Lunchtime Links for January 25th, 2010

• Holy Moly: Doughnut Upside Down Cake recipe.
• Apps Only: Frankie's 457 Spuntino appetizer review.
• Love This Place: Some offerings from Bouchon Bakery, NYC.
• Cooking Light: New uses for pantry items.
• Bliss Spa: Review of the DC Bliss spa.

Restaurant List

This is a running list of restaurants that I haven't been to slash want to go to- if I don't write it down somewhere I'll never remember them all.  Thanks to N for the idea of keeping a list on my blog!  This list can also be found from my main page, via "View my Complete Profile" on the sidebar, then to "Wishlist".

• ACKC Cocoa Bar
• Addie's
• Againn (Rockville, DC)
• Babbo
• Balthazar
• Bayou Bakery
• Birch & Barley
• BGR The Burger Joint (Arlington, Bethesda, Dupont Circle)
• BlackSalt
• Bouchon Bakery (Carryout, Dining Room)
• Bouley Bakery
• Bourbon Steak DC (Bar, Dining Room)
• Buttercup Bake Shop
• Butter Lane
• Capogiro Gelateria
• Central
• CF Folks
• Churchkey
• City Bakery
• CityZen (Bar, Main Dining Room)
• Co./Company
• Corduroy
• Cork Wine Bar
• Dessert Club ChikaLicious
• Di Fara Pizzeria
• Doughnut Plant
• Eleven Madison Park
• EN Japanese Brasserie
• Ess-A-Bagel
• Estadio
• Et Voila!
• Eventide
• Fatty Crab
• Financier Pastry Shop
• Four Sisters
• Gramercy Tavern
• Honey Pig
• Inn at Little Washington
• J & G Steakhouse
• Jacques Torres Chocolate
• Katsuhama
• Kin Shop
• Komi
• Kotobuki
• Kushi
• L'Arte del Gelato
• Le Bernardin
• Le Relais de Venise L'Entrecôte
• Locanda Verde
• Luke's Lobster
• Lyon Hall 
• Mandu
• Maoz Vegetarian
• Marvin
• Masa 14
• Masala Art
• Medium Rare
• Me Jana
• Michael's Noodles
• Michel Richard Citronelle
• Minetta Tavern
• Minibar at Cafe Atlantico
• Momofuku (Ko, Ssam, Noodle Bar, Milk Bar, Ma Peche)
• Murray's Cheese Shop
• Otto
• Oyamel
• Palena
• Payard
• Perilla
• Ping Pong Dim Sum
• Po
• Poste Modern Brasserie (Bar, Dining Room)
• Present
• Rasika
• The Redhead
• Ren's Ramen
• Restaurant Eve
• Rogue 24
• Russ and Daughters
• Screwtop Wine Bar
• Shopsins
• The Source
• Sou'Wester
• Spotted Pig
• SquareBurger
• Sugar Sweet Sunshine
• Sullivan Street Bakery
• Sundaes & Cones
• Sushi Taro (new)
• Sushi Yasuda
• Tabard Inn
• Tavira
• Ted's Bulletin
• Topolobampo
• Two Little Red Hens
• Volt (Dining Room, Table 21)
• WD-50
• Xie Xie

W Hotel DC

I've always enjoyed the aesthetics of the W Hotel chain: cool furniture, fun music, doesn't feel like your everyday chain hotel. The new-ish DC W outpost is no different, and I got a chance to check it out for P's birthday party recently.

Lobby slash Bar.

When you walk in, you'll see the requisite "bar that's also the hotel lobby" space that every W Hotel I've been to has. There was a DJ spinning at the far end of the lobby, and a good number of people meeting up and chatting in the area.

If you walk down to the end of the lobby, and take the spiral staircase down, you'll find the Bliss spa. I'm a huge fan of the brand, and although their spa store had a limited selection, it's fun knowing that the closest Bliss outpost isn't in NYC anymore.

To get to the POV Bar/rooftop area, you take an elevator that is guarded by strict but courteous W employees. Apparently it can get REALLY crowded with long waits- they keep a tight leash on occupancy on the rooftop so that people aren't packed like sardines, which is nice. If you have reserved a table, they require a certain number of people to be there before they will let you up - at least, that's what happened with us that night.

As you can see above, the view from the POV rooftop is awesome. On a nice night you can see clear out to pretty much every monument and building in downtown DC. Lots of photo ops for sure, and very pretty if you're there for the sunset.

Specialty drinks are fun, and pricey ($15 for house specials). I LOVED the Strawberry Lemonade cocktail that they have there. Nothing mind-blowing but a fun drink to go along with the atmosphere. It might sound dumb, but you're really paying for the view, the atmosphere, and for being at a W Hotel more than anything else. $15 for a drink is definitely cause for some sticker shock, but if you're there for a special occasion or something a little different from the happy hour down the street, I think you'll really enjoy it. Also, it's probably a strategic move on the W's part- with these high prices, they don't have people taking up tables for hours on end, getting wasted off their butts because it's $1 draft night, haha. It's more of a "let's get a drink and catch up" place really, for me at least.

I didn't try any of the food that others ordered but it looked like mostly tapas items on the menu. I would recommend this place for a special occasion or if you're trying to impress someone with the view (visitors, hot date, etc.).

(Photos courtesy of P- thanks! And Happy Birthday Again!)

W Hotel

515 15th Street NW

Washington, DC 20004