St James DC Restaurant

https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/interactive/2023/best-new-restaurants-in-dc/

St. James DC
The District

Mains $16 to $60.

“When I go back home, I’m struck by the lushness,” says Jeanine Prime, a native of Trinidad. “You see green everywhere.”

You see the color of life everywhere in her breezy Caribbean restaurant, too: in the gleaming front of the bar, on the plant-filled shelves behind it, and in dishes including callaloo, the moss-colored soup, thick with spinach and collards, cooked with coconut milk and garnished with sweet crab.

[St. James brings on the Caribbean fun and flavor]

St. James is named for the energetic nightlife district in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad’s capital, a buzz replicated here by sunny servers, sassy jerk wings and rum-fueled drinks. It was a joy to return recently and encounter the same delicious steamed buns, filled with juicy spiced pork, that I recalled from last May, and to be introduced to some fresh ideas, including slow-roasted duck leg. A refined version of a homestyle dish, the duck, warm with curry, cumin and chiles, is an example of the menu’s “modern Caribbean” tagline.

I appreciate the recent addition of “medium” plates, too (oxtails, crab and dumplings). It’s a way for groups to sample a range of island flavors, says Prime.

Oh, the salt fish fritters are dense as golf balls and the servers, while friendly, have a tendency to snatch plates before we’re done with them (one actually plucked a companion’s knife and fork from his hands). But the sticky plantains, tossed with candied ginger, prove a welcome side dish, and the sponge cake soaked in rum, best eaten with banana ice cream, is reason to hang after entrees are whisked away.

2017 14th St. NW.

202-627-2981.

stjames-dc.com.

Dinner Tuesday through Saturday. Indoor and outdoor seating.