The National Museum of African American History and Culture has opened its doors. New hotels including the Trump International and the Watergate have opened. And this year, the prestigious Michelin guide will start rating D.C. restaurants. USA TODAY
The National Museum of African American History and Culture has more than 36,000 artifacts.(Photo: National Museum of African American History and Culture)
When Genevieve Villamora moved to Washington, D.C., from Chicago in 1994, a night out on the town would involve a trip to Georgetown or Dupont Circle.
Washington's then-limited dining scene was concentrated in those neighborhoods. More than two decades later, the city's culinary world has expanded. Villamora and other entrepreneurs and chefs have moved to neighborhoods such as Columbia Heights and Shaw, which used to be known for its crime, not cuisine. Villamora co-owns Bad Saint, a Filipino restaurant in Columbia Heights that usually has lines of people waiting for one of its 24 seats.
"There used to be a few scenes in town, but now all neighborhoods have a restaurant scene," says Villamora, who graduated from Georgetown University. "This restaurant renaissance is happening on a local level. By having very neighborhood-based restaurants, I feel like the restaurants can more easily take on the character of the neighborhood."
With its great landmarks and museums, Washington, D.C., has always been a rewarding destination. But for decades the action for visitors centered around the National Mall and just a few neighborhoods. In the last 10 years, the city has had a renaissance, bringing new attractions and hotels, and a booming culinary scene that spans the city.
Last week, the National Museum of African American History and Culture opened its doors, with celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith and Tom Hanks being among the first to tour it. The National Gallery of Art will soon debut a newly renovated East Building. Luxury hotels such as the Trump International Washington D.C. and the Watergate are now welcoming guests. City Center, a new retail and dining complex near the Convention Center, has the likes of Hermes and Gucci as tenants.
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Last SlideNext SlideAnd next month, Washington will become the fourth U.S. city to get the prestigious Michelin guide, following in the footsteps of New York City, San Francisco and Chicago.
"There's this creative electricity that goes across different sectors and areas of activity, which I think is exciting," Villamora says. "People are not just seeing it as a one-horse government town anymore."
With the upcoming election and inauguration, all eyes will be on Washington, and the city is doing its best to shine.
"The perception of D.C. continues to change and get progressively better," says Elliott Ferguson, president and CEO of Destination D.C.
That was not always the case. For a time, in the 1980s, D.C. was perceived as a city in trouble.
"The city had a lot of problems, the country had a lot of problems," Ferguson says. "You think of areas like U Street that once had a tarnished reputation and other areas of the city. Those areas have now flourished with growth and diversity."
The opening of the new Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Mount Vernon Square in 2003 brought much-needed group business to the city as did a new Marriott Marquis nearby. At the same time, improvements to the National Mall attracted tourists. New monuments such as the National World War II Memorial and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial were erected.
A new baseball stadium, which opened in 2008, made Washington more of a sporting city. In two years, the city expects to open a new soccer stadium.
And chefs such as Jose Andres, Art Smith, Wolfgang Puck, Michael Mina and Mike Isabella have all deemed Washington a worthy stop.
"All those things have changed the landscape of Washington," Ferguson says.
Andres, the Spanish-born chef at Minibar by Jose Andres and Jaleo, arrived in D.C. more than 20 years ago. He opened Jaleo in the Penn Quarter area that includes Chinatown.
"We helped revitalize a neighborhood that very much was bad," he says. "The Penn Quarter at 5 o'clock, there was nobody on the street."
Then came the Shakespeare Theater and the Verizon Center in the late 1990s, home of the Washington Wizards basketball team.
"The restaurant is more than a place, a business to feed people," Andres says. "The restaurant industry becomes a very important part of recreating the DNA of what a city is — the sum of all neighborhoods."
Ashok Bajaj, founder of Knightsbridge Restaurant Group, which includes 701, Rasika and Bombay Club, credits former President Bill Clinton for elevating the dining scene.
"He was the first president who started going out to restaurants," he says. "The president tends to lift the city up, then everyone follows."
Kwame Onwuachi was one who followed. The former Top Chef contestant moved to Washington just over a year ago to open Shaw Bijou.
"The restaurant scene, it was on the incline ... and I wanted to be part of the scene," he says.
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Last SlideNext SlideIn addition to new restaurants, Washington is also having a hotel boom.
Earlier this month, the Trump International Washington D.C. opened in the historic Old Post Office Pavilion. The luxury hotel, part of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's hospitality empire, commands nightly rates exceeding $700.
The Watergate Hotel has re-opened after nearly a decade of standing empty, a constant reminder of the burglary that brought down President Richard Nixon. The new hotel has a large rooftop bar with views of the Potomac River, guest rooms with balconies, and a fine dining establishment called Kingbird.
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Last SlideNext SlideKimpton Hotels and Restaurants has invested in the city as well, with the recent opening of Mason and Rook and Kimpton Glover Park Hotel, which has the Casolare restaurant by James Beard award-winning chef Michael Schlow.
But perhaps the most highly anticipated opening of the year is that of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
The large bronze structure on the National Mall houses a collection that takes visitors from the early days of slavery to modern times. It includes such artifacts as a hymnal that belonged to Harriet Tubman, a dress made by Rosa Parks and a stool from the Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., the site of a famous sit-in against segregation.
"This museum sends a definite message of hope and possibility at a time when there is some strife and there are some tough problems," says Kinshasha Holman Conwill, deputy director of the museum. "We have been able as a country to transform those difficult times into extraordinary cultural expression."
Conwill moved from Atlanta to Washington in the 1960s and has seen the city completely transform.
"I came in the early 1960s when Washington was still shrugging off the vestiges of segregation," she says. "I lived to see it as a vibrant inclusive city that accepts people from around the world."
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