"D.C.’s century-old boutique hotel hideaway got a big 2023 menu makeover full of French-Southern flair under culinary partner Ian Boden, the James Beard-nominated chef behind The Shack in Staunton, Virginia. Overseeing the fine-tuned changes in the charming Dupont dining room is executive chef Matthew Zafrir, a fine dining vet who honors his Maryland roots with memorable meals marked by mid-Atlantic ingredients. Highlights include crab fritters, local oysters doused homemade hot sauce, honeynut squash, duck confit atop Carolina gold rice, and bone-in Berkshire pork chop with kohlrabi slaw, plus homemade doughnuts during brunch. Zafrir’s close ties to family-run farm Earth N Eats also pay off on the plate, where wonderfully unique veggies show up morning to night (as do herbs plucked from Tabard’s outdoor garden). The eclectic bar up front is the place to be for whiskey Wednesdays, when beverage director and Fabio Trabocchi alum Dominik Lenikowski pulls a rare bottle from the cellar to sip until it’s gone." - Tierney Plumb, Emily Venezky
