Restaurants to Be Reckoned With

** 1/2 BLUE DUCK TAVERN

IT'S ALL ABOUT INGREDIENTS AT THE BLUE DUCK TAVERN, with its jars of pickled fruit on the shelves, baskets of vegetables near the entrance, apple pies on a marble pastry counter and stacks of wood in the exhibition kitchen. The logs are your cue to try something from the flame-animated oven: maybe a steak, oozing juices, or molasses-edged duck. Every farmer or grower who contributed to your meal is acknowledged on the menu; veteran chef Brian McBride wants you to know exactly where his very good charcuterie, fish and grits originated. Side dishes embrace such winners as chanterelles and fava beans tossed with pistachios, while desserts of vanilla custard dotted with berries and bowls of freshly churned ice cream are simple, well-executed comforts. Although the ontemporary, glass-and-wood interior is at odds with the updated old-fashioned cooking -- and the place roars with noise at peak hours -- chances are, you'll leave the restaurant talking about pristine oysters and pampering service rather than the ringing in your ears.

· 1201 24th St. NW (near M Street). 202-419-6755. www.blueducktavern.com. Open: for lunch and dinner daily; brunch Sunday. All major credit cards. Entree prices: lunch $14 to $26, dinner $18 to $26.

** 1/2 BUCK'S FISHING & CAMPING

SOMEDAY, I WANT CAROLE GREENWOOD TO TAKE ME SHOPPING. And then I want to watch her cook whatever she buys. Chefs boast all the time about buying only the best and about respecting ingredients, but Greenwood walks the talk. Her gazpacho -- roughly chopped beets, corn, tomatoes and fresh basil enlivened by the zing of white balsamic vinegar -- takes a traditional idea and makes it better. Her thick and succulent prime sirloin, dressed up with a heap of white sweet potato fries, puts most steakhouses to shame. And I never pass up dessert in Greenwood's dark and arty dining room; it's not every day that you encounter a chocolate cake that tastes like a cross between a brownie and a truffle. Admittedly, not every dish is wonderful, and there aren't a lot of choices. Gray and spiceless ribs detracted from my last dinner, which would have been less of an issue if the menu had counted more than a handful of options. But the standouts on the script do just that, and the well-connected host, James Alefantis, sees that unknowns are treated as well as the famous faces that tend to frequent this neighbor to Politics & Prose.

· 5031 Connecticut Ave. NW (near Nebraska Avenue). 202-364-0777. Open: for dinner Tuesday to Sunday. All major credit cards. Entree prices: $19 to $38.

*** INN AT EASTON

AS I SIT AND WAIT (AND WAIT) FOR THE TRAFFIC TO MOVE ACROSS THE CHESAPEAKE BAY BRIDGE, I imagine what treats will reward my patience. Will chef Andrew Evans still offer his stir-fried calamari? I sure hope so; the tender seafood, accented with lemongrass, is a favorite. So is his Asian "bouillabaisse" -- slipper lobster, bright vegetables and a mound of rice presented with a moat of green Thai curry that washes over the tongue like a hot tropical breeze. Every big deal chef seems to offer pork belly these days; Andrew, whose years in Australia inform his cooking, sets dominoes of the fatty bacon, which he cures and braises in Asian spices, on a refreshing salad of green papaya, fresh mint and crushed peanuts. In this jazzy company, beef short ribs on polenta are a bit of a bore. But mousselike chocolate cheesecake is a surprising conversation-stopper. New this year: a menu format that charges by the number of courses rather than specific dishes, allowing patrons to create their own tasting menu (except on Saturday, when only the fixed-price bill of fare is offered). As always, the service at the Inn at Easton is quiet and gracious -- a perfect fit for the intimate dining room of mint green walls, seductive lighting and Russian art.

· 28 S. Harrison St. (near South Washington Street), Easton. 410-822-4910. www.theinnateaston.com. Open: for dinner Wednesday through Sunday. All major credit cards. Fixed-price menu: $35 to $90 per person.

*** RASIKA

A TALENTED IMPORT FROM LONDON BY WAY OF BOMBAY, chef Vikram Sunderam shows his patrons there's more to Indian restaurant cooking than samosas and curries with a menu that dares us to order differently. You might not think to find asparagus on an Indian menu, but there it is, four pretty stalks, sprinkled with red chile flakes and circled in a honey-colored sauce flecked with lime zest. The heat and the sweet are very appealing. Warm bananas and cool avocado team up in an unforgettable salad. Morsels of lamb and plump apricots, moistened in a brick-red sauce, arrive with a haystack of shoestring potatoes -- "a popular Indian [Parsi] wedding dish," explains Rasika's suave owner, Ashok Bajaj, who gives the illusion of being at all six of his Washington restaurants at once. Rasika translates to "flavors" in Sanskrit, and flavors, nuanced and luscious, are what you'll find on Sunderam's script: fried baby spinach with yogurt and chutney, scallops poised on a garlicky red pepper sauce, and the finest Indian breads to be had for miles. Just as the food avoids cliches, so does the setting. Sheer chartreuse curtains, walls the color of saffron, stained wood floors, an open tiled kitchen and -- hey, isn't that Maureen Dowd eating with Jack Valenti? -- make for a glamorous canvas.

· 633 D St. NW (near Sixth Street). 202-637-1222. www.rasikarestaurant.com. Open: for lunch Monday through Friday, for dinner Monday through Saturday. All major credit cards. Entree prices: lunch $11 to $22, dinner $11 to $24.