As you may remember from this post, my boyfriend and I went to DC about a month ago. Here’s another recap of what we ate.

You may recall the name Mike Isabella from Top Chef-testant stardom, but currently, he’s heading his own place in the Chinatown neighborhood of DC – the Italian-inspired Graffiato. The restaurant is big, with a bar and some tables downstairs, and a large seating area on the second floor. I made a reservation for Friday night and there wasn’t an empty seat in the house. I was excited to learn if Graffiato was worth all the hype and my mouth started to water as soon as we sat down. We unanimously agreed on what to order. The first dish was tagliatelle with pork ragu, a special that evening: delicate house-made pasta and shredded braised pork enveloped in a silky tomato-based sauce and topped with a generous heap of parmesan cheese. The pasta was perfection.

The second dish was the Jersey Shore pizza and unfortunately, it wasn’t as impressive. This pizza was topped with fried calamari, provolone and a spicy cherry aioli sauce. The cheese gave the pizza an unpleasant aroma and the aioli was a bit too spicy for our palates. The good news is that the crust was great, which means that the other pizzas on the menu have a chance at fabulousness.

Here is a panorama view of the upstairs section – click to enlarge.

The following day we found ourselves in the Dupont Circle neighborhood around dinnertime and decided on this casual place ($4 Happy Hour specials!) called Thai Chef. I started with one of my favorite drinks, a lychee martini.

Then I had my favorite fried noodle dish, Phad See Ew – flat rice noodles and broccoli in a sweet soy sauce and black bean paste. Besides the chewiness of the noodles and the subtle sweetness of the sauce, my favorite thing about this dish is that it’s almost the same no matter where you go, and this restaurant was no different.

On the morning of our departure, we needed a hearty breakfast to fuel us up for the five-hour trip home, and we found it right near our hotel. This place is called Tonic and it’s located on the George Washington University campus. Tonic is comfortable and diner-like and I imagine it’s the perfect place to nurse a post frat party hangover and discuss who made out with whom last night.

…I love me a good fatass breakfast.