‘Pulled Pork slider @ Westend Bistro Ritz Carlton’
courtesy of ‘thepresidentwearsprada’
Chefs are doing quite well for themselves in We Love DC’s Food Tweet of the Week Award…or maybe I’m just partial to tweets about engagements for some odd reason. Either way, this week’s Twitter top prize (and all the money that comes with it, ha), goes to the fabulous Joe Palma of Westend Bistro by Eric Ripert at the Ritz-Carlton.

Tweeting under @WestendBistro, Chef Palma has more than 1,110 followers, and Tweets a few times a day updating readers about new recipes: “Ridiculously nice halibut coming in for tomorrow” — and new concepts: “Permit apps pending for the smoker for April BBQ pop up, cross your fingers Making root beer this week with licorice root and sasparilla.” Even better, he gives us a nice look into his personal life, and he is never afraid to highlight other restaurants.

For a bit of the backstory: Palma’s fiancée’s name is Melissa Young,  currently the Catering Coordinator at the Ritz in Georgetown. The foodies met when Young was transitioning from doing pastries at the West End Ritz Carlton “to a career track that is more feasible with a family.”

The Proposal

So how does Palma say the engagement went down? “I didn’t actually propose at Bibiana, we just went there for dinner beforehand, because the food is always fantastic…When we got back to my apt, I had given Audrey [a friend] a key and she set up a note I had written, flowers, and a scrabble board that I glued the question ‘Will you marry me?’ onto in scrabble letters. Obviously my schedule is rough, so on my weekday off every week, we make sure to have date night which generally ends in playing Scrabble anyway (we’re dorks), hence the tie-in on the proposal. My buddy’s mother is a jeweler in CT and custom made the ring with the specs that I had one of Melissa’s friends find out for me. I was significantly more nervous asking her to marry me than I was to do the Today show on national TV :-), but we’ve been together for 2 1/2 years now so I had a decent idea of what her answer would be.”

Congratulations to the lovely couple and thanks for Tweeting!

Westend Bistro is located in The Ritz-Carlton at 1190 22nd Street NW. The closest metro is Foggy Bottom-GWU Station (Blue/Orange Lines). For more information, call (202) 974-4900.

Tricia Barba

Tricia is a native Washingtonian, born and raised in Columbia Heights. She loves DC so much that she was only able to leave the city for one year after college and immediately came running back. Tricia works in PR during the day, and spends her nights trying out new restaurants in DC with friends or watching The Good Wife, Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice. Tricia recently decided to eat her way though all of Zagat’s 2011 restaurants until she realized she would be old and broke by the time she finished. Follow her on Twitter and email her at Tricia (at) welovedc.com.