701 Pennsylvania Ave. NW (202) 393-0701 Hours of Operation and Prices Lunch: M-F 11:30-3; Entrees: $8.50-$18.50 Dinner: M-T 5:30-10:30, W-Th 5:30-11, F-Sat 5:30-11:30, Sun 5-9:30; Entrees: $13.50-$22.50 Pre-Theater: Daily 5:30-7, $22 Other Information • Credit cards: All major • Reservations: Recommended • Dress: Casual • Parking: Complimentary valet at dinner • Nearest Metro: Archives-Navy Memorial • Entertainment: Pianist M-Th dinner, jazz trio F-Sat evening • Handicapped accessible

The dining room is spacious, quiet and comfortable. A pianist makes it even more festive. The service borders on royal. And the menu allows you to choose anything from twin mini hamburgers to the most sophisticated contemporary cooking.

I settle into one of the downy soft armchairs at a table in the lounge. I examine the page-long list of vodkas (heather and honey or explosively orange? Polish or Russian? Maybe one plain and dry, then a peppered version, and for dessert a bright pink, house-made berry vodka?). They're all served on ice, as they should be.

As is the caviar. You can go all-out with osetra (my preference) or beluga, or pull your punches deliciously with salmon caviar. Each is served with tiny blini and brioche toast, dollops of sour cream, chopped onion and capers (which I spread on the breadstuffs only after I've scraped up the last of the caviar, unwilling to dilute the taste of caviar with condiments). And since you can hardly fill up on caviar, order something else from the appetizer list - tuna tartare built into an architectural marvel or maybe mussels in a light winey tomato broth. Then again, those mini bacon cheeseburgers sound seductive, too. Then off to the theater? Actually, maybe not. This little meal is drama enough.