Restaurants

A world capital should have world-class restaurants, and so we do. Washington restaurants include award winners from Michel Richard's Central, which landed the James Beard Foundation's 2008 award for "best new restaurant," to Ben's Chili Bowl, a 50-year-old hometown joint serving half-smokes and chili dogs recognized by the James Beard Foundation as an "American Classic."

A world capital should offer international cuisine, and so we do. In a city whose population includes more than 150 embassies and international cultural centers, 74,000 foreign-born residents, and hundreds of international associations and companies, Washington restaurants span the globe in terms of tastes, from ethnic Ethiopian (try Meskerem), to haute cuisine French (Citronelle).

A world capital's eateries should accommodate all budgets, and so ours do. From On the Fly, an eco-friendly street vendor, to Georgetown's Tackle Box (grilled seafood and two sides: $13), D.C.'s dining options demonstrate that one can eat well at a quite reasonable price.

And a world capital's culinary scene should be forward-thinking (our restaurants are increasingly "green-oriented") and trendsetting like outstanding wine bars and chocolate lounges.

Washington, D.C.: not just a center of political power, but of sensational dining. -- Read through the descriptions; if a place beckons, call ahead for reservations, especially for Saturday night. More and more restaurants are affiliated with an online reservation service called www.opentable.com, so you can also reserve your table online.

If you wait until the last minute to make a reservation, expect to dine really early, say 5:30 or 6pm, or after 9:30pm. Or you can sit at the bar and eat, which can be more of a culinary treat than you might imagine; some of the best restaurants, including Palena, Citronelle, and PS7's, offer a reasonably priced bar menu.

Better yet, consider a restaurant that doesn't take reservations. At places like Pesce and Lauriol Plaza, where the atmosphere is casual, the wait can become part of the experience. The food is worth standing in line for.

Few places require men to wear a jacket and tie; I've made a special note in the listings for those places that do. If you're driving, call ahead to inquire about valet parking, complimentary or otherwise -- on Washington's crowded streets, this service can be a true bonus.

I've listed the closest Metro station to each restaurant only when it's within walking distance of that restaurant. The closest Metro stop to Georgetown is the Blue Line's Foggy Bottom station; from there you can walk or catch the D.C. Circulator bus on Pennsylvania Avenue, up the street from the Metro station.

About the Prices -- I've selected a range of menus and prices in the major "restaurant" neighborhoods of Washington. Restaurant groupings are first by location, then alphabetically in each price category. Keep in mind that the price categories refer to dinner prices, but some very expensive restaurants offer affordable lunches, early-bird dinners, tapas, or bar meals. The prices within each review refer to the cost of individual entrees, not the entire meal. I've used the following price categories: Very Expensive (entrees at dinner average more than $30); Expensive ($20-$30); Moderate ($10-$19); and Inexpensive ($10 and under).

Eating on the Fly -- Washington has plenty of street vendors planted near various attractions, but none are remarkable for their food. Enter On the Fly, www.dconthefly.com, the lime-colored, eco-friendly, bug-shaped smartkarts with wings that sell fast- and fresh food prepared by locally famous eateries, like Teaism and Julia's Empanadas. Look for these zero-emission, plug-in trucks at choice locations throughout the city, including at 7th and F streets NW, near the National Portrait Gallery, and at the National Zoo. Hours vary, prices are cheap: typically $3 to $6.

A Seat at the Bar

Dining out in Washington can be many things: a culinary adventure, a happy pastime, a chance to transact business, a romantic interlude . . . and a competitive sport. Most restaurants require reservations, and in this cutthroat town, all the best seem always to be booked. Oh pooh! What's a hungry, reservation-less, good-food lover to do? Head to the bar, of course. In an effort to please those who haven't managed to reserve a table in their main dining rooms, but who nevertheless hope to sample some of their food, glorious food, a number of the city's top restaurants have started serving modified versions of their regular menus at the bar. The experience often proves more intimate and convivial than that in the main dining room, and here's the kicker: it's always less expensive. Consider these:

At Palena, 3529 Connecticut Ave. NW (tel. 202/537-9250), you sit on comfy stools and in booths in the bar area at the front of the house and enjoy chef Frank Ruta's exquisitely prepared Kobe beef cheeseburger with brioche bun and sottocenere (a creamy Italian cheese with black truffles), Caesar salad, pastas, roasted chicken, a charcuterie plate, fried lemons (don't knock 'em 'til you try 'em) and onion rings, all perfectly done -- and everything costing less than $20. This bar area is known as Palena's Café, to distinguish it from the formal dining room beyond. You can also choose from the main dining room menu here, but most people are happy with the cafe menu.

At Michel Richard Citronelle, in the Latham Hotel, 3000 M St. NW (tel. 202/625-2150), the bar/lounge is located on a level just above the main dining room. There are bar stools, but also a collection of tables. The a la carte menu offers a range of items, from $12 mushroom cigars (fried mushroom duxelles with ginger sauce) to $42 duck, served medium-rare, with black cherry anise. So many people have raved about the lobster burger ($34) that Richard includes it on the menu at his new restaurant, Central. This is Richard's award-winning cuisine, at a fraction of the cost of his tasting menus.

CityZen, in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, 1330 Maryland Ave. SW (tel. 202/787-6868), offers perhaps the most jaw-dropping bar meal: Chef Eric Ziebold's three-course tasting menu in his main dining room costs $75; at the bar, Ziebold's edited version goes for $45 to $50. The chef does not present a set bar menu but pulls one or two choices from each course on offer that night, so you can be sure you're dining on the same heavenly fare as those seated at tables: maybe a pickled shad with braised celery and potato crisps, or braised shoat shoulder with English peas. And the service is sublime.

Other bar scenes to recommend: Marcel's, whose wine bar menu ranges from a gratin of endive for $13 to beef carbonade, in $15 and $28 portions (Marcel's also features live jazz in the wine bar nightly); Bistrot Lepic, whose second floor is a wine bar, offering both bar item menus and specialties of the house; and PS7's, whose lounge is a cool scene and its menu even cooler -- try the risotto balls, tuna sliders, and house-made half-smokes.

Chocolate Lounges

Washingtonians are all chocoholics, judging by the burst of instantly adored chocolate lounges and cafes on the dining scene. If you answer to the same calling, check out these three places:

ACKC Cocoa Gallery, at 1529C 14th St. NW (tel. 202/387-COCO; www.thecocoagallery.com). Part cafe, art gallery, and artisana, ACKC is a delightful place for a chocolate break. Its eight versions of cocoa are named for some favorite femmes, including the Marilyn, Audrey, Lucy, and Liz.

CoCo. Sala, 929 F St. NW (tel. 202/347-4265; www.cocosala.com). This chocolate lounge and boutique is a sweet refuge in the heart of the Penn Quarter, dispensing coffees, cocoas, and small plates of light fare throughout the day. Dessert cocktails and chocolate-spiked liqueurs are on tap into the wee hours.

Locolat Café, 1781 Florida Ave. NW (tel. 202/518-2570; www.belguimlocolat.com). The Adams-Morgan-based Locolat was already a Belgian chocolate confiserie when it launched its cafe with sidewalk seating. Chocoholics can sip chocolate-enhanced coffee and hot cocoas, and savor an assortment of cakes, Belgian waffles, pastries, and created-on-the-premises chocolate bonbons.