Cuisine: Chicago celebrity chef Art Smith—formerly of Oprah Winfrey’s home kitchen—and his local deputy, Travis Timberlake, serve up feel-good food. Their renditions of classic Southern fare are both gussied up (an oyster po’ boy turned into a hoecake) and faithful (simple fried chicken with white gravy).
Mood: It might look like a retro-chandeliered hotel restaurant (and you’ll see many a rolling suitcase) but looming portraits of Martin Luther King Jr. and Dwight Eisenhower—and perhaps a Nancy Pelosi sighting—remind you that you’re dining just steps from the seat of power.
Best for: A crowd-pleasing dinner with a big group; a gut-busting power lunch; snacking at the bar; weekend brunch (oh, the lemon pancakes).
Best dishes: Chesapeake Bay fry, a Southern take on fritto misto with oysters, hushpuppies, okra, and shrimp; arugula salad with blackberry vinaigrette and watermelon pickles; hoecakes (pancake-like rounds made with cornmeal) topped with either fried oysters and rémoulade, apples and blue cheese, or pulled pork and slaw; a wedge of buttery-crusted onion pie slathered with goat cheese; lunchtime fried chicken, boneless and wonderfully juicy; pecan-crusted chicken; crisply fried trout drizzled with rhubarb vinaigrette; spiced quince trifle; “baby cakes,” an ever-changing quintet of mini cupcakes.
Insider tips: A budget-friendly Sunday supper features the fried chicken plus two sides for $18.
Service: ••½
Open Monday through Friday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Saturday and Sunday for breakfast, 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.
