It’s not the recipe RockCreek Seafood owner and chef Eric Donnelly produced when he cooked at Toulouse Petit, but it’s every bit as lick-the-plate great: four plump prawns, bursting with juice and gilded with garlic, lolling on a bed of creamy grits and sauce flavored with a world of herbs and chilies and, yes, more garlic—with grilled bread for dredging. The place has been open all of a few months and this plate’s already a classic. 

Here are more of my favorite dishes of 2013.