Blue Ridge

Overview: Blue Ridge, in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington DC, specializes in cuisine created with locally sourced seasonal ingredients. The decor is trendy farmhouse, the bartender is a hipster and the craft cocktails are strong.

Medium Well: I was eager to dine at Blue Ridge so I could support one of the few restaurants that thrives on local and sustainable ingredients. As much as I love to sink my teeth into a juicy burger on the weekends, I would much rather eat local, organic and sustainable foods every other day of the week. Why? Local, sustainable and organic food tastes better and does something that most people have forgotten that food is supposed to do - it nourishes your body. I truly believe baby carrots (they don't actually grow this small), winter tomatoes, Purdue chicken breasts and anything made by the fast food industry are to blame for the picky palettes and health problems in America. Don't believe me? I dare you to eat a tomato that was ripened by a Labor Day sun in your backyard and tell me it tastes the same as the garnish on your TGI Friday's burger. Even though the Blue Ridge burger is not nearly as good as the other burgers we had in DC, the high quality ingredients make it far superior to the sad examples of burgers served in most restaurants.

Medium Dead: I love that more and more restaurants are beginning to serve local sustainable produced food. This is the very reason we were so excited to eat at Blue Ridge. This is a great idea for a restaurant, but it fell short to my expectations. The pork rillettes were bland and tasted like chicken salad, the chicken liver mousse was too salty and the broiled oysters were cooked just a little too long.

In the end Blue Ridge wasn't my favorite meal of the weekend, but the burger was still excellent. The locally raised beef makes all the difference. There is a freshness in this beef you can't taste in factory produced beef that travels hundreds of miles to the kitchen.

The Verdict: At Blue Ridge the goods definitely out weigh the bad. The plate of local cheeses was absolutely incredible, and the brawn (head cheese) was speckled with chives and was the best thing we ate that night.