By Alex Joseph

     The streets of Paris are lined with cafes offering a robust selection of cheeses and the finest wines. The avenidas of Madrid hide tapas bars around every corner, featuring deliciously salty morsels of dried ham and thick stews. But what can be said of the world’s most powerful capital city, Washington D.C.?
Although the undeniable center of political power in the Western hemisphere, for years Washington D.C. has played second fiddle to its northern cousin, New York, in the cultural arena. While New Yorkers parade up Fifth Avenue shopping in the finest couture boutiques and dining at avant-garde eateries, D.C. insiders are more likely to be found in boxy suits, dipping away into smoke-filled parlors to negotiate deals over a bland steak and a strong drink. All of this, however, is changing rapidly, and the culinary scene of Washington, D.C. is at the frontlines of the capital city’s effort to reassert itself as a cultural capital.
The renaissance of Washington, D.C. culinary life can be traced back to the early 1990’s when two international chefs chose the city as their home. In 1993, Spanish chef Jose Andres opened his tapas restaurant, Jaleo. Food writer Monica Bhide believes that Jose Andres’ passions shone through in the food he brought to Washington, D.C. “He has such a passion and such a creative drive. Any chef that can talk non-stop about his love of ingredients and his respect for food, is in my opinion, the real deal!”

The Spanish-style dishes and international flavors he served at Jaleo propelled the restaurant into popularity and shortly thereafter Andres opened Café Atlantico. At Atlántico, Andres had the opportunity to showcase his skills and by 2003 was named the best chef of the mid-Atlantic region by the James Beard foundation.
While Andres brought an invigorating burst of new flavors into the district, it was a rotund Frenchman who introduced haute cuisine to the capital city. In 1998, four years after opening Citronelle in Georgetown, chef Michel Richard decided to convert this Washington, D.C. location into his flagship locale. A 1998 profile in the New York Times declared Richard, “Food’s  Ambassador to Washington,” a man whose dream was to, “turn Washington into a city known for its food.” Citronelle quickly rose to become one of America’s top 20 restaurants, according to Gourmet magazine, and Richard’s reputation for meticulous presentation and cutting edge culinary techniques catapulted him to international fame.
According to many food writers and industry observers, Washington has now become the “it” destination for new restaurants. Bhide, a national food columnist, believes, “Washington, D.C. is quickly making a name for itself as the next culinary destination. Chefs are hearing it and want to come down and play.”
And come they have. In 2003, Eric Ziebold opened his first restaurant CityZen. As the Cynthia Hacinli of Washingtonian magazine described, “No chef has arrived here with more fanfare than Eric Ziebold, who had just completed an eight-year turn as chef de cuisine at Thomas Keller’s revered French Laundry in Napa Valley when he landed at DC’s opulent Mandarin Oriental two years ago.” Immediately upon its opening it was named, “Best New Restaurant in America” by Esquire magazine, and one of the “hottest Restaurants in the World” by Food & Wine magazine. Ziebold’s success has undoubtedly contributed to the arrival of other notable chefs in the city in the last year, including Eric Rippert of Le Bernadin fame, and celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck.
The ever-growing slate of high-end restaurants is reshaping the face of Washington’s restaurant scene right before the eyes of industry watchers. The top restaurants in D.C. of years past, a stagnant group of steakhouses such as Capital Grille and Mortons, have been put on notice by the new chic eateries sprouting up around town. In fact, in the Washingtonian’s 2008 list of the 100 best restaurants in D.C., 1 in 5 was to the list that year.
Chefs aren’t the only people to appreciate the increasing gastronomic merits of Washington D.C. Tourists are beginning to see the district as a culinary destination and are willing to spend more on higher quality food during their visits. In 2004 the average visitor spent $249 per day on food. In just two years that number has increased by over 15%, to an average of $289 per day, turning culinary tourism into an increasingly profitable venture for the city.

While New York undoubtedly maintains its role as the center of epicurean delight, the culinary renaissance that Washington has experienced in the last few years has propelled America’s political capital back into cultural prominence. New Yorkers may want to watch out, as this trend shows no signs of slowing in the near future. A new slate of renowned chefs is set to descend on Washington, D.C. in the next year, including Gordon Ramsey and Fabio Trabocchi. At least for now it seems that the dream of having great food in Washington has finally been taken off the back burner.