Headed to a performance at the new Music Center at Strathmore but want to have dinner beforehand?
The Prelude Cafe, inside the new venue and operated by New York-based Restaurant Associates, will offer sandwiches, burgers and a few main courses beginning at 5 p.m. when there are evening performances. Restaurant Associates, which also provides the food at the Kennedy Center and local museums, will serve Sunday brunch in the cafe from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Executive chef Bruce Barnes whips up a meal in the kitchen that will supply all catering and dining for the new Music Center at Strathmore.
(James M. Thresher -- The Washington Post)
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The center, just off Rockville Pike and adjacent to the Strathmore Mansion and the Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro station, has no outside restaurants within short walking distance. Many of the restaurants closest to the concert hall do not take reservations. For those going to Strathmore by Metro, downtown Bethesda offers the most dining options, and then it's just one stop to the theater.
For those driving, here are some recommendations:
The closest: Bello Mondo (in the Bethesda Marriott, 5151 Pooks Hill Rd., 301-897-9400, www.marriott.com/property/propertypage/wasbt) has a baronial-looking dining room with paintings in heavy gold frames overlooking red leather banquettes and weighty leather chairs. A handsome gateleg table in the middle of the room is laden with Italian antipasto (including grilled zucchini, roasted peppers, salami, prosciutto, calamari and eggplant salad) and giant loaves of bread, focaccia and breadsticks. I was most impressed with the pappardelle with wild mushrooms.
A clubby wine bar next door, with about 40 wines by the glass, is open until 12:30 a.m.
Addie's (11120 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 301-881-0081) and Black Market Bistro (4600 Waverly Ave., Garrett Park, 301-933-3000) are both owned by chef Jeff Black. Addie's, occupying a cottage just across from White Flint Mall, serves homey new American cuisine, as does the recently opened Black Market, a bistro in a Victorian building next to the MARC train stop.
Both are small and seat about 40 people. Addie's takes reservations Sunday through Thursday; Black Market Bistro doesn't take reservations.
To the south: About a mile south of the Capital Beltway, Tavira (8401 Connecticut Ave., Chevy Chase, 301-652-8684) offers stunningly good Portuguese and Mediterranean food in cozy rooms on the lower level of a nondescript bank building. Serving wonderful specialties such as grilled sardines and peppers stuffed with mushrooms and crabmeat, and main dishes such as petite filet and many varieties of fish, Tavira is great anytime.
With free parking and a $15.95 three-course meal special from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, it's a perfect pre-performance stop that is no more than 10 minutes from Strathmore.
To the west: The Wildwood Shopping Center, at Old Georgetown Road and Democracy Boulevard in Bethesda, offers three sit-down restaurants with different cuisines. Geppetto (10257 Old Georgetown Rd., 301-493-9230) is a longtime favorite for deep-dish Sicilian pizza and thin-crust white pizza, along with southern Italian dishes. It doesn't accept reservations. Its sister restaurant (they share the same kitchen and owner), Oakville Grille and Wine Bar (10257 Old Georgetown Rd., 301-897-9100), encourages reservations.
Open less than a year, Oakville Grille attracts a business crowd at lunch and nearby residents at dinner. The room is contemporary, with wine bottles and wine racks providing the main decorative theme. There is a growing selection of wines -- focusing on California's Oakville region, many of which are offered by the glass -- and a creative and flavorful menu of new American dishes.
Jean-Michel (10223 Old Georgetown Rd., Bethesda, 301-564-4910) adds a touch of France to the neighborhood. The dishes might be Old World classics, but the atmosphere is never stodgy. This is a place for Dover sole or crisp-on-the-outside, meltingly soft-on-the-inside sweetbreads. And don't forget to order your dessert souffle when you choose your main course. Reservations are necessary.
Across the street, hamburgers are only a small part of the menu at Hamburger Hamlet Grille & Bar (10400 Old Georgetown Rd., Bethesda, 301-897-5350, www.hamburgerhamlet.com). The name comes from founder Harry Lewis's two goals: to own a hamburger joint and to play Hamlet. He accomplished both. There are steaks, salads, chicken fajitas, crab cakes, pasta and Asian and Creole dishes. Most nights it's packed before 7. Reservations are accepted only for large parties before 6:30 p.m.
To the north: There are four major chain restaurants in North Bethesda's White Flint Mall (11301 Rockville Pike). Bertucci's (301-230-3160, www.bertuccis.com) does not take reservations on Friday, Saturday or Sunday nights. Neither Dave and Buster's (301-230-5151, www.daveandbusters.com) nor the Cheesecake Factory (301-770-0999, www.thecheesecakefactory.com) takes dinner reservations. Only P.F. Chang's China Bistro (301-230-6933, www.pfchangs.com) accepts reservations daily.
There are numerous Asian restaurants along and near Nicholson Lane off Rockville Pike, but Amina Thai Restaurant (5065 Nicholson Lane, Rockville, 301-770-9509, www.halalthaicuisine.com) is a special treat. Its location in a small strip shopping center belies its serene, elegant and sparkling-clean interior. The flavors are bright, the ingredients unusually fresh and the service is welcoming and prompt. Reservations are recommended.
After the performance: Several nearby restaurants are open late, especially on weekends, including the Silver Diner (11806 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 301-770-2828, www.silverdiner.com), Tower Oaks Lodge (2 Preserve Pkwy., Rockville, 301-294-0200, www.clydes.com), Seven Seas Restaurant (1776 E. Jefferson St., Rockville, 301-770-5020, www.sevenseasrestaurant.com) and Timpano Italian Chophouse (12021 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 301-881-6939, www.crww.com/timpano/way.htm).
