Special Dining Experiences

Views with a Meal

Is there anything more wonderful than discovering that the attraction you are currently visiting also offers an excellent repast? Most tourist sites provide sustenance of some sort, generally humdrum in taste and high in price. Very few establishments proffer a delightful setting and food that's a real pleasure to eat.

At the pinnacle of my list in Washington, D.C., are the National Gallery of Art's restaurants, and in particular the Sculpture Garden Pavilion Café (tel. 202/289-3360). You can sip a glass of wine and savor a Cobb salad panini (slices of chicken, turkey bacon, and blue cheese mayonnaise on herbed focaccia bread), sitting inside in the glass pavilion in winter or on the terrace in warm weather, in view of sculpture, the landscaped garden, and such grand facades as the National Archives. The gallery's Cascades and the Garden Café (tel. 202/712-7460) are worthy second choices, offering a wide range of appetite-pleasers and really lovely surroundings. FYI: The Garden Café might be your first choice when its menu is tied to particular exhibits, as it is through March 20, 2012: Local chef Fabio Trabocchio, whose new Italian restaurant, Fiola, debuted in April 2011 in the nearby Penn Quarter, created a menu of Italian culinary specialties inspired by the National Gallery's special exhibits of paintings of Venice by Canaletto and his rivals, and drawings by other Italian masters

The National Museum of the American Indian's Mitsitam Café (tel. 202/633-7039) seeks to educate as well as please the palate, since its menu represents traditional dishes from various Native American regions. Examples include cedar-planked juniper salmon from the Pacific Northwest, buffalo burgers from the Great Plains, and, a favorite, fry bread from all over. Tour the International Spy Museum and you'll find yourself exiting through the gift shop into the Spy City Café (tel. 202/654-0995), which is one of the rare museum eateries to open early -- 8am weekdays and 9am weekends. It serves a delicious cheddar cheese scramble and the like at breakfast, and fried chicken, sandwiches, and salads at lunch. Firehook Bakery (tel. 202/628-0906), beloved for its sandwiches on thick breads and for its selection of delicious desserts, operates the cafe at the National Building Museum. The Newseum's separately owned but in-house restaurant is the exceptional The Source (tel. 202/637-6100), Wolfgang Puck's three-level, glass-fronted, crowd-attracting eatery serving Asian-influenced cuisine. But the Newseum also operates the less expensive and quite tasty Food Court, whose menu was developed by Puck, too.

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 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, 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 Citronelle, you sit upstairs from the main dining room, so the vibe is different but still a kick. The lounge menu is quite extensive and includes signature Michel Richard dishes, like the lobster burger, tuna napoleon Niçoise, and the chocolate bar with sauce noisette. But the a la carte prices are so much less than you would pay downstairs on the prix-fixe menus.

Ceiba, in the Penn Quarter, offers a sweet deal at the bar. From 3 to 6pm, and 9:30 to close, you can order $5 signature cocktails (and the mojitos here may be the best in the city) and items from the bar menu, from guacamole to empanadas, at half their usual $9 to $16 price.

CityZen, in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, offers perhaps the most jaw-dropping bar meal: Chef Eric Ziebold's three-course tasting menu in his main dining room costs $80; 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 includes caviar and champagne pairings (if you have to ask how much, you don't want it), burgers, mussels, and pizza offerings (in the $25 range); Bistrot Lepic and Wine Bar, which offers both bar-item menus and specialties of the house at its second-floor wine bar (stop here Tues evenings for complimentary wine tastings); and Corduroy, whose nightly $30 three-course prix-fixe menu is only available in the intimate bar, a perfect setting and a fabulous deal.

Chocolate Lounges and Cupcake Shops

Busted! Washingtonians are finally exposed for what we are: all chocoholics and sweet-cake addicts. An explosion of chocolate lounges and cupcake shops has forced us to come clean. You'll see us standing in line at various favorite places throughout the city, licking our lips in anticipation of our next indulgence. New temptations open daily, it seems, with New York-based Crumbs and L.A.-based Sprinkles setting up cupcake shops around town. If you answer to the same passion for something sweet, join the queue at one of these five, personally vouched-for places:

ACKC Cocoa Gallery, at 1529C 14th St. NW (tel. 202/387-COCO [2626]; www.thecocoagallery.com). This cafe/art gallery/wine bar/chocolate shop is a delightful place for a chocolate break. Its 14 versions of cocoa are named for some favorite femmes, including the Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Lucy, and Liz Taylor. The shop also sells artisanal chocolates (pictured at right).

Co Co. 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, pastries, and small plates of light fare throughout the day. Dessert cocktails and chocolate-spiked liqueurs are on tap into the wee hours.

Georgetown Cupcake, 3301 M St. NW (tel. 202/333-8448; www.georgetowncupcake.com). Two sisters; 12 flavors daily (half always available, half specials); darling designs and packaging; and the best cupcakes. Truth is, Georgetown Cupcake pretty much launched the current cupcake craze. Locals vote the chocolate ganache the best cupcake in the city; I love the lemon cupcake with lemon cream cheese frosting. How popular is Georgetown Cupcake? So popular that the TLC network developed a reality TV show featuring the lovely cupcake makers, Sophie LaMontagne and Katherine Kallinis.

Locolat Café, 1781 Florida Ave. NW (tel. 202/518-2570; www.belgiumlocolat.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.

Red Velvet Cupcakery, 501 7th St. NW (tel. 202/347-7895; www.redvelvetcupcakery.com). Located in the heart of the Penn Quarter, Red Velvet stays open until 11pm nightly, happy to accommodate the bar and club crowd when a yen for a sweet something hits. Also serves hot chocolate to go. Another District location is at 2029 P St. NW (tel. 202/822-2066).