Marcel’s

Everything about Robert Wiedmaier’s elegant French/­Belgian dining room is designed to soothe: cushy chairs and banquettes; service that’s attentive and good-humored yet not overbearing; and four-to-seven-course tasting menus that offer lots of choices but are easy to navigate. We favor the four-course option, where we fell for a hamachi mosaic with buttermilk-and-dill emulsion; mussels gratin crunchy with croutons; earthy bison short ribs with cipollini; and a blue-cheese “crème brûlée” with poached quince. Gifts show up along the way: a shot of butternut-squash soup to start, housemade bread, and chocolates and pâté de fruits at the very end. A $95 three-course menu, served between 4:30 and 6:30, is popular with the Kennedy Center crowd.