Masako Morishita’s guide to Washington DC comfort food

“When I go there, I’m like, ‘I’m going to church,’ because I just worship them so much. The seasoning on their dishes is very light, [just] salt, olive oil, to me it’s just really comforting. They do this steak night probably once or twice a week. [Using] dairy cow, they make a special steak and that’s always phenomenal and they only do it rare.”

“When I don’t work in the restaurant, I usually work from home doing emails and stuff; sometimes I don’t have time to cook, so I always get delivery, and their sandwiches are just always so, so good. My absolute favorite sandwich in DC is by them, it’s called crunchy boi— they put potato chips in a sandwich.”

“I love their seafood platter called orca, and they have a killer happy hour every day from 3 to 5pm and after 11pm, [when] their platters, oysters and the seafood are discounted. I go home happy.”

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“When I eat their food, I’m happy. When I first moved to DC, I lived close to Sushi Taro and the chefs there, chef Nobu [Yamakazi] and chef Masa [Kitayama], they were kind of like my big brothers because they always looked out for me, encouraged and supported me. One of the things I really like is the beef dish, hobayaki. They bring out a personal-sized grill to the table and there’s a houba leaf with sweet miso.”

“Chef Henji [Cheung] does Hong Kong classics plus different elements. He has this housemade, silken tofu, it’s really like silk, the texture of it, it’s perfect. The sauce is so light and well balanced. Also, they have a cool wine list recognized by Michelin.” [Michelin named co-owner Sarah Thompson its 2023 DC Sommelier of the Year].

“They do these upscale, casual Italian dishes and it just tastes so good—I love carbs. And they do it perfectly. One of my favorite dishes is ricotta cheese toast. It’s a perfect balance of savory, sweet, creaminess, all in one toast.”

“This is owned by a Japanese woman Yuri [Oberbillig], she happens to be from the same city as I’m from, Kobe [in Japan]. She makes these French-inspired Japanese pastries, [the] croissant is amazing—the flakes inside are always on point.”

“Chef Seng [Luangrath] is the owner of this restaurant. This is like her version of Laotian comfort food, it’s just heartwarming. Every time I go there, I feel warmth from her dishes. There’s a laab salad with a little minced meat—I like fried pig’s ear. It’s very bright and light, and it’s like their street food.”