The Source $$$

575 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
202/637-6100
www.wolfgangpuck.com/restaurants/fine-dining/3941 [1]

HOURS: Lunch Mon.-Fri. 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.,
dinner Mon.-Thurs. 5:30-10 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 5:30-11 p.m.,
brunch Sat. 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.

COST: Most entrées more than $20

One of only two Wolfgang Puck fine restaurants on the East Coast, The Source is a sparkling two-story eatery, a modern space of glass and steel with a comfortable lounge and a long bar downstairs and a minimalist dining room upstairs.

In this stark setting, the food provides the color: deep-pink tuna tartare in miso-sesame cones, pork-belly dumplings in ink-black sauce speckled with leafy green cilantro, red Thai-curry shrimp and rockfish tempered with yellow pineapple.

The lounge menu ranges from small bites like Kobe beef sliders and sushi to more filling fare, including black cod with noodle salad and Chinese barbecue spareribs. At lunchtime, The Source offers a three-course fixed-price menu featuring soup or pot stickers, cheeseburgers, salmon, and a surprise: select the prix fixe, and you can attend the neighboring Newseum [2] for $7.