The chef-owner of Corduroy never shouts to be heard. Rather, Tom Power merely buys good ingredients, prepares them to best advantage, and arranges them in such a way that first your eyes and then your tongue are entertained. So your scallop appetizer might be from Maine, offered in its fancy shell along with its roe and seasoned with just a sprinkle of sea salt and olive oil: brilliant restraint.  I almost always order soup here, and I’m almost always delighted by what I find in the bowl, most recently chilled burdock soup broadened with dashi, kelp and bonito flakes for a smoky, mushroom-like effect. The lovely green-and-white shiso salad glossed with grapeseed oil and rice wine vinegar is a trick Power gleaned after seeing his wife’s family’s shiso farm in Japan.  You can pretty much go anywhere on the list and find yourself in good company; Corduroy’s pastas are equal to his Italian counterparts’, and if you want a change from beef, lean antelope with haricots verts and a wash of juniper and red wine should be your destination. An on-the-spot request for a meatless main course is followed by (grrr) a plate with a bunch of side dishes on it, but the seven (count ‘em!) elements also include some Indian-inspired choices.  The mood of the staff is cool some nights, and there’s a tendency to up-sell on occasion. “Champagne would go well with your appetizers,” a server coos — an entreaty we ignore. Other kitchens do better cheese plates; few competitors bake an apple tart as well as Corduroy, where a wisp of pastry, plump fruit and velvety ice cream can lead to another order.  The sleek, two-story townhouse across from the city’s convention center is, like the cooking here, subtle but not without splashes of color. If there are two of you and you want some privacy, ask for Table 24, a trim booth facing the open kitchen. Coming up next, next door: Baby Wale, another fabric-inspired place to eat, this one more casual and serving pizza and “fun things,” Power promises.
Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema takes a fresh look at 13 restaurants he has previously reviewed. How do they fare the second time around?