"The menu at this Blagden Alley spot changes daily, so it’s our favorite choice when we don’t mind handing over total control to the kitchen. The rustic farmhouse restaurant is a date-night situation—the moodily lit dining room screams boo thang. Every dish on the $235 eight-course menu has a backstory, and you’ll get to hear about what Virginia or Pennsylvania farm your duck lived on before it was confited and set on your table. The worst thing about The Dabney is all the scratching silverware, but it’ll be coming from your own table as you scrape up every last drop of the potato leek soup purée. " - tristiana hinton