Tortillas warm on the griddle at Taqueria La Placita, which sells as many as 2,000 tacos on a busy day. Review on Page 43.


Clarendon: A fifth Joint is expected to open at 3024 Wilson Blvd. by year’s end. The Dupont Circle branch, with blond-wood booths, purple walls and Christmas-light chandeliers, is closest to the White House. Got that, Mr. President? // 1514 Connecticut Ave. NW; 202-299-1071; www.bgrtheburgerjoint. com. Open: lunch daily, dinner daily. All major credit cards. Other locations: 4827 Fairmont Ave., Bethesda; 301- 358-6137. 106 North Washington St., Alexandria; 703-299-9791. 3129 Lee Hwy., Arlington; 703-812-4705. Entree prices: $8 to $14. Sound check: 72 decibels.


★★ BGR: THE BURGER JOINT Ray’s Hell-Burger in Arlington has its charms, but if President Obama ever decides to alter his burger run, he ought to consider another home-grown mini- chain, this one from entrepreneur Mark Bucher. “No shortcuts, no pre-cooking, no heat lamps,” the menu pledges. The food delivers on that promise; even a basic burger starts with prime, aged, hormone-free, corn-fed beef from the Midwest and rests on a toasted sesame-


seeded brioche bun. Juicier still: The patty is cooked the way you ask, and you don’t have to settle for beef. Also available are ahi tuna, turkey, lobster, cumin-and-mint-laced lamb (love the crusty Greek burger), even black beans, brown rice and molasses (the vegetarian version). The fries, made with Yukon Gold potatoes, are double- fried and tasty, and the shakes are so thick, they’re easier to eat with a spoon than a straw. Good news for denizens of


★★★ BIRCH & BARLEY A confession: I’m not crazy about beer. That’s one reason I’m so passionate about Birch & Barley in general and Greg Engert in particular: They make it impossible for you to stay cool to their 500-plus-bottle expertise. When the sudsmeister comes to the table and gives his spiel about, say, Scottish ale aged in whisky barrels, his enthusiasm rubs off. Husband-and-wife chefs Kyle Bailey and Tiffany MacIsaac (he focuses on savories; she concentrates on sweets) follow suit by finessing what it means to be a tavern. It would be easy for a diner to fill up on the bread board and its amazing pretzel rolls, but pace yourself. You’ll want to save space for Bailey’s risotto teased with chorizo, lemony house-made tagliatelle with mussels, succulent duck with nutty wild rice or his signature brat burger. The food might sound simple, but it’s all quite refined; the only flaw I found in my last meal was a heavy hand with salt here and there. Note to MacIsaac: Thanks for fitting pie into the plan (blackberry with sour-cream ice cream recently). The pastry maven’s lemon meringue tart with a scoop of kiwi sorbet and a base of tapioca is an intriguing blend of textures; a sampler of her confections, including a cashew-rich “Snickers” and moist “Hostess cupcake,” channels the kid in a lot of us. Birch & Barley’s wheat- colored environs are as clever as the cooking. From the vantage of a plus- size booth, an “organ” of copper pipes used for draft orders resembles a forest. Topped off with an upstairs bar named


OctOber 17, 2010 | The WashingTon PosT Magazine 21


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