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2800 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
(202) 342-0810
Hours of Operation and Prices
Breakfast: M-F 7-11, Sat-Sun 8-noon; Entrees: $11.50-$17
Lunch: M-F noon-2:30; Entrees: $12.75-$21
Dinner: Daily 6-10:30; Entrees: $17.25-$34
Afternoon Tea: Daily 3-5, $13.25
Brunch: Sun 10:30-1:45, $45
Other Information
• Credit Cards: All major
• Reservations: Recommended
• Dress: Casual
• Parking: Complimentary valet
• Handicapped accessible
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Hotel restaurants often are at a disadvantage. It can be hard to rev up a bureaucratic staff to go beyond minimally doing its job. Yet, at Seasons, the staff seems - pardon the pun - well seasoned, yet not jaded. An advantage hotel restaurants have is the space and budget for luxurious decoration. Seasons, in burgundy and forest green, is a cross between a staid country club and an urban park. An indoor garden is backed by a window wall overlooking Rock Creek Park, as if both garden and park were one. A few curved banquettes create coves of privacy that feel almost like picnic areas, separated not by trees and hills but by carpet and potted plants.
Overall, I like the food at Seasons better than at most luxury hotels. It may sometimes fall short of expectations, but it isn't silly or overcomplicated. Its full, rich flavors don't clash. It seems designed to satisfy more than to impress. In the American way, the menu ranges from old-fashioned East European chicken noodle soup to Asian tempura, and several of the dinner entrees are pastas. The menu lists healthful "alternative cuisine" and offers vegetarian entrees. In short, this is a hotel menu, which means you can get just about anything you want to eat, at any price the hotel wants to charge.
But the meals that most draw me to this soothing luxuriance are afternoon tea - the pastries are designed to make you salivate with your eyes - and Sunday brunch, which revels in grand simplicity. And in case your romantic dinner at Seasons develops into planning for a wedding, this hotel's banquets are even better than the restaurant meals - in fact, they may be the best in town.
© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company
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