Relais & Châteaux Morrison House

If you have not been to the latest addition to the Relais & Chateaux association ofluxurious privately owned hotels, then we suggest you take a trip to the MorrisonHouse Hotel in Alexandria soon because once the word gets out about this fabulousrestaurant, it will be next to impossible to get a reservation. Try the Crispy Yellow TailRed Snapper with Taylor Bay Scallop and Osetra Emulsion. It’s light, delicate, a littlesweet, and goes great with their outstanding wine list that is a yearly winner of theWine Spectator Award of Excellence.
116 South Alfred Street Alexandria, VA
(703) 838-8000

  Sesto Senso
Their Homemade Spinach Tortelloni stuffed with Butternut Squashin a light Butter and Sage sauce is Washington Life’s #1 dish ofchoice when having office birthday parties and celebrations. Squash lover or not,we promise, you will crave this dish year round and go back again and again forthis mouth-watering pasta specialty. Try it once and you’ll become addicted too.
1214 18th Street, NW
(202)785-9525

  DC Coast
One of Washington’s favorite restaurants welcomes a new chef, AndyBrooks, who brings with him a signature dish that has regulardiners clamoring for more. His Salmon Tartar is finely chopped and layered withcucumber, dill and citrus served on a crisp of fennel seed flatbread. It is accompaniedby chopped parsley, capers, and tomatoes and served in a martini glass.
1401 K Street, NW
(202) 216-5988

Persimmon

The only reason not to order two appetizers at this Bethesda eatery is to save roomfor the incredible desserts that pastry chef Robert Underwood creates each evening.His lemon semifreddo (that’s a heavenly mix between mousse and ice cream) withpoppy seed cake and blueberries in a chamomile sauce is an incredible endingto the evening. Die-hard chocoholics will find the Warm Chocolate Tart with WalnutCrust and Kahlua Sabayon equally blissful.
7003 Wisconsin Avenue Besthesda, MD
(301) 654-9860

  Marcel’s
The warm yellow ambiance of the West End restaurant that is famedfor its French cuisine with a Flemish flair will have you feeling as if you’vebeen transported to Provencal France. The Boudin Blanc, Chef Robert Wiedmaier’ssignature appetizer (and a favorite of his four year-old son’s) is a white sausagespiced to perfection with caramelized onions and lardons of bacon in a trufflered wine sauce. Believe it or not, it tastes even better than it sounds.
2401 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
(202) 296-1166

  Zaytinya
This welcome addition to the DC restaurant scene is from theculinary masterminds that brought you Jaleo and Café Atlantico.The tapas-style food that made these restaurants sucha success is back, this time drawing on the Mediterranean influences of Greece,Turkey and Lebanon. Among their variedmenu is an excellent selection of vegetarian mezzes. With over two dozen choicespicking our favorite was tough, but the complex flavors of the Huvac Koftesi,carrot, apricot and pinenut fritters with pistachio sauce, won us over.
701 9th Street, NW
(202) 638-0800