Now that summer is here and the days are longer, it’s easy to indulge my proclivity for running—from one restaurant to another, that is. It takes the endurance of a track star from Kenya (my staying power is usually closer to Dustin Hoffman’s) to fit in all the new places opening in and around town, so, to see if I was fit enough, I gave myself two weeks to hit all the spots I wanted to cover for this issue.

The grueling course started on Pennsylvania Avenue at Café du Parc, then wound its way to Brasserie Beck at 11th and K, back to Mio on Vermont Avenue and on to Hook in Georgetown. From there, I panted over to Arlington’s EatBar, then trailed the George Washington Parkway to Old Town Alexandria (by then I was so winded I had to rest up at three spots: the reborn Majestic Cafe, Vermilion and Rustico), and, finally, back to D.C. , ending in a heap of exhaustion in the lounge at Firefly with a Campari and soda in my hands. (Hmmm ... Maybe this sports stuff isn’t so bad, after all …)

Starter Line

Disclaimer: I love Paris, even in the wintertime (when it’s to-the-bone cold), so my thoughts about Café du Parc (1401 Pennsylvania Ave., NW; 202/942-7000; www.cafeduparc.com; $70 per person, all inclusive) may be a bit rose-colored. But I think not; I hate bad Paris pretenders, and Café du Parc is comme il faut: zippy, French-speaking servers in crisp-white, long aprons; gleaming white tile and zinc, porcelain door handles; and, the pièce de résistance, a sidewalk café that abuts a tree-lined section of Pennsylvania Avenue, transforming it into a boulevard. For an extra measure of authenticity, they even took over the Willard InterContinental space formerly occupied by a Chanel boutique. And then there’s the food. Three-star Michelin chef Antoine Westermann consulted on the menu before turning it over to chef Christophe Marque—and it shows. The bistro fare is not mucked about here like it is around town; the foundations of traditional dishes are solidly based in correct technique. The onion soup with cheesy crust is the best in town; the poached egg on an asparagus salad, when pierced, envelops the spears in vibrant yellowness. The assiette de petits plats (a collection of kinetic vegetable salads) demonstrates the kitchen’s finesse, as does its rendition of choucroute alsacienne; the house-made sausages melt in the mouth. And the poached, then sautéed chicken actually tastes … like a chicken. Fresh English peas and potato purée on the side practically induce clucking. Café du Parc is open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and afternoon pastries; they will even pack up box lunches for you. Now, if they could just get local chanteuse Robin Phillips to perform there on a regular basis, that would be a coup de “grace.”

Top Course

With chefs like Cathal Armstrong and Robert Wiedmaier following the trend of opening restaurants named after their children, we can only hope they plan on having large families. At Wiedmaier’s number one son, Marcel’s, the cuisine and service are haute and the prices even hauter, but at number two son, the newly opened Brasserie Beck (1101 K St., NW; 202/408-1717; www.beckdc.com; $75 per person, all inclusive), the emphasis is on fun rather than fancy. With its 22-foot-high ceilings; gleaming, white-tiled and bold blue-accented walls; train station clocks and Belgian brasserie fare, Beck’s is a fun ride on the tee from the Gare du Nord to the Gare du Midi. Look for enormous plateaus of raw bar seafood, moules frites, charcuterie and takes on Belgian classics: chicken waterzooie and beef carbonnade. The pear tarte tatin is the real deal and not to be missed. Wash it down with one of 55 beers—and don’t forget to eat your Brussels sprouts.

On Track

Between Thomas Circle and K Street, you can go from Il Mulino to the sublime Mio Restaurant (1110 Vermont Ave., NW; 202/955-0075; www.miorestaurant.com; $70 per person, all inclusive), where Manny Flores runs the floor and executive chef JohnPaul Damato mans the kitchen with alacrity. The space, with its rich, dark-wood accents and tiled, clothless tables, is casually inviting, as is the food. It’s straightforward cooking that relies on its ingredients rather than the frou-frou touches that others use to obfuscate. For starters, grilled white shrimp (note: you do have to peel them, and who wants to do that in a nice place?) taste as if they’ve just been plucked from the sea and hardly need the mango lime sauce they come with; likewise the sauce that accompanies the broiled sea scallops that crunch pleasantly under a topping of herbed crumbs. Sautéed veal scaloppini with bluefoot and beech mushrooms and roasted sweet onion is more succulent than versions often found in blustery Italian joints. Start the meal with a Pisco sour (an “M” drizzled in the foam), and do not miss the side order of pan-fried okra in cornmeal with tomatoes. The pastry chef, Christine Plante, will soon see her star rising higher. The key lime tart is velvet pleasure; the caramelized banana basket (puff pastry) with a boat of ginger caramel is so good, it should be illegal. Wines (indeed, the whole menu) command more-than-reasonable prices; it’s unusual to find a $7 French Sauvignon Blanc in a hotspot these days.

Run With It

Chef Barton Seaver made a name for himself as the darling of D.C.’s 14th Street corridor café (Saint-Ex) society, but he had no problem making the trip to Georgetown to run the kitchen at Hook (3241 M St., NW; 202/625-4488; www.hookdc.com; $70 per person, all inclusive), where he is as comfortable holding court and a glass of Palazzone Orvieto ($9) with a table of extras from The Hills as he is in his gleaming, open kitchen. The emphasis here is on sustainable seafood; omnivores will find only a steak on the menu here. But who cares when the fish is this good? Start with a flight of “crudos,” Seaver’s nod to ceviches, carpaccios, tartares and the like. Oyster with Sauternes gelée gleams. The menu changes often to feature what is available and ultra-fresh, but on a recent visit the Arctic char with coriander crust and blackfin tuna with basil, fennel and red onion salad proved pleasing bait. Owners seem to abound here—rumor has it there are some 16 partners in total, and at least four of them were hanging out during my meal, blondes on arms as they toured the kitchen and showed off the place—so there is plenty of eye candy to match the beige-y pop-modern décor. But the sweetest pulls here come from pastry chef Heather Chittum: The carrot cake with crème fraiche sorbet and chocolate tart with caramel ice cream and salted walnuts are what really hooked us here.

Go the Distance

The Babins’ EatBar, which adjoins their Tallula Restaurant (2761 Washington Blvd., Arlington, Va.; 703.778-5051; www.tallularestaurant.com; $55 per person, all inclusive) is pure fun. Chef Nathan Anda heads both kitchens, but I especially enjoy the joint-like feel of EatBar. The menu perfectly suits grazers, with sections including: soups and salads (country ham, pea shoot and tangerine salad is lovely); cheese and charcuterie; oysters and seafood (mussels with chorizo could serve as a whole meal); “bigs” (including a New York strip—for $12!—and always a “pig of the week,” like pork belly with Kennebec purée or a homemade hot dog that looks like the top of the Oscar Meyermobile and bursts with juice and smoky beefiness); “smalls” (the baby burger—order two or three—of all-natural beef with truffle oil and balsamic caramelized red onions is de rigueur); and sweets (the butterscotch ice cream sandwich may bring on a diabetic coma, but what a way to go). Way to go, EatBar.

Leading the Pack

Local moguls Meshelle Armstrong and her chef/husband (these days in that order) Cathal have taken over Old Town Alexandria’s beleaguered Majestic Café (911 King St., Alexandria, Va.; 703/837-9117; www.majesticcafe.com; $57 per person, all inclusive) and made everything that was wrong about the place right. They tout the new version as “casually swank,” and that hits the nail on the head. The cold, diner-like feel is gone, replaced by sexy lighting, cozy upholstered booths and a smattering of swag and passementerie. But the food remains as noble, humble, updated and clever as it was when former chefs Susan Lindeborg and Joe Raffa headed the kitchen. Shannon Overmiller shines from the tutelage of chef Armstrong; everything on the menu satisfies, from the classic Caesar prepared tableside to the lumpy crabcake remoulade, chunky pork terrine, and “big bowl of mussels” swimming in white wine, garlic and shallots. Even the meat loaf and calf’s liver (under slices of house-cured bacon) sing siren songs, and the New York strip with french fries and Majestic butter, priced diner-friendly at $23, is just what you want it to be. There is a real family energy emanating from the staff and it shows in the service. They are all happy to be there, and you will be, too.

Pass the Torch

Chef Anthony Chittum was a big hit at D.C.’s Notti Bianche Restaurant; now he has crossed the river to Old Town’s Vermilion Restaurant (1120 King St., Alexandria, Va.; 703/684-9669; www.vermilionrestaurant.com; $70 per person, all inclusive) to no less acclaim. Vermilion’s exposed beams and swaths of red draperies may bring to mind a sexy Tudor-style pub, but the fare is strictly updated American. A soup of chicken and dumplings is really ricotta gnocchi with spring vegetables and thick chicken velouté (poured tableside from a pitcher; an unnecessary flourish given the surroundings). The front-runner on the app menu is the house-cured salmon with potato latkes and horseradish cream. The entrée offerings are not vast (seven choices when I was there), but they are all top-rate. The wild halibut topped with blue crab and frizzled leeks is stupendous; a vegetarian four-cheese spinach ravioli with red and gold beets, herbs and walnut froth is refined and delicate. The rack of lamb crackles like English roast beef; its accompaniments, spring pea fricassee and morels, serve their master perfectly. Chittum has a lot going for him, but he sure does love those foams. I do, too: on my cappuccino, which was lovely.

Home Stretch

Chef Frank Morales, formerly of D.C.’s Zola Restaurant, is having a helluva good time at Rustico Restaurant (827 Slaters Ln., Alexandria, Va.; 703/224-5051; www.rusticorestaurant.com; $55 per person, all inclusive). With its exposed red brick, high ceilings and vast open kitchen, Rustico bustles. A youngish crowd fills booths and tables pushed together for big parties of post-happy-hour remainers, which makes sense given the restaurant’s rathskeller-like selection of beers from the world over (six pages’ worth). But there is plenty on the menu to attract real grown-ups and family types. Morales makes good use of his wood-fired oven: excellent pizzas (duck bacon and confit; wild mushrooms, spinach and goat cheese; Gulf shrimp, tomatoes and fontina); planked halibut with pepper grits and Vidalia-ginger glaze; fire-roasted chicken; and grilled tuna with roasted tomatoes and olives. The house salad that I had—mixed greens with radishes, cucumbers, mascarpone and rhubarb vinaigrette—still brings a smile to my face. Morales changes the menu to match the seasons. There is a “mosaic” menu of little dishes matched with beers, but the concept is complicated and unnecessary; given Morales’ real talents, he doesn’t need to resort to fripperies.

Fly to the Finish

Finally, my return to the District, and what a marathon it’s been. Still, there’s a new guy on the block (well, two blocks, actually) of New Hampshire Avenue just below Dupont Circle, so I ran over to investigate. Chef Daniel Bortnick has taken over the helm of Firefly Restaurant (1310 New Hampshire Ave., NW; 202/861-1310; www.firefly-dc.com; $65 per person, all inclusive) from John Wabeck, and he’s up to good things. The fact that the small but chicly appointed dining room (there’s a birch tree growing in the middle of the room) is packed at lunch in a residential neighborhood says a lot. The matzoh ball soup is even better than my grandmother’s (but not than mine, surely!). The thick, perfectly cooked burger rivals the best in town, and the seared tuna club with avocado and bacon is a stunner. But the Waldorf salad (spinach, poached shrimp, celery root, shaved green apple and cashews) wins the day. Winners at night include fish n’ chips and crabcakes, but don’t pass up the mini pot roast (short ribs, really), even in the dead of summer. The oysters Rockefeller could be on the D.C. list of Top Three Apps: three plump Chincoteagues swimming in their own liquor and some herbed Pernod butter. Desserts? Mini-caramelized banana split, anyone? The wine list is well chosen, but not as pleasantly priced as the food, with many bottles well over the $50 mark.