2009 Fall Dining Guide

By Tom Sietsema
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009

If I could take cooking lessons from only one chef in Washington, Frank Ruta would be my teacher. He's not the most daring cook, but everything he sends out from his basement kitchen in Cleveland Park reveals serious attention to sourcing and superb technique. Oh, yeah: The food, which incorporates Italian and French accents, tastes great, too. The pleasures might commence with a well-made cocktail and a basket of very good bread, then move on to light and lush salads that would look at home at a top table in San Francisco. Be sure to find time for a pasta. Sauteed chanterelles and "our pancetta" impart their charms on a dreamy loose-textured risotto. Ruta has an unerring sense for dressing his food with just the right, and not too many, flavors. Roasted grouper enjoys good company with Marcona almonds, silky yellow peppers and a lobster sauce whispering of curry. Some diners grumble about service that doesn't always live up to the culinary polish; others wish Ruta would rethink the modest rear dining room. (I find the amber lighting and sparse dressing attractive.) The buzz up front? That's the sound of a crowd elated to be eating from a cafe menu that celebrates simply grilled fish, superb roast chicken and a hamburger without peer.

Fixed-price menu per person: three-course $58, four-course $67, five-course $76.