The Monkey Cage

We are definitely paying our assistant professors too much if they're dining at Per Se. $275 fixed price per person, plus alcoholic beverages, plus up-charges for "luxury ingredients."

The more appropriate comparisons for DC's restaurant scene would be, not New York or Chicago, but cities of similar size. Better yet, compare DC 2008 with DC 1988 and you'll see a truly amazing change for the better. For most of its history, Washington was a provincial southern place. Now, as sophisticates and foodies like David have increasingly graced the nation's capital with their presence, the restaurant scene has taken a definite turn for the better.

Unrelenting unmitigated crime?

Jeez, you've visited Per Se enough times that it's your favorite restaurant in the states? And that implies that you've also been to The Inn at Little Washington (does that count as a DC restaurant?), French Laundry, Boulud, etc? Wow.

For the record, Lee, it's only in Political Science that the Asst Profs are paid so well. I've managed to dine at Per Se (once) and The Inn ... (twice), but always on someone else's (generous!) dime.

DC is doing quite well on the restaurant front. In addition to CityZen, I've had great meals at several other restaurants (few, if any, of course, at the level of Per Se), including Citronelle, Le Paradou, Black Salt, and Makoto. I've heard great things about Restaurant Eve (in Alexandria), Maestro (in Tyson's), and others that are escaping my mind at the moment.

I think philocyclist got it about right -- DC is full of "second-tier-nice" restaurants -- when I was there favorites were Palena, Cashion's (back when Ann was running things), and Ardeo -- but very few at the level of a French Laundry, Per Se, etc. That said, it seems unfair to say DC "just doesn’t have a restaurant scene comparable to other major cities." I found it to be every bit as good as Atlanta (which is no slouch), and my sense is that it competes well with places like Philadelphia, Dallas, Phoenix, Houston, etc.

"The potential client base in DC has to be comparable to Chicago, and the rents should be less in DC."

Neither of these are true, actually. DC is smaller than Chicago by a good factor, but rents are nevertheless higher (demand is high, due to businesses that can only operate in downtown DC e.g. lobbyists; and supply is constrained, by the height limit among other things).

DC actually has some of the best ethnic food I've found outside of the Bay Area (haven't had much chance to eat in NYC, so I can't compare there). However, you have to be willing to give up the ambiance of a big-name restaurant for the little mom & pop places, which lack the decor, but deliver the taste. Next time you're in DC try checking out Tyler Cowen's Ethnic Dining Guide for a great treat. (He's an economics professor at GMU.)

DC has a ton of good restaurants, and it's growing very swiftly. Some of the established are The Inn at Little Washington, Citronelle, Kinkeads (great rep, I haven't been there) and 2941. And then you have some up-and-comers, like Oyamel, the new Wolfgang Puck place in the Newseum (I've heard great things).

There are a few second-tier classy places (Oyamel might be called one), like Equinox or Butterfield 9.

And the chef originally from 2941 (Johnathan Krin) is opening up a new place in Tysons Corner sometime around October or so. DC's got a lot to recommend it right now in terms of foodie delights. Certainly it's no NYC, but it's a bit better than you portray it, I think.

Kinkead's isn't all fancy-schmantzy and over-the-top price-wise or fussy-foodie-wise like The Inn at Little Washington, but it's genuinely good for fish. Because it's virtually on the GW campus, we've eaten there often over the years and treat it as our neighborhood restaurant. David, I know it's way below your normal price range, but you should try it sometime.

DC doesn't have a core inner-city population to support the type of restaurant scene you would normally find in cities that size. It also doesn't really have much of a business community outside of politics and lawyers who are visiting, many of whom come for the day and then fly or take the train home after their business is over. The business community is actually in the suburbs, in places like Tyson's Corner, VA.

Anyway, I would like to send you a copy of my dining survey and invite you to particpate. Just go to http://www.opinionatedabout.com and register and I will stick a copy in the mail.

Here is the Washingtonian's 100 Best DC Restaurants

http://www.washingtonian.com/packages/verybest2008/index.html

Come visit Portland.