About The Source
The presence of celebrity chefs in Washington has waned—we said adieu to Alain Ducasse and Eric Ripert last year—but Wolfgang Puck is going strong. His six-year-old glass box of a restaurant next to the Newseum still turns out some of the best high-end Asian in the area, thanks to longtime executive chef Scott Drewno. Start with a round of dumplings, whether delicate purses of pork belly with black vinegar or puffy chive dumplings with crab and Kurobuta pork. Then move on to a fabulous duo of Border Springs lamb, with tender chops and a stir-fry of the loin, or a whole sea bass with yuzu-ponzu sauce. A few caveats: Prices in the more formal upstairs dining room are sky-high, and the generically minimalist space doesn’t win any points for atmosphere. You can avoid the sticker shock—and eat very well—by grabbing a banquette in the lounge or taking advantage of terrific happy-hour and brunch deals.
Open: Monday through Friday for lunch and dinner, Saturday for brunch and dinner.
Don’t Miss: In the dining room: Scallop-and-shrimp shu mai; tuna-tartare cones; suckling pig with plum purée; chili crabcake; lacquered duck with glazed figs; crab fried rice; pork-belly bao; carrot cake; chocolate-chip cookies. In the lounge: Mini-burgers; General Tso’s chicken wings; shrimp-tempura roll.
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
