All Over the Map

Discovering hits and misses at a new West End eatery

** Hudson Restaurant & Lounge

2030 M St. NW. 202-872-8700 www.hudson-dc.com

Open: lunch Monday through Friday 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; dinner Monday through Thursday 5 to 10:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 5 to 11 p.m., Sunday 5 to 10 p.m.; Sunday brunch 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. All major credit cards. Smoking on the patio. Metro: Dupont Circle or Foggy Bottom. Garage parking. Prices: lunch entrees $12 to $27, dinner entrees $14 to $37.

Some restaurants start out with a silver spoon in their mouths -- did anyone really expect Central Michel Richard to be a flop? -- and some restaurants are born staring at uphill climbs.

A prime example of the latter is the new Hudson Restaurant & Lounge. Its address has been home to at least three dining rooms in the past seven years (most recently David Greggory), and its chef, selected just weeks before launch, was an unknown commodity whose last professional gig had him whipping up food for British Airways. While I've been a longtime admirer of Hudson's owner -- the indefatigable Alan Popovsky, who jazzed up Adams Morgan with Felix for eight or so years and nurtured a string of successful chefs there -- his latest project sounded like a gamble.

Then I encountered the risotto at Hudson, which is named for 17th-century explorer Henry Hudson. The appetizer was creamy and luscious, each grain swollen with stock yet firm to the touch. Mushrooms and cheese weighed in with their charms, making for a dish that could easily have starred in a high-end Italian restaurant and that arrived as a heaping "half-portion" for $12.

Another meal, another lure: matzo ball soup, its delicate, dill-flecked broth supporting lovely bites of carrot, celery, chicken, and a dumpling with all the lightness of a souffle. "Very momlike," a dining companion observed as he hovered over the soup. "Prettier than any mother would make," the experienced food maven at my table added.

Every bit as memorable that night was a plate of crackling buttermilk fried chicken, arranged on mashed potatoes whose richness suggested aligot, the elastic and glorious whip of potatoes, cheese and garlic found in France's Auvergne region.

Not every dish soars as high as those examples do, not by a long shot. But Hudson has assets beyond food to recommend it.

One of them is strong service. Popovsky, a seemingly ever-present owner, has brought together a great team of managers and servers to cosset the crowds -- and this at a time when even deep-pocket restaurants have trouble finding and keeping talent. As a graduate student in the 1980s, Popovsky worked in a variety of jobs at the Four Seasons in Washington, where he says he learned, among other things, that "empowering people" was one of the smartest things a manager can do. At Hudson, the smiles seem sincere, and they're backed by waiters who know the menu and seem to understand just what you need at just the right moment.

A second attraction is the space. Smack on a busy corner in the West End, the window-wrapped, pink-hued restaurant is one of those places you can rely on for a quick drink, a date, dinner with the tribe or a late-night snack. To avoid the noise of a private party congregating around the bar one night, pals and I sought refuge in the rear, set off by raspberry-colored walls and lovely photographs of cherry blossoms. Our table looked right into the kitchen, where we got to see chef Kyle Schroeder, 34, in motion.

Stay away from the salt shaker! I wanted to caution the chef as I sampled his beef brisket, a composition worthy of a spread in a food magazine but undermined by its abundance of sodium.