Cuisine: Stylized Tuscan, featuring house-made pastas and traditional Italian fare. Newly hired chef Cesare Lanfranconi, late of Galileo and Ristorante Tosca, is doing less luxury cuisine in favor of earthy comfort food.

Mood: The young power set fills the bar area for drinks and antipasti, while the comfortable dining room welcomes K Street lobbyists and think-tank crowds with sepia walls and plush banquettes. Note to romance seekers—the curved corner booths provide intimacy. If the kitchen seems slow, it could be because the chef emerges every few minutes to check out the eye candy at the bar.

Best for: Networking, power-lunching, intimate dining.

Best dishes: Veal tonnato (lunch only); lamb carpaccio with a vibrant sauce of parsley and pickled onions; gossamer-light gnocchi fashioned from ricotta instead of potatoes and sauced with fragrant tomatoes; a meltingly light sautéed veal filet with truffled mushroom sauce.

Insider tips: Reopened this fall with Lanfranconi at the helm, the spruced-up Spezie has shown promise—and some of the inconsistencies that mark new ventures; here’s hoping it continues to build on its strengths. The wine list is not one of them; it’s geared toward fat wallets and dull palates, with little effort to explore the regional gems of Italy.

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