Of the hundreds of places to eat in the District, these are some of my favorites. This list is not encyclopedic. It doesn't include the ever-changing trendy places in the U Street and Logan Circle areas. There are no rankings. These are just places -- some are single restaurants and others are locations offering lots of choices -- that you should know about if you live here.
By Nancy Lewis
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Penn Quarter
Jaleo (480 Seventh St. NW, 202-628-7949, http://www.jaleo.com), then under the direction of Ann Cashion, started the small-plates movement in the District more than a decade ago. Since then, chef Jose Andres has become the undisputed small-plate king, with the addition of Zaytinya (709 Ninth St. NW, 202-638-0800, http://www.zaytinya.com), Cafe Atlantico's Minibar (405 Eighth St. NW, 202-393-0812, http://www.cafeatlantico.com (click on "go to minibar"), and most recently, Oyamel (401 Seventh St. NW, 202-628-1005, http://www.oyamel.com), which has jumped to the now trendy Penn Quarter from Crystal City.
Not unlike the Minibar, Washington's own food-as-science experiment experience, Jaleo keeps fresh with seasonal changes and special celebrations with visiting Spanish chefs. Zaytinya made Greek, Turkish and Lebanese meze stylish in a soaring space that set a new standard for restaurant decor in the city. Now Oyamel -- its signature butterflies looking a bit cramped in the space that once housed Andale -- puts Mexican small plates in the same neighborhood.
Rasika (633 D St, NW, 202-637-1222, http://www.rasikarestaurant.com) brings the small-plates concept to Indian food. Its owner, Ashok Bajaj, opened his nearby 701 Restaurant (701 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 202-393-0701, http://www.701restaurant.com) when Penn Quarter hadn't even earned its name yet, and neither had small plates. 701 has always had a separate bar serving what Bajaj originally called light meals, often smaller portions of the same dishes that populate the regular menu.
Connecticut Avenue NW, between Livingston Street and Chevy Chase CircleThe area is hardly as trendy as the revitalized downtown, but this stretch of Connecticut Avenue is home to an assortment of low-key neighborhood places, some of which have been around for decades.
The late 1980s opening of the American City Diner (5532 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-244-1949, http://www.americancitydiner.com) -- in a re-creation of a mid-20th century diner -- brought renewed attention to the area. But the Parthenon Restaurant (and its adjacent Chevy Chase Lounge) (5510 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-966-7600, http://www.parthenon-restaurant.com) has been serving Greek specialties for decades. The area is also home to La Lomita Dos (5507 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-244-7774), an offshoot of a popular Capitol Hill Mexican and Salvadoran restaurant. Arucola (5534 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-244-1555, http://www.arucola.com) has Northern Italian fare, and Bread and Chocolate (5542 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-966-7413, http://www.iexpediter.com/demo/brdnchoc/home.htm) is a French bakery and coffee shop.
MacArthur Boulevard NW, from Reservoir Road to Arizona AvenueAlthough home to a major traffic artery, the Palisades neighborhood has attracted an impressive array of local restaurants.
Makoto (4822 MacArthur Blvd. NW, 202-298-6866) is a tiny jewel box of a restaurant in a rowhouse. Leave your shoes at the door and sit on a small box that doubles as a coat closet for some of the most exquisite Japanese food on the East Coast. The best deal here is the tasting menu, but the just as small sushi bar serves pristine fare. Kotobuki Japanese Restaurant (4822 MacArthur Blvd. NW, 202-281-6679, http://www.kotobukiusa.com) located literally on top of Makoto, is another small space though not nearly so elegant. Climb the narrow staircase to a spare room decorated with a few splashes of calligraphy on the walls and get ready for the sushi bargain of the area.
BlackSalt Fish Market (4883 MacArthur Blvd., 202-342-9101, http://www.blacksaltrestaurant.com) is restaurateur Jeff Black's first venture inside the District, and it continues the small plates concept with an eclectic assortment of New American, traditional American, Mediterranean and Caribbean influences.
Several blocks further north on MacArthur are a series of modest carryouts, cafes and local gathering places that include Listrani's Italian Gourmet (5100 MacArthur Blvd. NW, 202-363-0619, http://www.listranis.com), which is known for its pizzas, as is L'Appetito (5105 MacArthur Blvd. NW, 202-966-9797, http://www.lappetito.net), although a new owner is also adding some Belgian touches. Chen's Gourmet Chinese Carryout (5117 MacArthur Blvd. NW, 202-364-8313) offers fresh, tasty takeout, while the affiliated Bambu (5101 MacArthur Blvd. NW, 202-364-3088) has a more varied menu that includes other Asian dishes including sushi.
Wisconsin Avenue NW, between Albemarle and Fessenden streets
Guapo's Restaurant (4515 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-686-3588, http://www.guaposrestaurant.com) offers Tex-Mex cuisine and a big welcome for special groups such as retirement parties and bar mitzvahs. Murasaki Japanese Restaurant (4620 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-966-0023 http://www.thebestsushi.com) draws a heavy contingent from the diplomatic corps with a wide assortment of Japanese specialties. Le Chat Noir (4907 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-244-2044, http://www.lechatnoirrestaurant.com) is a simple French bistro with an accent on Normandy (especially sweet and savory crêpes) and Nice (salads and fish). 4912 Thai Cuisine (4912 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-966-4696, http://www.4912thaicuisine.com) is a plain space with a fiery menu.
Martin's Tavern
This tavern in the heart of Georgetown (1264 Wisconsin Ave. NW, 202-333-7370, http://www.martins-tavern.com) dates from the end of Prohibition and is one of the tangible links to Washington's Camelot era. John F. Kennedy wooed Jacqueline Bouvier at these wooden tables (the exact spot has an engraved marker) and diplomats, spies and senators have supped here. The menu is traditional American with steaks and crab cakes and clam chowder. The Sunday brunch features all the favorites. There is a long bar that attracts a younger crowd, but the diners are a mix of locals, international businessmen and tourists.
The Oval RoomThis is where the current White House crowd, and the media stars who cover them, are apt to gather for lunch. The main dining room isn't actually oval, though it has a modern oval chandelier; the name comes from its proximity (800 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-463-8700, http://www.ovalroom.com) to the real Oval Office, just across Lafayette Square. The main attraction at the restaurant these days, though, isn't the clientele but the cooking of Tony Conte, a veteran of New York's Jean Georges restaurant. Here you may find goat cheese sorbet with your salad or an egg cooked sous vide (in a vacuum-packed plastic bag for an extended period at a low temperature), that probably will be the best egg you have ever eaten. Conte is innovative and accomplished, and his food injects a New York state of mind into local cooking.
ObeliskPeter Pastan's Dupont Circle restaurant (2029P St. NW, 202-872-1180) this year celebrates two decades of serving Italian fare in a traditional Washington row house, the kind of building that once housed most of the city's fine dining establishments. There is just one room that seats less than 40 people along banquettes that line two walls and a couple of tables near the front windows.
The menu changes every day -- yes, every day for 20 years! And there are five courses -- you choose from several choices for your first, main and desserts courses and you are presented a selection of appetizers and cheeses. You never know what you will find here. Recently the choices included an earthy lamb ragu ragout, an elegant venison chop with juniper relish, perfectly cooked halibut, creamy burrata cheese and semolina cake with caramelized blood oranges. The diners may include some movers and shakers, but young professionals dominated on my last visit, a new generation learning to love this venerable dining stop.
Tea at the Four Seasons HotelSeveral hotels offer afternoon tea, but none matches Georgetown's Four Seasons Hotel (2800 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 202-342-0444, http://www.fourseasons.com/washington) for elegance and good food. The Garden Terrace Lounge is an airy space at the rear of the hotel's first floor with large windows overlooking Rock Creek Park and approaches to Reagan National Airport. Widely space overstuffed sofas and club chairs pull up to dark wooden tea tables clothed in crisp white linens and set with lovely china.
The menu is set -- it changes seasonally but includes cucumber sandwiches, smoked salmon rolls and mini cream puffs filled with chicken and egg salads in addition to scones and perfect miniature sweets. There is a wide selection of teas, brewed with loose leaves in china pots, and served with silver strainers. It's all very proper and relaxed at the same time. It's a treat to enjoy this English tradition in the workaday world of Washington.
Market InnCheek-by-jowl with the Southeast-Southwest Expressway, the Market Inn (200 E St. SW, 202-554-2100, http://www.freshcrabcakes.com) is a throwback to another era -- the 1950s to be exact. But it's the lone old-time Washington crab house that still remains downtown. The restaurant is chock-full of memorabilia and wooden booths. The menu is old school -- lots of beef and seafood, especially crab. There is piano music during the week and jazz on weekends, including Sunday brunch. Don't count this old-timer out, yet.
Cowgirl CreameryThis California native breezed into town last year and gave Washington its first look at a first-class cheese shop (919 F St. NW, 202-393-6880, http://www.cowgirlcreamery.com). You can pick up a sandwich for lunch or a hunk of cheese for dinner. The employees can well describe the wide selection of cheeses and offer a taste before you buy. There is also a limited selection of wine and Fra'Mani sausages, made by former Chez Panisse chef Paul Bertolli. They, alone, can make you think you are in Italy.
If you have a favorite restaurant that you think deserves attention, please contact Nancy Lewis atlewisn@washpost.com.
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