Overview:
The 42nd Annual RAMMYS Awards Gala was held in Washington, D.C., celebrating the District's food and beverage industry. The event showcased the top-notch quality of the DMV's restaurants and bars.
WI Managing Editor
Hundreds of Washingtonians poured into the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Northwest, D.C. dressed in elegant gowns and dapper tuxedos – accessorized with a proper helping of D.C. flair — to celebrate the District’s food and beverage industry at the RAMMYS 2024 on July 21. While the night honored restaurants, bars, and the people who keep the establishments going everyday, the event was a unique opportunity for Washingtonians from various fields to come together in the name of culinary culture.
“[The RAMMYs are] honestly a night to celebrate the food culture in our city, but also it’s a networking event. It brings people from all parts of the spectrum, and celebrates them and their achievements in the restaurant industry,” author and returning citizens advocate Tony Lewis Jr. told The Informer. “It’s a beautiful night for the city.”
Hosted by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington (RAMW), the 42nd Annual RAMMYS Awards Gala was a moment for all Washingtonians – including D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith – to celebrate the importance of D.C.’s food and beverage scene to the District, nation and world.
“It is the economy. The restaurants in Washington, the food and beverage sector of Washington, D.C. employ so many people, but also we are conveners,” said Aaron Meyers, executive director for the DC Commision on the Arts and Humanities. “When you convene, you have people from across the world, who have to come and sit down somewhere, and when you put food in front of people, you’re bringing people closer together and showing how more alike we are than we are different.”
In his opening remarks, Shawn Townsend, RAMW president and CEO, highlighted the strength, beauty and boldness of D.C.’s food and beverage scene, referencing Pulitzer-prize winning rapper Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” to underscore the industry’ greatness.
“There’s no place better than the Washington Metropolitan region. Those other cities are ‘not like us,’” Townsend told the crowd.
The competitive categories filled with lauded locations and worthy nominees, also showcased the top-notch quality of the DMV’s restaurants and bars.
Winners included: Formal Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year: Causa | Amazonia; Upscale Casual Restaurant of the Year: Lutéce; Casual Restaurant of the Year: La Famosa; Hottest Sandwich Shop: Colada Shop; Best Brunch: Duke’s Counter; Best Bar: Bar Chinois; Beer Program of the Year: Zinnia; Cocktail Program of the Year: Silver Lyan; and Restaurateur of the Year presented by Pepco, an Exelon Company: Kyle Bailey, Jon Ball, Jeremy Carman, Gavin Coleman and Paul Holder of Long Shot Hospitality.
While Lewis and Meyers don’t work directly in the food and beverage industry, they both shared how the field correlated with their work.
“I’m here to show the intersection between the restaurant industry or the world of food, but also the world of art,” Meyers told The Informer. “You think of every restaurant in Washington, D.C., that’s a possible space for artists to put their art up on the walls or a space where artists can perform, so we have been interlocked for years.”
Lewis said he attended the RAMMYS because the restaurant industry is critical in helping returning citizens get back on their feet.
“I’m a big advocate for returning citizens and the restaurant business has been one of the best employers of the population that I serve, so that’s also another reason why I want to support the RAMMYs,” Lewis said.
Further Lewis explained that attending the RAMMYS and connecting with RAMW can strengthen opportunities to address, needs, concerns and dreams of area natives.
“I think as the city has become incredibly cosmopolitan, somebody like me that’s an advocate for people who are native to this city, I think that it’s important that people like me and others be here, so we can be the bridge, so we can be the connector, so we can be the conduit, for a lot of the opportunities from audiences like this,” he said.
Lewis noted that while some may feel the booming food and beverage scene caters toward new D.C. residents and tourists, it’s important for D.C. natives to tap into the ever-budding industry as appreciators and entrepreneurs.
“None of these new spots that opened are exclusive to people that just moved here. I really want people that have been here to ensure that we frequent these different places, and also know that you can open up new places,” Lewis told The Informer. “I want people to be inspired. I know people out there that’s from D.C. have ideas, let’s get to it and make it happen.”
For more information on RAMW and a full list of RAMMYS 2024 honorees visit: ramw.org.