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Amber Pfau

Divine dining: Entrée to D.C.'s fine fare

Marian Burros

January 13, 2009

When the Kennedys entered the White House in 1961, classical French food was still de rigueur. Jacqueline Kennedy hired a French chef, and Washington’s best watering holes soon had names such as Sans Souci, Rive Gauche and Maison Blanche.

Today, sole meunière has been replaced by pan-roasted Montauk wild striped bass, andmousse au chocolat by warm chocolate torte.

One thing, though, has not changed. Having lived in both New York and Washington for the past 27 years, I find it is still true that only a handful of restaurants here — Restaurant Eve and The Inn at Little Washington (tied for best), CityZen and Citronelle, when Michel Richard is in residence — can compete with New York’s finest.

There are others that are generally very good, and many of those have good to great wine lists, but finding the area’s 10 best restaurants took some digging. And when faced with having to rate them, the top 10 list shrank to eight. The results are based on visits last month, combined with earlier meals. (Proof is the exception; I’ve been there only once.) Note to the Obamas: There are no Italian or Mexican restaurants on the list. None rise to the level of Chicago’s Spiaggia or Topolobampo.

Proof
Who can resist Sebastian, the sommelier, when he describes the taste of a favorite wine as “swampy grapefruit”? An intriguing list at this wine-centric restaurant, with many choices by the glass, is complemented by extremely good food: maybe the best grilled eggplant dish I’ve ever eaten, not to mention perfectly cooked pork loin with tiny sweet Brussels sprouts and an outstanding toffee pudding with just the right amount of stickiness.

The exposed brick and the pewter bar befit the vibrant scene in Washington’s hottest neighborhood, Penn Quarter. Good, too, for just a glass of wine and choices from a fine cheese selection.

2008 Fall Dining Guide | Critic Rating: ★ ★ ★

Tom Sietsema

October 12, 2008

Proof was there at the beginning of the explosion of wine themes around town, and, despite the competition, the handsome watering hole across from the National Portrait Gallery stands out as one of the best places to sit, sip and snack the night away. For openers, the dining room, warm in brick and espresso-colored booths, is both comfortable and stylish. Second, Proof's vast inventory of wine can be sampled however you wish: by the taste, the glass or the bottle. More

Best New Wine Lists ’08

Richard Nalley

July 2008

For a guy with a jet-black mohawk and skateboarding sneakers, Proof’s wine director, Sebastian Zutant, is on surprisingly familiar terms with some very fancy wines. His 1,000-plus-bottle list includes collectibles (Château Haut-Brion), newer cult wines (Marcassin, Pax) and a few historic icons (1947 Cheval Blanc for $11,000). How did the year-old restaurant put together a cellar like this so fast? “We cherry-picked from the cellars of our investors,” Zutant explains. In this wine-centric restaurant, the 50 or so wines available by the glass are just the beginning: “We want everybody sharing dishes from our small-plates menu,” Zutant says about chef Haidar Karoum’s modern American food; therefore, with a two-glass minimum, Zutant will open any wine on the list that’s priced at $300 or less.

Proof Positive

Monica Bhide

July 2008

With more than 1,150 bottles and 40 wines by the glass, Washington, D.C.'s new wine bar, Proof, should please picky oenophiles. More

Proof in the Pudding

David Hagedorn

January/February 2008

“Wow! These matches are really cool!” a friend of mine said as we entered Proof one evening. That was just the beginning. Before Proof opened last year, I wrote a piece for Flyer wondering whether its owner, Mark Kuller, a tax attorney with a dream but no restaurant experience, could make a go of it. He could, and he has. I love this place, and apparently everyone else in town does, too; it’s hard to get in. More

Champagne Toast

Sharon Jaffe Dan

Spring 2008

Even though it’s in DC, Proof will transport you to France with its dedicated champagne trolley. Sommelier Sebastian Zutant has received high marks for the restaurant’s offerings, which include 40 wines by the glass and more than 900 bottle selections.

Designs to Savor: DC Firms Create a Pair of Beautiful New Restaurants

Ronald O'Rourke

Fall 2008

The restaurant business is notoriously competitive—only a fraction of those that open in any given year survive over the long run. But a well-designed interior, while no guarantee of success, can certainly give a restaurant a leg up on its competition—in short, good architecture, as usual,means good business. Download Full Article (PDF)

Proof Positive

Tom Sietsema

September 23, 2007

There are abundant reasons to visit Proof, the latest restaurant to support Penn Quarter's standing as Washington's most diverting dining destination. Exhibit A is found in your wineglass. More

Where to Go Next

Amanda McClements

November 2007

Champagne trolleys roll up table-side at this new Penn Quarter spot from first-time restaurateur and longtime wine collector Mark Kuller. Chef Haidar Karoum prepares terrific dishes like hamachi with Hawaiian red salt and green papaya, and glazed sablefish with miso emulsion, but what's really exciting is the wine list, overseen by sommelier Sebastian Zutant (note the vertical vintages of California cult wines, like Screaming Eagle).

Grape Nuts

Tom Sietsema

February 1, 2008

America's love affair with wine grows stronger every year. According to the most recent edition of The U.S. Wine Market: Impact Databank Review and Forecast, consumers knocked back a record 304 million (9-liter) cases, a 4 percent gain over 2006. This surpasses the amount of vino drunk by Italians, and the U.S. is poised to out-sip France (France!) as the globe's largest wine market in the next seven years. More

Eating Well

Northwest Airlines World Traveler

November 1, 2007

Colorful descriptions are bound to accompany libations at the refreshingly unpretentious wine-centric dining spot Proof. The most happening venue in the city's most happening neighborhood, the Penn Quarter eatery features a spectacular 900-bottle wine list and a staff capable of guiding you through it. More

A D.C. Wine Bar Creates a Buzz

Sarah Pascarella

August 7, 2007

Washington D.C. isn't known for happening nightlife, but you'd never know it from the happy faces we saw packed into Proof, a new wine bar and restaurant that opened in the Penn Quarter earlier this week. Gourmands can gorge themselves on Mediterranean dishes like carpaccio, tartare, crudo, and artisanal cheeses while oenophiles can choose from a staggering selection of vintages. More

2008 Jetset Guide

This earthy urban restaurant and wine bar adds a hint of homeyness to the otherwise glittering showoffs that surround it in the Penn Quarter neighborhood. Chatty friends slip into grommeted leather booths beneath hammered copper mirrors. The humming scene get even buzzier after a few glasses from the traveling champagne trolley. Make friends with the sassy sommelier and save room for the cheese tray. More

Proof convinces with fine dining, magical scenery Penn Quarter is trending up

Corinna Lothar

October 4, 2007

The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and the pudding at Proof is fine. Proof, the restaurant, is a new addition to Washington's trendy Penn Quarter, and there really is a pudding: sticky toffee, perhaps not quite as sticky as the Australian or British original, but nevertheless delicious with a smudge of toffee-caramel sauce beneath a small round of cake topped with cool ginger ice cream. More

For Proof's presence at Zagat, click here