The Fourth Estate

Elite '08

278

504

angela n.

Washington, DC

My friend is literally addicted to the Fourth Estate's scallops: She ate here three times during Restaurant Week! Being vegetarian, I didn't try them, but hers did look tasty.  

The Fourth Estate menu, on its face, was not veggie friendly.  But I asked the nice staff if they could accommodate me. They asked if I liked cheese (Yes!), then they spoke with the chef, who kindly prepared:

- a fresh salad made of avocado, tomatoes, hearts of palm, green leafy sprouts, and mango.
- a smooth cold peach-ginger ale soup (yeah that sounds unique, doesn't it? I liked its fizzy sweetness)
- a pleasantly cheesy vegetarian risotto with red and yellow bell peppers, onions, zucchini, tomatoes...  
- the highlight: a damn fine cheese plate. It had an Irish cheese (made with Guinness!), a sharp Spanish goat cheese, an Italian sheep cheese with black peppercorns, a British "Harlack" cheese made with horseradish, and a pungent blue cheese whose origins I forget. The plate was served with small berries, almonds, and some honey.  

On the whole, four large tasty courses made a good Restaurant Week deal.  It was also fun to browse the wall photos of NPC events (George Clooney, etc.).The only reasons I don't rate the Fourth Estate higher are that I didn't see any windows (on the 13th floor, you'd expect some sort of view, no?), and the non-Restaurant Week prices are just a little too high for my taste (but if you're a National Press Club member, you'd get a discount).

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0

21

Hyacinth Z.

Washington, DC

The best thing about The Fourth Estate is the multi-course wine dinners.  You can actually meet television star chefs like Anthony Bourdain, John Shields (who I knew from his restaurant in Baltimore), Mireille Guiliano (sp?) who is the CEO of Veuve Clicquot and wrote "French Women Don't Get Fat," and more.  They bring in a wine expert who pairs a different wine with each course.

For just a regular-night dining experience the food is really good, but I wouldn't say the restaurant itself is completely memorable; you're basically in an old men's club that now admits women and lets the general public visit its restaurant.  But if you go to one of the wine dinners, or if you go to a National Press Club event and then have dinner afterward, it's perfect.

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368

434

Jennifer S.

Arlington, VA

This is the National Press Club's restaurant, located on the 13th floor of the building. Unlucky number 13, as it applies here, as far as I'm concerned.

The Fourth Estate's regular menu offers both higher end entrees and more bistro-like fare (lunch and diner), with ingredients purchased from organic and small farmers nearby. However, I was here for NYE, a night when you EXPECT everything to be at its prime, and it wasn't. The service was very attentive in a quiet way and the ambiance was what you would expect - very nicely done. My salad was good, with maybe a tad too much oil. My risotto was supposed to be mushroom-free and was not. My lobster had this quality that made it look translucent - it's called undercooked, and I couldn't choke it down. Normally, I am not one to suffer through a meal that is sub par without attempting to at least fix the situation. This night however, we were with several couples, the girlfriend of one actually worked in the building and set up this special section for all of us to enjoy. None of us could/would complain in her presence, but all of us disliked our food. Every last one of us. Given that, I cannot imagine going back, not even for dessert (which was actually quite good).

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