Cuisine: Mid-Atlantic and Southern coastal cooking with Asian, Cajun, and Latin footnotes reflecting executive chef Jeff Tunks’s multiple interests and restaurants, which include TenPenh, Acadiana, and Ceiba.
Mood: Ornate mirrors, oversize windows, and soaring ceilings give the large, bilevel dining room in the restored Beaux Arts Tower Building an opulent feel. During happy hour and peak lunch and dinner times, it can get loud.
Best for: The power crowd, older singles, executives out for a business lunch, raucous groups.
Best dishes: A goat-cheese chili relleno even a purist could go for; barbecue sliders; double-cut pork chop with sweet-potato purée and dried fruit; Chinese smoked lobster with crispy fried spinach; chèvre cheesecake with brûlée figs.
Insider tips: Portions are he-man-size, so sharing an appetizer or entrée is a way to keep the tab down.
Service: ••
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.
