Recommended Restaurants*
Washington, DC
CityZen
1330 Maryland Ave, SW
Tel: +1 (202) 787-6140
Metro: L'Enfant Plaza
Website With selections reduced to a pair of tasting menus (chef's or vegetarian) and a prix-fixé dinner, CityZen's choices are somewhat limited but uniformly delicious. Eric Ziebold, the chef, changes the modern American menu every few weeks, and rarely repeats a dish (just one in the past two years). His combinations mix classic with inventive; one recent visit featured an odd-sounding but delicious duck foie gras with grape soda. In the event you are left scratching your head over which vintage best accompanies duck liver and grape soda, the restaurant offers wine pairings from its vast collection. The bar is as stylish as the restaurant-unsurprising, considering its location in the elegant Mandarin Oriental hotel-and offers a top-notch selection of single malts. The decor is modern, with high ceilings, enormous lamps and an open kitchen.
DC Coast
1401 K St, NW
Tel: +1 (202) 216-5988
Website DC Coast is altogether unlike the dark, low-ceilinged rooms that used mark fine Washington restaurants. A beaux-arts space with a giant mermaid near the door, the place is roomy and bright. The clientele is typically the new lobbying elite of the city: swanky, smart and showy. The restaurant’s name highlights the menu's emphasis on seafood from the mid-Atlantic region. Yet the chef has spent a lot of time in New Orleans, and it shows in the large servings of crisply fried oysters and the wonderfully dark and rich gumbo. This place is all about seeing and being seen: the booths are good for the former, the long bar for the latter.
Marcel's
2401 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Tel: +1 (202) 296-1166
Website Though bad acoustics create a din here, the background noise is of people humming with pleasure. The Flemish chef deals in haute cuisine marked by explosive flavors. The list of treats is long, with plenty of game, foie gras and specials that use the season’s ripest produce. So the light tomato salad with goat's cheese was a perfect starter for late July, while the seared tuna sitting atop a gruyere cheese and potato cake was exquisite. Desserts, such as the poached pear wrapped in pastry, are a fine finish. The lengthy wine list includes some well-priced bottles. With the tastes of Provence lingering sweetly on everyone's tongue, it helps to have a decor to match; flagstone floors, large mirrors, simple crockery and dried flowers evoke a fine Mediterranean villa. And for those taking in a show at the Kennedy Centre, the pre-theatre menu and complimentary limo service is particularly appealing. Dinner only.
Obelisk
2029 P St, NW
Tel: +1 (202) 872-1180
In appearance, this homey Dupont Circle restaurant may bear little resemblance to some of the city’s more fashionable dining rooms, but its excellent Italian dishes are a perennial favorite. With only 12 tables and a few eager waiters, the focus is on Peter Pastan’s daily changing (and hand-written) prix fixe menu. Our meal began with a potato frittata (crisp and delicious) and included fresh white asparagus with goat’s cheese, gnocchi glossed with fragrant pesto, and a generous cut of lamb chop served with intensely flavored fried artichokes. The tarts, mousses and ice creams for dessert were all carefully prepared and equally tasty. For intimate dinners, the room may be a little bright (a heavier reliance on candles would be nice). If you are coming by car, consider parking at the Hilton Hotel on Massachusetts Avenue and 20th Street (there is no valet parking). Dinner only.
Vidalia
1990 M St, NW
Tel: +1 (202) 659-1990
Website
Vidalia's menu offers a refined, imaginative take on traditional southern fare. Many Washingtonians consider it one of the city's best. Do not be put off by the charmless location in an office-building basement: a recent renovation has given the space a bright and warm feel, with magnolia walls, a modern long bar and clean lines. Jeffrey Buben, the restaurant's chef, concentrates on seasonal and local produce. Though the menu changes frequently, the lush crab-cakes are rarely off it, thankfully. On our visit, the sweetbread starter with a clump of finely diced ham, tomato, pine nuts and a hint of fennel was truly inspired. And a main course of monkfish served Louisiana-style, with a crayfish-rice fritter, tasso ham and étouffée sauce could have come straight from the Big Easy. A wide selection of interesting wines can be ordered by the glass or flight.
Café Atlántico
“Nuevo Latino” downtown
405 8th St, NW
Tel: +1 (202) 393-0812
Fax: +1 (202) 393-0555
Website
Café Atlántico is a rare treat in a city still new to fusion and spice. This colorful, three-storey restaurant serves delicious “Nuevo Latino” cuisine, which borrows from all over Latin America, from Brazil to the Caribbean. We started with guacamole, which our waiter made at the table, blending together fresh avocadoes, scallions, chillis, tomatoes and lemon juice in a large bowl, and then serving it with warm little tortillas. We continued with a quail appetizer, teased with tastes of mangoes, anchovies and balsamic vinegar, and a remarkable foie gras soup. Mains kept up the pace, with scallops swimming in delicate flavors of coconut, ginger and squid, and red snapper spiced with olives and capers. Sometimes the adventurous combinations failed to hit the mark; the tuna ceviche with coconut did little to heighten the natural taste of the fish. For dessert, the tres leches—a cake soaked in sweet milk—was hard to fault. When choosing which floor to sit on, note that the first floor is cozier, with snug tables, a vaulted ceiling and small banquettes, but the second and third floors offer more dramatic views of the open kitchen. Among the cocktails, the mojitos and caipirinhas are excellent.
Northern Virginia
2941
2941 Fairview Park Drive (at intersection of Rt. 495 and Rt. 50)
Falls Church, VA
Tel: +1 (703) 270-1500
Website
Situated in bucolic surroundings—diners can practically hear birds chirping along the lakeside—this stylish restaurant rewards the senses. Ask to sit by a window, the better to savor the views. The restaurant is the brainchild of a young chef (Jonathan Krinn, who graciously makes table visits) and his former cooking instructor. Together they have created a wonderful seasonal menu. ranging from a vegetarian risotto to a prime strip steak, with plenty of inventive fish and chicken dishes. Highlights include an appetizer of perfectly seared tuna with saké glaze, and an entrée of caramelised scallops topped with fennel pureé.
L'Auberge Chez Francois
L'Auberge Chez Francois
332 Springvale Rd
Great Falls, VA
Tel: +1 (703) 759-3800
Website
The owners of the auberge have tried to put the French countryside a short drive from the city, setting their restaurant in a pristinely recreated country house. Both the romantic setting and the perfect Alsatian cooking have made it a perpetual award-winner and a Washington favorite for special occasions (count the birthdays and anniversaries being celebrated around you). The gardens are beautiful throughout the warm months—if you can plan it, reserve well ahead for a table on the terrace. The restaurant is closed on Mondays.
The Inn at Little Washington
Main & Middle Sts
Washington, VA
Tel: +1 (540) 675-3800
The Inn is regularly ranked among the finest restaurants not just in the area but in the entire country, and it is a phenomenal destination for an overnight getaway. Despite the long drive home (about two hours) and the scarcity of reservations, punters still beat a steady path to the Inn's door in Washington, Virginia. The contemporary American by Patrick O’Connell makes copious use of local ingredients such as rabbit, and—as with an extraordinary upside-down cake—includes inventions of virtuosic brio. Though the prix fixe is dear, it is worth every penny. The restaurant also boasts a 14,000-bottle wine cellar, featuring not merely four-figure, once-in-a-lifetime Bordeauxs, but plenty of reasonably priced selections too. Exemplary service includes flourishes such as waiters pouring your water in unison. The best table is in the chef’s kitchen, but that exalted setting is generally reserved months in advance.Maryland
Old Angler's Inn
10801 MacArthur Blvd
Potomac, MD
Tel: +1 (301) 299-9097
Website For a romantic, tree-shaded meal, head beyond the Beltway to Old Angler's Inn in Potomac. Some prefer coming here in winter, when a fire crackles in the cozy fireplace inside. But an outdoor table on a warm summer evening can feel just as magical. Don't expect culinary fireworks: the kitchen sends out hearty fare, with an emphasis on traditional meat dishes. Still, it's all very satisfying. Beef and game are served in rich sauces—we enjoyed duck breast with figs and port wine sauce, and caramel-braised beef short-ribs with horseradish mashed potatoes. The chef can also prepare a “surprise” multi-course tasting menu for the table. Fish is often surprisingly inventive; witness the pistachio-crusted Chilean sea bass, and the charred tuna served with sugar-snap peas and a ginger orange sauce. The Inn is just off the C&O Canal, where locals come to bike, hike or paddle around in kayaks. You might consider a daylight stroll along the water before dinner to build an appetite. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner.
Rock Creek
4917 Elm St
Bethesda, MD
Tel: +1 (301) 907-ROCK (7625)
Website
Restaurants that focus on healthy eating tend to attract soya-loving killjoys who are happiest when served a bowl of steaming kale. Rock Creek, beyond the Beltway in Bethesda (near the National Institutes of Health), breaks the mould. Although each dish is the product of weekly consultations with a nutritionist (and no entrée has more than 500 calories), the food here is delicious. The chef, Fred Przyborowski, left the Kennedy Center’s smart Roof Terrace for this haunt, making for very lucky local calorie-counters.The dining room is casually polished, with ochre walls, an earthy twig sculpture and a modest fountain. Our meal began with a nori-crusted tuna carpaccio, which had impossibly thin, savory slices of fresh fish topped with seaweed salad. A delicately spicy mahi-mahi sandwich was served in a comforting bun (yes, carbohydrates). And our slow-cooked salmon arrived covered in sesame seeds with a miso-mustard dressing, atop a warm bok choy salad. After perusing the nutritional information (including fat, protein and fiber) on the menu’s back page, we had little trouble slathering the garlicky hummus on our wholegrain bread.
* Source: The Economist
