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Italian food made with the motto “simple but nice” is the focus of this homey, welcoming favorite in the neighborhood of Adams Morgan.
Website: rosariodc.com
Address: 2435 18th St. NW
Phone number: 202-791-0298
Number of seats: 45
Entrée price range: $14-$27
Popular dishes: Fettuccini meatball Bolognese: beef, pork and veal meatball on a bed of pasta topped with ricotta salata; white anchovies with fennel, garlic chips, orange zest and pine nuts; rigatoni Arrabiata with pancetta, crisp prosciutto, vodka, tomato sauce, chile flake and ricotta salata; rockfish piccata: rockfish fillet, caper lemon velouté, escarole and herbed acini di pepe.
What others say: “Think of Rosario as an elevated neighborhood spaghetti house.” — Tom Sietsema, The Washington Post
Entrées
Interior
The spirit of old pinball machines (without an actual working pinball machine on the premises) defines the aesthetic of this splashy, design-minded home for upscale bar offerings and fine food to match.
Website: tiltdc.com
Address: 1612 14th St. NW
Phone number: 202-319-1612
Number of seats: 50
Entrée price range: $10-$15
Popular dishes: Lobster Rangoon with spiced lobster, cream cheese, crispy wonton, sweet chile and cilantro; spicy queso with creamy melted cheeses, pickled serrano chile and crispy corn tortilla chips; cornmeal crusted Chesapeake oysters with andouille sausage and sweet potato hash; heirloom beef taquitos with crispy corn tortilla, pico de gallo and guacamole
What others say: “Tilt’s distinction as a pinball bar has plenty of nuance. This isn’t a venue where guests play the nostalgic game with a pint or cocktail fogging up the glass, but rather one where you feel like a steel ball rocketed from one neon attraction to the next. It’s a bar inside a pinball machine, not the other way around. Jeff Black, the visionary and owner behind the Washington, D.C., venue, which opened in September, even takes it one step further. At this pinball bar, there isn’t an actual pinball machine anywhere in sight.” — Tim Carman, The Washington Post
Interior
Cocktails
In Bethesda, Md., storied chef Peter Chang splashed his name on this large, formidable new mothership for his 10-restaurant mini-empire devoted to colorful, inventive Chinese cuisine in the Mid-Atlantic.
Website: qbypeterchang.com
Address: 4500 East-west Hwy Ste. 100, Bethesda, Md.
Phone number: 240-800-3722
Number of seats: 186
Entrée price range: $15-$30
Popular dishes: Peter’s Peking duck with scallion pancakes and cucumber sweet rose petal garlic paste; Sichuan double-cooked pork belly; kumquat beef with kumquat juice, black pepper, carrot and dill; Sichuan kung pao chicken.
What others say: “Q is the chef’s largest and most stylish dining room yet. Green, the color of life, radiates from menus and booths alike, while the perimeters of the space are dressed up with laser-cut wall accents. Light boxes the size of elevators hang from the ceiling; private rooms should have zero problem finding parties to animate them.” — Tom Sietsema, The Washington Post
Interior
Duck
This 8-seat haven is a special counter within an already well-regarded restaurant in which two small seatings nightly get treated to intensive tasting menus that “wish to tell stories to our guests through our dishes.”
Website: kobo-sushiko.com
Address: 5455 Wisconsin Ave., Chevy Chase, Md.
Phone number: 301-961-1644
Number of seats: 8
Entrée price range: $130-$160 tasting menu
Popular dishes: Beginning of the Journey: housemade tofu, Hokkaido sea urchin and kaeshi sauce; A Message of the Fauna: A5 wagyu beef, California sea urchin, black winter truffle and wasabi leaf; Amuse Bouche: mango sphere with basil crystal, strawberry sphere with fennel crystal, lychee sphere with rose flower crystal; Chef Brothers' Signature Otsukuri: medley tomato tartare, heirloom tomato sorbet and oregano.
What others say: “[The] meals are profoundly delightful, bursting with creativity and showcasing flavors and preparations that linger long after leaving — it now ranks among the best tasting-menu experiences in the region.” — Nevin Martell, DC Modern Luxury
Otsukuri tomato sorbet
Amuse bouche spheres
This fine-dining beacon in the Jefferson Hotel, where seasonal tasting menus are “inspired by the harvest from Thomas Jefferson's kitchen gardens at Monticello,” has been an elegant destination for years, but it was buoyed in late 2016 by the awarding of one of the city’s first round of Michelin stars.
Website: plumedc.com
Address: 1200 16th St.
Phone number: 202-448-3227
Number of seats: 35
Entrée price range: $102-$117 (for tasting menus)
Popular dishes: Oxtail consommé with beef tartare and foie gras medallion; king salmon yew wood “bento” with Amish bee wax and brown butter emulsion; lobster gratin with Parisienne root vegetable and Nantua sauce.
What others say: “It’s not just the sumptuous elegance of the space that envelops you in a fantasy. It’s all the many appurtenances that reinforce the air of tasteful luxury — the upholstered stools for purses, the thick linen napkins, the silver domes to keep plates hot, the elaborate amuse-bouche to start, the petits fours to finish.” — Jessica Sidman, Washingtonian
Beeswax salmon
Lobster gratin
