I'm just your friendly, neighborhood food writer who rarely crosses paths with the movers and shakers who run the DC scene. I may know the restaurants where the action takes place, but the names of the players mostly evade me.
So I headed to Charlie Palmer Steak for lunch with both a critic's and an anthropologist's eye.
I threw on my conservative best (although I also brought my hippo-shaped purse) and drove with my husband into the city.
We lucked into a parking spot just across the street from the White House and walked three minutes to the restaurant's front door at 101 Constitution Ave NW.
My decision to visit for lunch was motivated by a few factors.This Charlie Palmer Steak seemed elegant inside.
Alice Levitt
By going in the afternoon, I wanted to see deals being closed, take photos of my food in the daylight, and save money by ordering our steaks from among the lunch specials.
As far as I could tell, I only succeeded in the last two.
When I arrived at Charlie Palmer Steak just before my 12:30 p.m. reservation, the dining room was mostly empty. By the time I left two hours later, nearly every table was full. This is not an early lunch town.
Most tables had steaks and burgers on them, and not many groups seemed to forego dessert.
The interior felt luxurious and I was especially impressed by the orchids. The orchids throughout Charlie Palmer Steak looked beautiful.
Alice Levitt
The spare-no-expense atmosphere includes colorful orchids tucked into seemingly every corner, from a place of honor in front of the extra-large, glass-encased wine cellar to a line-up just outside the ladies' room.
At lunchtime, most people were seated in the area surrounding the bar, which had a TV appropriately tuned to CNN.
However, I was seated next to a soaring window that looked out at the Robert A. Taft Memorial and Carillon and falling autumn leaves.
Who is this Charlie Palmer, anyway?Charlie Palmer Steak has a few locations.
Alice Levitt
I grew up in the New York City area, where Aureole has been a household name since it opened in the late 1980s. Aureole is Palmer's first restaurant, and with it, he gained fame and a 1997 James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef in America.
Aureole earned multiple Michelin stars in its 32-year run before closing during the pandemic in 2020. In 2021, it became Charlie Palmer Steak NYC, joining three other Charlie Palmer Steak locations in DC, Nevada, and California.
The meal started off with promise by way of a complimentary bread basket.I was glad the bread basket was complimentary.
Alice Levitt
Many restaurants charge for bread these days, but not Charlie Palmer Steak.
Right after we ordered, a server ferried over a basket filled with sweet, crumbly cornbread and brioche rolls topped with salty everything-bagel seasoning.
The butter with it could've been softer, but it still melted when spread on the warm bread.
Thank goodness for fig season.The figs tasted juicy and fresh.
Alice Levitt
Choosing a starter was tough. If I weren't so cheap, I probably would have gone for one of the seafood platters, which start with the $40 Le Petit and rise to the $165 Magnifique.
Small bites also include things like lobster corn dogs and a Maryland crab "roll" with crab salad and a tempura squash blossom.
But in the interest of staying seasonal and getting something that I hoped would be shareable, I ordered the $20 Black Mission fig salad. It was smaller than I'd hoped, but it was also far more flavorful than I'd imagined.
Set over a lake of stracciatella (the gooey center in burrata cheese), greens lightly dressed in lemon served as a base for juicy fresh figs, three meaty pieces of prosciutto, and a sweet balsamic drizzle. The dish was beautifully balanced.
Our steaks came out shortly after we finished the salad.My steak was nice and tender.
Alice Levitt
My 6-ounce filet mignon ($44) and my husband's 8-ounce New York strip ($36) were both served with lemon-tossed greens. The meat tasted like it was seasoned with salt, pepper, and a rub that had sugar and a hint of cumin.
On its own, my fall-apart-tender medium-rare filet was plenty flavorful, but a round of herb butter melted over the cross-hatched grill marks added a hint of freshness.
The small cup of CP Sauce, Charlie Palmer's signature steak sauce, was like a fruitier A1, but I didn't use much because it was chilled and left my steak cold when I used it.
The potato dish was full-flavored and heavy.I hadn't expected so much cheese.
Alice Levitt
The single item I was most looking forward to at my lunch was the twice-baked potato ($14), a dish Palmer is known for.
Much to my surprise, the truffle-and-bacon twice-baked potato came to my table covered in cheese — a mix of cheddar and Gruyère, my server said.
Though there was a faint truffle scent, the flavor relied more on the fat of sour cream, cheese, and chunks of bacon. I was disappointed by its lack of complexity.
My vegetable followed suit.The cauliflower was roasted nicely but felt a bit heavy.
Alice Levitt
It was tough to decide on a vegetable, and I think my choice may have been wrong.
In retrospect, I probably should've ordered the slow-roasted squash with pomegranate molasses or asparagus with lemon zest. Instead, I was enticed by the roasted cauliflower ($12).
I love a cauliflower dish with golden raisins, often called Sicilian cauliflower. But these beautifully roasted heads of the brassica were sunk into a deep layer of smoked Gouda fonduta, meaning even more cheese.
In combination with the unexpectedly cheesy potato, it was just too weighty.
I almost didn't have room for dessert, but I'm glad I did.The peach cobbler at Charlie Palmer was excellent.
Alice Levitt
I wasn't moved by steak-house staples like the trio of crème brûlée or the vanilla-scented cheesecake, so I almost skipped dessert.
But I decided that based on the quality of the bread basket, the pastries deserved a try.
I ordered the peach cobbler ($12), and it was as near to perfection as any cobbler I've ever eaten. The puffs of pastry were feather-light and there were plenty of them covering the firm, skin-on peaches.
The fruits themselves were spiced with cinnamon with a barely-there sweetness that relied on a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a hit of sugar.
In the end, I enjoyed my lunch at Charlie Palmer Steak but would be unlikely to return.There are other places I might prefer to get lunch.
Alice Levitt
There weren't any huge red flags at the restaurant, though the service felt a bit hands-off and forgetful, especially when it came to bringing me my check. I felt like I waited quite a bit for it.
Two hours is a long time to spend at a restaurant at lunchtime, though I was partly responsible since I ordered three courses.
In total, we spent $158 after tax and about $180 after tip.
In my day-to-day life, I simply can't afford to spend more than $180 on lunch. And if I were going to, there are steak houses, omakases, and other upscale restaurants with more exciting menus where I'd be more inspired to shell out for a special occasion.
Don't get me wrong, Charlie Palmer Steak is a very good restaurant — but it doesn't stand out among DC's varied best.
