hi everyone,

we are celebrating our 20th anniversary and I am surprising my hubby with a trip to Washington, DC in December. We're staying at the hotel monaco.

Would love to go to a great and special restaurant on Saturday night. We are from the NYC area so we know about pricy restaurants. Prefer we not go broke, though.

suggestions???

many thanks again as I have gotten great help from you all before.

Correction-we will be there in September.

help, again?

sorry can't help you.

I lived in DC as a broke staffer, so can't help much with personal recs, but love the Washington Post food critic's chats on Washington Post online. There's always people asking about/comenting on special occasion places, I'd scroll through the last few weeks and see what the buzz is.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...071900913.html

Is there a restaurant attached to the Hotel Monaco? The one is SF is great. I'd check reviews if so. Just steps away from your room on your anniversary.

There is a restaurant in the Hotel Monaco, Poste I believe. From what I know, it's good but not great. There is a stellar restaurant not far from the Monaco that I would definitely recommend - Cafe Atlantico (cafeatlantico.com/dinner.htm). If you are willing to venture a little further, I would recommend either the Tabard Inn for great wintertime ambiance and great food, 1789, or Bistrot Lepic. I think these last two offer sublime cuisine and romantic settings without destroying the bank account. By all means, read the Post reviews mentioned above and also the City Paper's reviews at http://restaurants.washingtoncitypap...der.php?navBar.

Enjoy your trip!

Poste gets mixed reveiws and folks Iknow wo have dined there are not impressed.
Some ideas are IndeBleu http://www.bleu.com/indebleu/; Kinkeads http://www.kinkead.com/
Obelisk http://www.washingtonian.com/Dining/...s/Obelisk.html
Bistro Bis http://vidaliadc.com/bistro/index.asp
Food is good at Bistro lepic, but tables are rather close together. Cafe Atlantic is a good choice..even better the MiniBar at Cafe Atlantico which has to be booked a month in advance. 1789 is generally good, but the chef left recently and haven't heard reports on the new chef.