D.C.'s RAMMY Awards drive home COVID's existential restaurant disruption

Restaurant awards — usually a celebration of excess — are suddenly a salute to survival.

• This year's RAMMY Awards, from the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, were grounded in adversity and disruption, rather than luxury or decadence.

The new COVID-inspired categories highlight how the pandemic's existential threat forever changed the industry.

• "Chef of the year" was ditched for more inclusive categories.

Some of the winners from our brave new world:

• Finer Dining in a Box: Cranes in Penn Quarter.
• Prime Pandemic Patio Scene: Le Diplomate (more on them below).
• Outstanding COVID-safe Redesign: Clarity in Vienna.
• Most Innovative To-Go Packaging Game: Oyster Oyster on 8th Street NW.
• Most Impressive Pivot to Provisions or Market: Neighborhood Restaurant Group/Neighborhood Provisions, based in Alexandria.
• And there were a slew of "to-go" awards ... Coolest Cocktails and Beverages (Cactus Cantina) ... Standout Family Meal Packages (Ristorante i Ricchi) ... and, of course, wine (which highlighted 10 area institutions in its special "honorable mention" category).

The bigger picture: After a year where social justice advocacy upended society, other new categories honored restaurants that supported marginalized communities. 

• Employees of Immigrant Food, a restaurant that also supports immigration-related advocacy and education work, took home the Good Neighbor and Employee of the Year awards.

Check out the full list of winners.