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The 2023 RAMMY nominations event at Hamilton Live DC on 14th Street NW had an abundance of craft cocktails, exquisite nibbles to taste, wine, spirits and beverages to sip, and bites such as spicy tuna on cucumber and crab cakes — a show-stopping crowd favorite — circulating the room. With the sounds of DJ 100 spinning hot dance tracks and the celebratory vibe as nominees were announced by NBC Washington anchor Jummy Olabanji, the nominations event was a perfect preview to what’s in store for the 41st RAMMY Awards Gala.
“Mark your calendars for the RAMMY Awards Gala, which returns on Sunday, July 9,” said Shawn Townsend, president and CEO of Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington (RAMW). “We’ll recognize all of you, our region’s incredible restaurant and food service industry at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center with our partners at Events DC.”
“The RAMMY Awards is truly one of my favorite evenings of the year,” Olabanji told the crowd. “The local restaurant scene is such a fantastic part of what makes Washington, D.C. so special and it’s because of all of you out there.”
As Olabanji read the nominees, guests cheered for the beauty that is D.C.’s restaurant industry.
“Being nominated for a RAMMY award is truly an accomplishment. There are no other regional restaurant awards quite like the RAMMYs anywhere else in the country, so you all should be very proud to have such a unique event here in Washington, D.C., also celebrating its 41st anniversary this year,” Olabanji said.
Voting for public categories opened today and can be submitted on the NBC Washington website until May 31.
With many of their food and drinks offered around the room, nominees for New Restaurant of the Year include: Barry Ivy, Causa | Amazonia, Nama Ko, Opal and Rania and Cocktail Program of the year nominees are: Jane Jane, Salt, Service Bar, Silver Lyan, and The Green Zone.
“I want to thank some of the 2023 finalists for New Restaurant of the Year and Cocktail Program of the Year, who are sampling bites, spirits and cocktails and other delicious things here tonight,” Townsend said.
For the full list of nominees, go to www.ramw.org.