"Walk through the marble-floored lobby of Hotel Ulysses in Mount Vernon and head past the dim reception desk to the left. That’s where you'll find the total sensory overload that is Ash—Bar. The amber, velvet-soaked interior will make you second guess if you’re actually in Baltimore or somehow landed in the dining room of a Transatlantic passenger ship. The menu is all seasonal American stuff, like a plate of crisp 24-hour pressed potatoes and a revitalizing caesar salad, but really, this place is all about the ambiance. So come, pretend you’re in a Wes Anderson movie, and sip a martini under the dim lighting." - Michele Berry