No town delivers better Indian food, access to a more sumptuous countryside inn, finer Spanish 
tapas or a more thrilling avant-garde experience than the nation’s capital. Call me biased to put the city I know best, and longest, on a list of the country’s top food draws. But initially, at least, my attachment was a disadvantage the area had to overcome: I am, after all, as familiar with its weaknesses as with its strengths. (If grocery shopping is second-rate, local wines are collecting international nods.) Only after I auditioned a dozen other candidates could I stand back and take stock of a market that, while low on tradition, was big on community and variety at all levels, including locally grown, socially conscious fast-food concepts with national ambitions. (Go, Beefsteak and Sweetgreen!) Celebrity chef José Andrés summed up the District scene, 2,000 restaurants strong, when he said, “We are not one thing, but so many things at once.”

Defining moment: Sitting in Barmini, the futuristic lounge created by Andrés, where I watched some cocktails change color.

Best charcuterie: At the Partisan, a roster of 30-plus meats are arranged under descriptive headings, as if they were wines. The meaty marvels include a “bright” bresaola cured with a Thai treasure chest of spices.