Cuisine: Respectful of the classics but with a bit of whimsy, Robert Weland, one of the area’s most underrated chefs, has turned this hotel restaurant into an exciting and consistent destination for smartly conceived, carefully executed American cooking.
Mood: A bright and bustling multilevel space with vaulted ceilings, an open kitchen, and the air of a big night in the making.
Best for: Dinner before or after a show or a game or concert at Verizon Center.
Best dishes: Steak tartare on brioche, a clever variation on the mini-burger craze; a slow-cooked hen egg on toasted brioche with hollandaise and black truffles; wild-mushroom consommé, earthy and intense; spit-roasted poussin; a crisp-skinned filet of sea bass capped by a red-wine-poached egg; a loving ode to salted caramel, a multipart dessert that never descends into gimmickry.
Insider tips: The restaurant hosts Poste Roasts several times a year during spring and summer—moderately priced prix fixe dinners centered on spit-roasted meats and small-batch whiskeys and served in the courtyard.
Service: ••
Open Monday through Friday for lunch and dinner, Saturday and Sunday for brunch and dinner. 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.
