By Tom'stake
Friday, January 18, 2008

PIKE PIZZA (**)

4111 Columbia Pike, Arlington; 703-521-3010. Saltenas $2.15 each.

Ignore the sign out front. Pike Pizza hasn't baked a pie in years. The sunny Bolivian storefront's real draw is a much dearer commodity: braided turnovers filled with a soupy mix of either chicken or beef, plus potatoes, peas and egg. The best way to eat a saltena is to cut a small circle of pastry from its top, which prevents the liquid center from gushing out, and add a dab of the wicked green relish to the fist-size snack. Yeow! The cool thing is, you can add a beer to the equation and get change back from a 10-spot. (Reviewed Dec. 16, 2007)

ROCK CREEK AT MAZZA (**)

5300 Wisconsin Ave. NW; 202-966-7625. Entrees $18-$29.

A spinoff of a good-for-you restaurant in Bethesda, this one shares the same goal: To serve a fresh and flavorful three-course meal for fewer than 1,000 calories. Proving that he doesn't need butter or cream to impress anyone, chef Ethan McKee relies instead on broths for flavor and arrowroot for thickening. Among the success stories are steak tartare, roasted chicken, whole-wheat pappardelle and a dessert sampler of sweet miniatures. Yes, you're eating on the top floor of a shopping mall. But soaring picture windows and a mammoth faux English oak in the center of the room let you pretend you're eating alfresco. (Reviewed Nov. 11, 2007)

To read the complete reviews of Pike Pizza and Rock Creek at Mazza from The Post Magazine, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/weekend.

Coming Sunday: Don't miss Candy Sagon's review of Hooked in The Post Magazine.