Comet Snags Design Award

If you've been to Comet Ping Pong (5037 Connecticut Ave. NW), you know that the interior is a breath of fresh air after one too many downtown restaurant's resembling hotel ballrooms and lobbies. Now the space is being recognized by Hospitality Design magazine with an award for best casual restaurant design.

Co-owner James Alefantis and Joseph Wills collaborated with chef and co-owner Carole Greenwood and CORE on the design. (CORE also includes the new Brasserie Beck and Cafe du Parc in its portfolio.) Comet is featured in the design magazine's May/June issue.

Meanwhile, the buzz is building over Comet's new soft shell crab pie. The Express mentioned the crustacean topping recently, and on WETA's Dining Blog, Don Rockwell recommends mashing the crab into the pizza, "spreading the succulent drippings all over the crust, and then taking a little piece of shell in each bite." (Also note his proclamation that Comet has the best pizza in town.)

Soft shell crab on a pizza in an award-winning interior? Sounds like a perfect summer date to me.

(Photo by Michael Moran Photography.)