Cost – $$

Service – D
I’m not sure if the staff just had gotten past the worse lunch rush of their lives but the service was dreadful. I had to find someone to seat us initially.  After about fifteen minutes I then had to literally go grab someone and bring them over to our table to take our order, which somehow took another thirty minutes.

Food – B
Terrible service can always take the luster off a culinary experience but I honestly don’t think the food was anything to write home about and barely anything to blog about.

Decor – C
Boring.

Feel – C
In all honesty I should have just left as soon as I realized no one was coming to help us.  Then again, I can be a lazy SOB sometimes and after basically managing the Lebanese Taverna waitstaff myself for the first few minutes I figured I was already vested so I might as well see the thing through.

Lebanese Taverna has multiple locations.  The one I visited was in Woodley Park at 2641 Connecticut Ave. They can be reached at (202) 265-8681.

Piggybacking off the success of Tryst and The Diner, Open City is the latest venue brought to DC by Constantine Stavropoulis who has obviously figured out a great formula for success in the Nation’s Capital. His most recent concoction doesn’t have the same loungey feel as Tryst but then again, he probably got sick of people coming and sitting in his place for three hours and ordering one Chai Latte.

Cost – $

Service – A-
I dig the service at Open City. It’s far better than Tryst, which makes sense given the fact that servers can actually turn tables over in under two hours at the venue. Even though they seem constantly in a rush, they are prompt and polite.

Food – B
Think “comfort food.” The food is clean, simple and although there is nothing really special about it, it certainly doesn’t disappoint. It’s easy…like a Sunday morning.

Decor – B
It has that Stavropoulis aesthetic, which is sort of a combination between “indie-hip” and :whatever they could find at an estate sale in Mount Pleasant.” Like it’s moniker, the space is quite open and doesn’t leave a lot of room for privacy, which is bad if you’re into the person you are eating with but good if you are bored by the person you are eating with.

Feel – A-
I get a good feeling every time I go there. If it weren’t for the crowd on Sunday afternoons (excluding Winter) I would probably go there more often for brunch. In general though, Open City is the type of place you go when you are passing by and want to grab a quick bite to eat somewhere fun and simple.

Open City is located at 2331 Calvert St. They can be reached at (202) 3312-2331.

Cost – $$

Service – A-
I have always found the service to be pretty good at Sake Club. The hostess is always courteous and friendly and the wait staff are quite good as well.

Food – B+
I have heard some mixed things about Sake Club but I’ve always really enjoyed the sushi when I’ve eaten there and I’m pretty picky when it comes to sushi. There aren’t a lot of places in DC that strike me as having fundamentally superior sushi. Maybe Sushi-Ko.

Decor – A-
There is a lot to like about the decor in Sake Club. The lighting is quite good as is the general decor of the place. Even the small details that only matter to a small percentage of people – the tabletop fixtures, dining ware, etc. – are cared for. The only criticism I would have on the place is that the sense of privacy isn’t always there. Sometimes you feel like your neighbors can hear every single bit of your conversation and vice-versa.

Feel – B
I like Sake Club, so I can’t quite understand why it isn’t more popular amongst DC’s younger denizens. I get the feeling that it is mostly inhabited by the Woodley Park / upper Dupont Circle middle-aged crowd.

Cost – $$$

Service – A -
The service is top-notch. The bartender at the downstairs bar is a gem and the wait staff are attentive and sharp.

Food- A
New Heights boasts John Wabeck, one of the top chefs in the DC-area who finds a way of bringing a special twist to many of the dishes on the menu. The food is simply mouth-watering and you get what you pay for.

Decor – B
New Heights has a comfortable, mature decor. There is an understated dignity about the place that is evident in the way it is furnished.

Feel – A
Within minutes of entering you can clearly see why this place has existed as long as it has, and developed the following it has. Amarjeet (Umbi) Singh, the owner of New Heights, is clearly interested in creating great experiences for his customers and it comes through when you visit the restaurant. For a romantic dinner or just a weekday evening drink, New Heights is simply a great spot.

What’s the Buzz:

May 9, 2008 – In Northwest, a True Gin Joint (Washington Post) - From the martini to the gimlet to the Singapore Sling, gin has been a major player in the history of the cocktail. Yet gin remains a second-class citizen in most bars, especially when compared with the explosive growth of flavored vodka and high-end bourbon. Full Article…

August 26, 2007 – The Chef is In (Washington Post) - New Heights Has a Pulse Again. After several years of lying so low a diner could be forgiven for having thought it had shuttered, the contemporary American restaurant launched in 1986 — and the stage for a procession of talented cooks — is back on track. John Wabeck, late of Firefly, is the guy responsible for reviving the comatose kitchen. Full Article…

July 3, 2007 – Johnny’s Baaaack and Taking Things to New Heights (DCist) - I was a bit uncertain as I walked down Calvert St. toward Open City. I was looking for New Heights, and what I saw was a slightly shabby awning on a narrow storefront. This, I thought, is nothing like Firefly. But I’d been tipped off. I was there to see a man named John Wabeck about some soft shell crabs. A few months ago, Wabeck left the kitchen at Firefly to escape conference calls and focus on the food. Clearly he saved up some of his creativity and put it into the menu at his old kitchen at New Heights, where he used to work. Full Article…