The 2020 Michelin Guide to Washington, D.C.

If it’s not local, it’s not on the menu. The Dabney is a delectable deep dive into the Mid-Atlantic region, where chef Jeremiah Langhorne chars, grills, and roasts the very best of what’s in season over shimmering embers. The crackling hearth stands out in the chic farmhouse décor, but it’s the plates that’ll captivate the most: skillet cornbread, bruléed figs, and seared fluke wow again and again.

At Gravitas, Matt Baker achieves the seemingly impossible: drawing a crowd of locals, visitors, critics, and VIPs to Ivy City, for a menu with vegetables front and center. And Gravitas is spellbinding, with local purveyors providing the goods, while Baker’s kitchen composes the rest: roasted squash is glazed in sage and brown butter, fagottini pasta purses are stuffed with pear and mushrooms, and crispy sweetbreads are matched with stewed peaches.

Anchored by a blazing pit, Maydān is a sight to behold: cooks dance around the flames like brazen ballerinas, playing with fiery logs and glimmering coals. Hunks of lamb shoulder hang above the hearth, juices dripping and splattering below; crackly-pillowy flatbread is pulled still puffy and fresh from the clay oven; and blistered vegetables feel the heat of the open flame. It’s a tantalizing ode to North African and Middle Eastern flavors, and a show-stopping experience unto itself.

Rethink your concept of fish in two hours and twenty bites: Sushi Nakazawa crafts its namesake with utter zeal. Daisuke Nakazawa, of Jiro Dreams of Sushi fame, helms this sleek marble counter, where revelers perch for an unforgettable omakase: hay-smoked sockeye salmon, mature yellowtail, and fatty tuna all parade one after another, to melt on the tongue, and reveal the flavors of the sea.

At this institution over three decades in the making, chefs Nobu Yamazaki and Masaya Kitayama craft a kaiseki for the ages. Seasonally-tuned and escalating in flavor, the artful tasting unfolds course after course, until it reaches its pinnacle: wooden crates of rare and glistening fish flown straight out of Tokyo are presented for patrons to pick and choose from, and then transformed into exquisite slivers of sashimi and sushi. A lesson in balance and taste, Sushi Taro is a pure expression of Japanese cuisine.

Bustling and cheery, Tail Up Goat always promises a good time. Helmed by a trio of Komi and Little Serow vets, this Adams Morgan stalwart whips up the sort of joy-inducing family-style plates that disclose serious chops. The bread course is legendary—the seaweed sourdough and focaccia are musts—seasonal pasta shines, and the playful drink offerings wrap it all up beautifully.