America's reinvigorated capital is basking in the attention of the world.
In the past, describing Washington DC, the capital of the United States, as a hip and happening city would have been the deranged equivalent of declaring a pantsuit and sensible shoes the must-have fashion ensemble of next season. In other words: highly unlikely. To borrow the backhanded compliment one presidential candidate made to another during the primary season, Washington is just “likeable enough”.
While Washington DC began shredding its staid reputation during the Clinton years (Hillary controversially jettisoned some of the more traditional decor in the White House) there has been an undeniable shift over the past decade. Like an ailing senator who doesn’t want his health problems to become a political Achilles heel, Washington has quietly undergone open-heart surgery, resurfacing as a fun, pleasure-seeking city. It’s out with the brogue and in with the peep-toe pump.
Washington, like many other government hubs, was the ultimate transients’ city – so much so that even high-profile senators would live, college-style, in share houses with other senators, all skipping town the minute Congress rested. Similarly, ambitious graduates would do time in the city, sweating it out in campaign boiler rooms before heading to other centres such as New York and Chicago to make the big bucks and let their hair down.
The best way to experience Washington’s new mood is by reserving a table at one of the city’s excellent restaurants. The culinary scene has not so much come of age, as completely reinvented itself. Washington’s dining has long been defined by power dining with a capital “P”: muted timber-panelled rooms in which major deals were quietly fleshed out over mounds of steak and buckets of sauvignon. While classic restaurants such as the venerable Old Ebbitt Grill, one of the Bush administration’s unofficial power bases, are worth a peek, the culinary shift has been nothing less than tectonic.
These days you are just as likely to find Washington’s elite dining at the chic Blue Duck Tavern or fighting for a chair at the colourful Café Atlantico, whose proprietor José Andrés is considered a major force (he owns four other Washington eateries) in reinvigorating the city’s frowzy dining landscape. Andrés turned conventional wisdom on its head in 1993, when he opened tapas restaurant Jaleo in a shady section of downtown. Now the (rechristened) Penn Quarter is a booming culinary corridor.
It’s hardly a surprise, therefore, that some of the globe’s best-known celebrity chefs have heard the clarion call and want their piece of the pie. Last year, Wolfgang Puck opened The Source in the glassy Newseum, joining Eric Ripert’s Westend Bistro and French Laundry alum Eric Ziebold’s CityZen as some of the city’s most coveted reservations. None other than culinary god Alain Ducasse has just opened his second Adour restaurant, in the Washington St Regis.
The fun doesn’t stop when the dinner bill arrives. Visitors to Washington DC expecting a soporific nightlife scene and early curfew can think again. Not far from the Penn Quarter, the K Street precinct downtown has emerged as one of the city’s most happening districts, joining more traditional party pockets such as Georgetown and Adams Morgan.
Washington possesses the cultural riches of a city many times its size and a string of new museums and attractions has joined an already overwhelming list of must-sees. Claiming the last plot on the National Mall, the excellent Newseum opened this year; as did the National Museum of Crime and Punishment. The Smithsonian National Museum of American History is preparing to reopen after a major renovation. Even the 215-year-old Capitol Building is being expanded.
While Washington isn’t going to bump New York or Paris off their perches in the glamour stakes soon, it’s what’s new that is finally getting the city attention.
Stay
Donovan House
1155 14th Street NW.
Four Seasons Washington DC
2800 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.
Hotel Monaco
700 F Street NW.
Mandarin Oriental
1330 Maryland Avenue SW.
Shop
Apartment Zero
406 7th Street NW.
+1 202 628 4067.
Betsy Fisher
1224 Connecticut Avenue NW.
+1 202 785 1975.
Georgetown Cupcake
1209 Potomac Street NW.
+1 202 333 8448.
Jewelers’ Werk Galerie
3319 Cady’s Alley NW.
+1 202 337 3319.
Eat
Blue Duck Tavern
1201 24th Street NW.
+1 202 419 6755.
Café Atlantico/Minibar
405 8th Street NW.
+1 202 393 0812.
Citronelle
3000 M Street NW.
+1 202 625 2150.
The Source
575 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.
+1 202 637 6100.
Tackle Box
3245 M Street NW.
+1 202 337 8269.
Drink
Rock and Roll Hotel
1353 H Street NE.
+1 202 388 7625.
Tattoo Bar
1413 K Street NW.
+1 202 408 9444.
Town & Country Lounge
1127 Connecticut Avenue NW.
+1 202 347 3000.
See & Do
Newseum
555 Pennsylvania Avenue NW.
+1 888 639 7386 (Toll-free US only).
National Portrait Gallery
8th & F Streets NW.
+1 202 633 8300.
International Spy Museum
800 F Street NW.
+1 202 393 7798.
National Gallery Of Art
4th Street & Constitution Avenue NW.
+1 202 737 4215.
Corcoran Gallery Of Art
500 17th Street NW.
+1 202 639 1700.
Smithsonian National Museum of American History
14th Street & Constitution Avenue NW.
+1 202 633 1000.
Shakespeare Theatre Company
610 F Street NW.
+1 202 547 1122.
Source: Qantas The Australian Way October 2008