Home Plate

by David Hagedorn

Pigs Do Fly!

Admittedly, part of the appeal of ordering this king of finger foods ($8 per pound) at Sloppy Mama’s Barbeque is being able to say, “I’ll have the pig wings, please.” To make them, pitmaster Joe Neumann trims, smokes and deep-fries the tip ends from spareribs and tosses them in your sauce of choice, be it Alabama white, Nashville hot, Carolina Gold or Kansas City barbecue. Then it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get messy. sloppymamas.com

Biscuits Plus

As an Alabamian, I’m picky about biscuits, and I can say that chef Greg Lloyd’s flaky recipe at Poppyseed Rye passes muster—whether you eat one plain ($3), smothered with sausage gravy ($12), or as a breakfast sandwich stuffed with pork belly, a fried egg and cheddar cheese ($10). It comes as no surprise that one pound of butter goes into every eight of his buttermilk biscuits.

Lloyd was formerly executive chef at Le Diplomate in D.C. from 2016 until the summer of 2022. He signed on as chef and operating partner of the Ballston sandwich and flower shop in August, where his all-day breakfast program also includes a brioche breakfast sandwich; an egg white, spinach and goat cheese panini; and quiche of the day. The biggest seller is a breakfast burrito with scrambled eggs, black beans, pepper jack cheese and salsa verde.

Chef Greg Lloyd

Standouts from the lunch menu include the roast pork, broccoli raab and aged provolone sandwich; the Rachel (smoked turkey, coleslaw, Thousand Island dressing and Swiss cheese on rye); and mozzarella and roasted vegetable panini. poppyseedrye.com

Fish and veggies at Seamore’s in Clarendon

Pescatarian, Please

The littleneck clams alone merit a trip to Seamore’s, the seafood-centric chainlet that opened in Clarendon in September. Executive chef Laurence Cohen sautees the Virginia-sourced shellfish with shallots, mustard, thyme, garlic and lemon, then steams them with DC Brau’s El Hefe Speaks beer, serving the dish ($14) with two planks of grilled baguette for dipping.

This is the fifth location of Seamore’s—the first outside of New York—and the latest in a series of successful ventures for CEO/owner Jay Wainwright, who founded the fast-casual chain Cosi in 1995 and later helmed Le Pain Quotidien from 2004 to 2016.

Committed to serving seafood deemed sustainable by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch, Seamore’s serves fish you won’t often find on other restaurant menus. A giant slate “Daily Landings” board highlights approved species, with a red spoon to denote the available options on any given day. “Our commitment is to only sell fish from stocks that are sustainable or growing,” Wainwright says—which is why blue catfish (a blue crab predator) is on the menu, but blue crabs, whose populations are dangerously low, are not.

The centerpiece of the dinner menu is the Reel Deal ($24 to $30), which pairs your choice of seafood with three sides and a sauce, such as red curry or chimichurri. Other winning options include fried calamari with saffron aioli ($12); a meaty lobster roll ($33) and New England clam chowder ($15). seamores.com