Topaz and Rouge. (Currents).

DC's drinking scene has traditionally been saloon-focused, and hotel bars have mostly been the hang-outs for traveling lobbyists. Now, two small hotels operated by the Kimpton Group have sparked the downtown area with highly-designed bars that offer great eating. Chef John Wabeck, executive chef of Topaz Bar at the Topaz and Bar Rouge at Hotel Rouge, has worked under Mark Miller at Red Sage and Nora Pouillion at Asia Nora, and has matched small plates with the low-slung tables and cool drinking scene. Topaz Bar glows with luminescent light and iridescent color, and in addition to signature cocktails Blue Nirvana, Topaz Kozmo and Ultimate Negroni, the bar offer Wabeck's stir-fried sea scallops and yellow fin tuna and avocado tartare brought by servers in patent leather go-go boots. Hotel Rouge offers floor-to-ceiling red faux leather headboards and crimson velvet draperies, and in Bar Rouge, the menu includes signature cocktails like "sin on the rocks," a rocks glass filled with Raspberi Stoli, Limonaya Stoli and cranberry juice topped with champagne and garnished with a lollipop, as well as specialty plates such as smoked salmon-wrapped ahi tuna poke with carrot-tequila emulsion and sesame, and warm Navajo fry bread with citrus creme fraiche and American sturgeon caviar.