklahoma City. It was part of the...

FILE - In this undated publicity file photo, members of the Doors, from left, John Densmore, Robbie Krieger, Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison, pose for a portrait. Manzarek, the keyboardist who was a founding member of The Doors, has died at 74. Publicist Heidi Robinson-Fitzgerald says in a news release that Manzarek died Monday, May 20, 2013, at the RoMed Clinic in Rosenheim, Germany, surrounded by his family. (AP Photo, File)

Ray Manzarek, founding member of the Doors, dies at 74

Manzarek co-founded the Doors after meeting then-poet Jim Morrison in California. The band went on to become one of the most successful rock-and-roll...

US actress Rosario Dawson smiles on May 20, 2013 as she arrives for the screening of the film 'Wara No Tate' (Shield of Straw) presented in Competition at the 66th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes. Cannes, one of the world's top film festivals, opened on May 15 and will climax on May 26 with awards selected by a jury headed this year by Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg. AFP PHOTO / ALBERTO PIZZOLIALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images

Eye on entertainment

Rosario Dawson, Alec Baldwin, Michael Douglas, Matt Damon, Bow Wow, Amy Poehler and more.

A man walks on sulphur and mineral salt formations near Dallol in the Danakil Depression, northern Ethiopia April 22, 2013. The Danakil Depression in Ethiopia is one of the hottest and harshest environments on earth, with an average annual temperature of 94 degrees Fahrenheit (34.4 Celsius). For centuries, merchants have travelled there with caravans of camels to collect salt from the surface of the vast desert basin. The mineral is extracted and shaped into slabs, then loaded onto the animals before being transported back across the desert so that it can be sold around the country. Picture taken April 22, 2013. REUTERS/Siegfried Modola (ETHIOPIA - Tags: BUSINESS SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 2 OF 30 FOR PACKAGE 'ETHIOPIA'S ANCIENT SALT TRAIL'
SEARCH 'DANAKIL DEPRESSION' FOR ALL

Ethiopia’s salt trail

For centuries, merchants have traveled to Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression with caravans of camels to collect salt from the surface of the vast desert basin. The mineral is extracted...

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