August Restaurant Spotlight: Westend Bistro by Eric Rupert

The Westend Bistro by Eric Ripert is tucked in the bottom corner of the Ritz Carlton, right at 22nd and M St NW. You may remember seeing the outdoor patio there, lush with high plants, creating a garden like oasis on one of the busiest streets of DC, and wondered "Which restaurant is that?" There signage is discrete, but let me tell you, its worth taking a closer look.

The Westend Bistro was opened in Late 2007 by Eric Ripert. You may know his name from the popular show Top Chef , that he appears as a guest judge on frequently. With the restaurant being open almost 2 years now and I find it amazing many have yet to hear of it. I was perusing the top 100 restaurant list put out by the Washingtonian a couple of weeks ago, and I began making my own list of restaurants I was not familiar with, and that seemed to have innovative and exciting interiors. That is how I came to be interested in The Westend Bistro. I began an email dialog with Audrey Slade, the Public Relations Manager for both Ritz-Carlton's in town, and she welcomed us in for a tour and a fabulous lunch.

Yesterday, Melissa Wilson, of Brinton's Carpet, and I arrived at the Ritz around noon. Audrey was waiting for us at the reception desk and we proceeded through the lobby into the hotel side entrance of The Westend Bistro. For just being noon the restaurant was already a buzz with patrons dining. The first thing I noticed was a large, 12' high I would say, gold leafed wall, which I later read was sculpted to portray flowing botanical waves of grain. The downlights above this wall cast brilliant shadows, allowing the sculpting to really show. From there we proceeded around the elliptical marble bar to the hostess. The bar has a combination of dark and honey wood, and the bar stools with their vibrant cherry red leather, really pop. (ladies, they DO have hooks for your purse!)

The dining area is energetic. The wood floors and wood ceiling allow the buzz and chatter of the guests to bounce around the space creating an upbeat vibe. This isn't a lunch you will need to whisper at, thank goodness! The seating is sectioned off with a low partition topped with lit onyx boxes, creating an interesting rhythm, as you proceed through the space. The bright rich red leather of the dining chairs, create a pop of color and ads to the sophistication of the space.

We were lucky to have one of the raised banquette tables at the windows. I loved that our dining table was inline, height wise, with the sidewalk on M St. The booth seemed private, but we were still able to observe the action inside, and more importantly outside the restaurant.

The FOOD: Audrey did a great job ordering our lunch. I don't claim to be a food critic, and I shouldn't because there isn't a lot I won't eat, but I know when I've had a meal that is OUTSTANDING. Let me tell you readers, our lunch was HUGE and OUTSTANDING. Being that I am not a food critic, and this is not a blog about food, I never thought I would put photo's of food up on here. I find that photo's of food sometimes take away from the appeal, but I'm going to do something I didn't ever think I would do.

TO ALL READERS: Next time you are in this area, even if you are not hungry, you MUST go in to The Westend Bistro and order the Chilled Tomato Consomme. It will be one of the most interesting and wonderful things you have ever had in your life. And here is where you will see... I DCdesignBlog, am inserting a photo of my soup, because it was JUST THAT GOOD!

Ok, back to business. We also tried a combination of the mini-burgers/sliders from the Bar Menu. We had the cornbread slider, which was topped with a pork bbq, the mini burger, which had amazingly spicy spicy mustard (I mean spicy in a good way), and the mini fish cake burgers, which Melissa, who doesn't like fish- LOVED! Now, do you think this was where our lunch stopped? Oh no! Audrey also ordered us the Salmon, which was one of the best I've had, so tender and had a great butter sauce over the Salmon and a combo of okra, sweet corn, and baby tomatoes. And lastly, bittersweet because we were running out of space in our stomachs, we had their special of the day, which was a homemade potato gnocchi, covered in prosciutto, an egg and asparagus. It was AWESOME!

The Westend Bistro, proved to be an intriguing and well designed space (designed by Adamstein & Demetriou), with just the right balance of casual sophistication. The balance of colors and feature elements was just right. I hope you will all stop in soon, and for a really cool experience check out their "Dinner at a Pass". Its a unique take on the chefs table.

On a side note, Audrey asked me to let you all know that Ritz-Carlton just put out this press release:

THE RITZ-CARLTON HOTELS OF WASHINGTON, D.C. INTRODUCE NEW “MEETINGS WITHIN REACH” PACKAGE OFFERING SPECIAL VALUE THROUGH THE END OF 2009 WASHINGTON, D.C. – August 5, 2009 – The Ritz-Carlton Hotels of Washington, D.C. are reaching out to corporate executives, meeting planners, and conference attendees in an effort to encourage the scheduling of meetings from educational seminars, incentive trips, customer appreciation events to annual retreats, as part of a corporate initiative through The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. With a message that “It’s Not Extravagant, If It Produces Results,” the award-winning hotel company is highlighting the added value proposition of selecting a Ritz-Carlton hotel or resort, even during the current challenging economic environment. “Meetings Within Reach” includes the following value-added components for groups booking ten or more nights at The Ritz-Carlton Hotels of Washington, D.C. as well as Ritz-Carlton hotels all over the world: Daily continental breakfast General session meeting room High speed Internet access in one meeting room 20 per cent savings on audio visual needs Select suite upgrades Meetings must be booked by September 30 and held by December 31, 2009