I just had to report on a great restaurant I discovered while I was in Washington, DC recently. Whenever I am in DC I consider it a must to visit the area around Dupont Circle. With some of the city’s best bookstores (like Kramerbooks) and museums (most notably the Phillips Collection) and arguably the liveliest street life in the city, 
this area draws me much more that traditional tourist favorites like Georgetown.
Actually, the main attraction for me is the wealth of cafes and neighborhood restaurants. And on a recent visit I was invited to sample the fare at a recent addition to the neighborhood, Hank’s Oyster Bar. The restaurant is located just a few blocks from Dupont Circle in the heart of the diverse neighborhood around 17th and Q streets. In case you didn’t know, the Dupont Circle area also has long been one of DC’s most gay friendly neighborhoods. And Hank’s is run by Jamie Leeds, a skilled chef and restaurateur who just happens to be a lesbian. After spending years laboring in other DC restaurants, she opened her own place in May 2005. Jamie has modeled the restaurant after the popular oyster bars and seafood hangouts in Boston, New York and San Francisco. Hank’s also is a tribute to chef Leeds’s late father who was a fisherman.
Being a neighborhood restaurant, it is moderately sized, with seating for about 65 people inside and around 20 outside. The menu changes daily, offering several inviting specials but also many seafood classics. We immediately felt welcome, and not because they knew I was going to write a review. The place just felt welcoming and we could sense the pleasure of the diners, and see it on their faces. Naturally, we started with a look at the blackboard for the daily oyster and clam selection ($2 each), which also listed sake oyster shooters, jumbo shrimp cocktail and seafood ceviche. Then some excellent sourdough bread bridged the gap until our small plates ($6 to $13) arrived. We enjoyed lobster bisque and fried oysters but the popcorn shrimp and calamari, Caesar salad, and crab cakes looked just as good. The night we were there they also offered special small plates of steamed Penn Cove mussels, chilled Old Bay peel & eat shrimp, and shad roe with bacon. When it came to sampling the large plates ($11 to $22), we opted for the daily fish specials. Sable fish, mahi mahi and Arctic char all were fresh and expertly prepared.
The regular menu offered an oyster Po’ Boy, fried oysters, Ipswitch clams, a lobster and roll seared scallops. Believe me, it was a difficult choice. For those not in the mood for fish, there is a daily-changing “Meat & Two” menu (plus two sides). This included offerings such as short ribs, chicken schnitzel, pork chop, Flat Iron steak, Hangar steak and Beef Brisket. Hank’s also offers a market veggie plate. Sides ($4 each) are much more than the typical Cole Slaw, French Fries, and onion rings, although they have those, too. We adventured out of our comfort zone to order French green lentils, sesame snow peas and collard greens and were not disappointed. The one drawback is that Hank’s does not serve dessert (the kitchen’s too small) but they try to make up for it by bringing some excellent dark chocolate along with the bill.
Although some in our group still were disappointed, I just looked at it as a convenient excuse to move on to one of the great cafes in the area. And the wine list? Well, since this is a wine column I must tell you that the list is a really good match for the food and accessibly priced. Among the whites, we could choose sauvignon blanc from France or South Africa and chardonnay from France or California. But there also were more interesting choices, like French Muscadet, Austrian Gruner Veltliner, and Alsatian Pinot Gris. The red wines also were well chosen. A prime choice for fish, there was pinot noir from France, California and Oregon. But it was also nice to see alternatives, such as tempranillo from Spain, shiraz from Australia and malbec from Argentina. Once I got back to Denver, I wanted to see if I was alone in my favorable impression and found just the opposite. A few examples: Troy Petenbrink in The Washington Blade wrote, “Hank’s Oyster Bar is an excellent and much needed addition to the 17th Street dining scene.” Tom Sietsema of the Washington Post concluded, “Though the atmosphere is casual, this fish is first-rate.” And the Washingtonian magazine recently ranked Hank’s as one of the city’s top 100 restaurants.
Bottom line, Hank’s is a great neighborhood restaurant, a casual place where the food is anything but casual. And, in true neighborly fashion, the prices (including the wines) are more reasonable than other D.C. restaurants of comparable quality. If only Denver had a place like this.
VITAL STATISTICS: 1624 Q Street, NW, between 16th and 17th Streets. (202-462-4265). Hours: Sun-Tue 5:30pm-10pm; Wed- Sat 5:30pm-11pm; Sat-Sun Brunch 11am-3pm. Website: www.hanksdc.com