For the full list and updated reviews of the 2013 100 Very Best Restaurants in Washington,
you’ll need to pick up a copy of our February issue. But since Restaurant Week is
right around the corner, we figured you might want to know which participants made
the cut. The following restaurants appear on both lists. Deals last from February
4 through 10. Unless noted, each restaurant will feature a three-course lunch or dinner
(or lunch and dinner) for $20.13 at lunch and $35.13 at dinner. If you want to go,
make your reservations now, and don’t forget to tip generously.
Alain Ducasse’s refined restaurant in the St. Regis hotel—which made our top ten this year—is offering
a lunch menu for Restaurant Week, featuring dishes like cauliflower velouté,
seared Chesapeake rockfish, and a tian of shortbread, mousse, and marmalade.
The New Mexico Avenue trattoria hasn’t posted its RW lunch and dinner menus yet, but
don’t miss the chance to try
Roberto Donna’s homey pastas. Update: the restaurant writes to say it will offer the full menu for RW.
This Cleveland Park mainstay has yet to post its RW dinner menu, but hope for dishes
such as rabbit Bolognese, mini open-face steak-and-potato sandwiches, and chicken
soup with green chili.
The ladies swoon for chef
Nick Stefanelli, who cooks up some soulful-but-elegant Italian food in this dark-lit spot on New
York Avenue. It’s doing lunch and dinner during Restaurant Week—no menus yet, but
look out for hand-rolled pastas and creative desserts.
Again, no menu yet. But you can count on chef
Kyle Bailey and his pastry chef wife,
Tiffany MacIsaac, to treat you right. If you’re watching your carbs, forget it—B&B’s bread basket is
out of this world. Good luck with reservations; this tiny 14th Street restaurant is
bound to fill up fast.
Head to
Jeffrey Buben’s E Street spot for lunch or dinner during Restaurant Week for
French bistro classics like salmon Normande, coq au vin, and
blanquette de veau.
Jeff Black’s Palisades favorite will offer lunch during Restaurant Week—the menu is TBD, but you
can count on super-fresh seafood.
Ashok Bajaj’s lovely Indian restaurant is back on the list this year, and serving
special lunch and dinner menus during Restaurant Week. We don’t know what chef Niles
Singhvi will be serving, but if
thali—a selection of little dishes served on a silver tray with naan—are among the options,
well, opt for one of those. Tandoori trout and duck-and-apricot curry are great, too.
RW lunch at
Robert Wiedmaier’s bustling brasserie includes starters like parsnip bisque and Belgian endive salad.
For the main course, there’s beef stew braised with Kasteel Bruin beer and classic
white wine mussels, which this restaurant does exceedingly well.
Welcome back to the list, Charlie Palmer. Your lunch and dinner choices at the steakhouse where
Bryan Voltaggio once reigned include green chili, grilled flat-iron steak with smoked short-rib ravioli,
sweet potato purée, and braised Swiss chard, followed by a citrus-scented cheesecake
with navel oranges and strawberries.
This Paris-invoking spot is doing a RW dinner menu that include a lamb
shoulder braised for 42 hours and served with chickpea purée.
South Carolina chef
Matthew Kuhn has added Southern touches to the menu at this K Street spot, where you can pick
any of the lunch or dinner entrées during Restaurant Week. Apps
and dessert selections include Caesar salad and Grandma’s bread pudding with roasted
banana, buttered pecans, and caramel.
Use RW dinner as an excuse to try the right-from-the-start delicious modern
Jewish fare at this new Dupont spot.
At his Penn Quarter Italian restaurant,
Mike Isabella will offer lunch and dinner during Restaurant Week. Menus are on the restaurant website.
This comfy spot in Cleveland Park serves up classics along with more adventurous fusion
takes on Indian fare. The RW menu isn’t published yet, but don’t leave the place without
sampling the samosas.
Haven’t been to one of the Jaleos in a while? Head to any of the three for lunch or
dinner during Restaurant Week to reacquaint yourself with tapas like patatas bravas,
garbanzos and spinach, and flan. (See the RW website for individual menus).
A great, airy dining room is the backdrop to your meal at this meatcentric restaurant
in the W Hotel—serving lunch and dinner RW menus that are not yet available.
No word yet what
Ann Cashion will be cooking for RW lunch and dinner, but it will surely showcase her unfussy
approach to classic Mid-Atlantic cooking.
Kaz is back on the 100 Very Best this year, thanks to the consistently great nigiri
and sashimi we’ve been sampling there. Lunch and dinner menus
are sushi-centric—just as they should be.
Lunch and dinner RW menus haven’t been published yet, but don’t miss the cornmeal-and-molasses
anadama bread in the bread basket at this relaxed Arlington bistro.
Again, no menus—but if the RW lunch and dinner service live up to the typical experience
at this Arlington Alsatian brasserie—think escargot with Pernod and pink-peppercorn
butter, but
also veal schnitzel—you’re going to be happy.
Upgrade your Restaurant Week dinner at this Adams Morgan spot with $5 “nibbles”
such as deviled pickled eggs and maple pork cracklin’. First courses include wood-grilled
confit pig heart (!), octopus salad, and mixed greens, for dinner there’s Amish chicken,
moules marinière, and five-grain risotto with corn and broccolini. Happy news: the
warm apple pie a la mode—known to make delicate types faint from pleasure—is among
the dessert option.
Mio’s lunch and dinner RW menus remain a mystery, but chef
Giovanna Huyke serves up classic Puerto Rican fare heightened by high-end ingredients and a lot
of attention to detail.
The epicenter of the Reston Town Center social scene has not released its lunch and
dinner RW menus, but this being a seafood-centric restaurant, look out for dishes
like fried clams with zucchini chips, crabcakes, and lobster bisque.
Ashok Bajaj’s hardworking staffers are doing RW lunch and dinner at all his restaurants, and these
two modern Indian spots are no exception. No menus yet, but everything is pretty damn
good.
Lunch and dinner RW deals at Ris include a starter salad of
endive, blue cheese and walnuts with apples and port vinaigrette; duck confit with
rye spaetzle, sauerkraut, and mustard sauce; and chocolate bread pudding.
While Rogue 24 is not an official participant in the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan
Washington’s Restaurant Week, it will be doing some discounts between February 4 and
9. The 24-course journey menu, typically $135, will cost $120.13. The 16-courser is
$100.13 instead of $115, and the four-course prix fixe is $60 rather than $75. Very
roguish indeed.
Ashok Bajaj’s downtown power spot has soared under the direction of
Tony Conte—fish dishes have been especially excellent, so don’t miss the salmon, rockfish, and
sea scallop options when you head there for lunch or dinner during the
week of deals.
The RW dinner menu at this Georgetown institution includes an optional wine pairing
(bringing the grand total to $55.13). Included on the menu is chef
Anthony Lombardo’s famous Brussels sprout salad with pine nuts, Pecorino Toscano, and a stoneground-mustard
vinaigrette.
Chef
Scott Drewno will serve up a special RW menu during lunch at Wolfgang Puck’s white-on-white Chinese
fusion restaurant in the Newseum.
No menus yet, but this excellent Dupont sushi bar will have lunch and dinner options
for Restaurant Week-goers.
Head to this handsome restaurant in charming Clifton for RW dinner—no menu details
yet.
Chef
Phillip Blaine is offering an RW dinner menu—not sure what’s on it, but hope for one of his lovely
soups, a great roast chicken with olive
jus and roasted fingerlings, and the short-rib tagliatelle.
We’ve been big fans of
Tony Chittum—who is leaving this Alexandria spot to cook at the Iron Gate when it reopens as part
of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group this spring. Taking over is Brasserie Beck vet
William Morris. Anyway, Vermilion will serve lunch and dinner menus during Restaurant
Week, and no, they’re not yet online.
Hooray! Vidalia has lunch and dinner menus finalized. The RW vet will be offering
its well-loved crabcake as an appetizer during both meals, and the decadent shrimp
and grits is among the many entrée options (add $4).
Westend Bistro
The restaurant in the Ritz has lost the
Eric Ripert name but gained a lot of deliciousness under chef
Devin Bozkaya. RW lunch and dinner choices include a great salad of mustard
greens and apples, the signature fish burger (at lunch), and a great short-rib dish
(at dinner).
Historically inconsistent, this Fairfax drive eatery is having a great moment, says
one of our critics. Try it for lunch or dinner during RW. There’s
chicken-and-foie-gras-stuffed macaroni, French onion toast, and thyme-and-mustard-scented
pork tenderloin Milanese.
Finally folks, we have
José Andrés’s Mediterranean small-plates spot. Among the lunch and dinner
selections, find Lebanese-style beef tartare with bulgur wheat, radish, mint and
pita chips; falafel; and crispy Brussels sprouts. Since these are small plates, you
get four courses instead of three. Enjoy.
