Cuisine: Chef Bertrand Chemel, who left Manhattan’s esteemed Café Boulud two years ago to command the kitchen at this destination restaurant, creates rich, rigorously executed French dishes with big-money ingredients—he loves truffles—and the occasional Asian accent.
Mood: The address is an office building, but the dining room is serene and lovely, with soaring windows overlooking a glittering pond.
Best for: Celebrations; weekday business lunches; dining at the bar.
Best dishes: Seared foie gras with huckleberries; burrata-filled ravioli smothered in Robiola cheese; just-creamy-enough clam chowder; madai snapper with ginger beurre blanc; duck with polenta, acorn squash, and grapes; any Wagyu-beef preparation; chocolate mousse spiked with Baileys Irish Cream; a decadent take on s’mores.
Insider tips: A weekday lunch deal offers three courses for $23.95; a dinner special available every night but Saturday gets you four courses for $58.
Service: ••½
Open Monday through Friday for lunch and dinner, Saturday and Sunday for dinner. Very expensive.
See all of 2010's 100 Best Restaurants
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.
