Let’s face it: It takes more today to attract and hold the attention of the Twittering classes. A superstar chef is de rigueur, as is a bar where drinks are “cocktails” and bartenders are “mixologists.” Charcuterie: check. Steamed mussel selection: check. Small plates: check. Cheese assortment: check. Fixed-price tasting menus and Sunday dinners: check.

But add in a bakery, a salumeria, a gelateria and a wood-burning oven to up the ante, and suddenly, you’ve arrived. Don’t forget a nightclub with a DJ, a roof deck with a view and an opera singer or two.

The days of steak Diane and three-martini lunches in a dining room lined with red velvet wallpaper are over. Our tastes have graduated from Reader’s Digest to Architectural Digest in every way. Styling servers (don’t you dare call them waiters) sporting designer duds proffer chunks of seared tuna in restaurants decked out in stainless steel, cherry wood and beveled glass.

Making a strong impression means that eating is only part of the experience. Flyer serves up the restaurants with the right mix.

Powerful Name

With Red Sage and Zola on his résumé, Stir Food Group CEO Dan Mesches knows how things work in this town: Potenza (1430 H St., NW; 202/638-4444; www.potenzadc.com; $65 per person, all inclusive) means “power” in Italian. Mesches follows trends, and you’ll notice many of them in the restaurant’s 10,000 square feet of space in the historic Woodward building at 15th and H streets. It’s a theme park of Italian dining, but more Washington than Las Vegas. There’s a large bar to capture the Bellini crowd; a bakery that features panini, gelati and grassini; a salumeria that turns out the requisite cheeses and charcuterie (much of it house-cured); a raw bar for the oyster mavens; and a wood-burning pizza oven.

Mesches sent executive chef Bryan Moscatello to Italy for inspiration and then turned him loose in the gleaming open kitchen at Potenza. You’d do well enough to start with standards, such as mussels with pancetta and garlic or salt-cod fritters, but I thoroughly enjoyed an assortment of vegetables (caramelized cippolini onions, roasted cauliflower and asparagus with Parmesan) and gorgonzola pizza with a cracker-thin, crisp crust. Pastas are made in-house. Linguine with clam sauce and spaghetti with three gigantic meatballs excel, but clunky rabbit-stuffed tortelloni tries too hard. For entrées, head for the sublime sautéed veal scallopini with polenta, provolone and sage, crunchy bits of prosciutto and a light wash of demi-glacé. Prices here hit the right note, with most items a few dollars under the current norm. Many cocktails and wines by the glass fall in the $8 and $9 range rather than $10 or $12. Entrées barely graze the twenties, where many menus in town have boldly breached the thirties. Mesches wants to take on the highest-grossing restaurants in town, and he just may have bought himself enough to carry it off.

Strong Tide

On a first visit to Clarendon’s Eventide (3165 Wilson Blvd.; Arlington, Va.; 703/276-3165; www.eventiderestaurant.com; $75 per person, all inclusive), Secret Service guards lurked in the bar—a most reliable indicator of power in a D.C.-area restaurant. It’s been a while since I’ve eaten in a new restaurant and actually uttered the word “wow,” so I’m glad to sing the praises of the restaurant that co-owners Dave Pressley, Nick Langman and Peter Pflug took two-plus years to put together. They took a circa-1925 Oddfellows Hall and put an exposed-beam bar on the first floor, where mixologists deftly ply their craft on willing young adults sipping Algonquins and Stilwells. The second floor has been stripped down to its criss-cross terra cotta block work and festooned with floor-to-ceiling midnight-blue velvet draperies, used to section off parts of the 90-seat dining room for privacy. The best feature here, along with stunning artwork and the ever-popular black crystal and chrome chandeliers, are clever settee-like banquettes whose side arms hinge open for easy access.

Chef Miles Vaden has a superlative pedigree, but more important, he has natural talent, which means he knows how to update classics instead of foaming them with gimmickry. Meals at Eventide start with still-warm angel biscuits. For a first course, delicate cannelloni envelop braised rabbit, ricotta and roasted garlic, nestled in a mustard sauce that adds just the right touch of acid. Lemon and mint in fava bean soup are there only to enhance the pureness of the main ingredient. Generous portions of perfectly cooked lamb and flatiron steak stand up to their logical accompaniments (artichoke, cucumber, tomato for the lamb; fingerlings, onions and cabernet reduction for the beef), but Vaden would be wise to make the silken tagliatelle with poached lobster and lobster meatballs a signature dish. For dessert, he has managed to elevate chocolate mousse using port-poached figs and whipped mascarpone. The wine list at Eventide, which features mostly North and South American selections, is well chosen and fairly priced: Twenty Rows cabernet for $45 and Fess Parker Viognier for $39. Brunch sweetens the pot here, as does a 60-seat rooftop terrace and bar with a separate al fresco menu.

New Public Policy

When it comes to stimulus packages, Omar Miskinyar knows what it takes to get the nightlife economy going. Josephine is the hottest club in town, but may face stiff competition from Policy (1904 14th St., NW; 202/387-7654; www.policydc.com; $65 per person, all inclusive), Miskinyar’s new addition to the sizzling 14th and U street corridor. The self-described visionary and promoter now adds restaurateur to his monikers. The second floor of Policy houses a super nightclub; the main floor features a restaurant that tweaks diner décor with red patent leather booths; a high-gloss, black tin ceiling; filament pendant lamps; sculptural chandeliers; and jazz-edged lounge music that gets thumpier as the night progresses.

Meanwhile, chef Brian Murphy plays the small-plate gig on the kitchen decks. Dividing the menu into Farm/Sea and Land/Air attempts novelty but is just confusing. To navigate the route, set out with the hors d’oeuvres, such as duck spring rolls and the trio of spreads: eggplant, edamame and red pepper hummus. Then move on to more small plates, such as mussels with cream or spinach and country sausage. For mains, don’t miss the miso-mustard glazed short ribs, the madras curry lamb sliders with gorgonzola, or the lamb chops with eggplant purée. I could easily have skipped all of those things and loaded up on a double portion of piping hot roasted Brussels sprouts and ginger. Desserts are just as fun. The strawberry rhubarb shortbread stands up to the best pastry offerings in town. The wine list needs attention, but the bartender makes a Hendrick’s martini that softens the blow.

Staying Power

A seven-year itch in restaurants is an indication that things have gotten stale and it’s time to reinvent. To scratch the itch, Enzo Livia, owner of Spezie (1736 L St., NW; 202/467-0777; www.spezie.com; $85 per person, all inclusive), brought in chef Cesare Lafranconi from Tosca to add some spice to his downtown restaurant’s menu. It was a power move on Livia’s part. Glowing reports of what Lafranconi was producing at Spezie lured me in, which proved to be a smart, albeit tardy, move on my part. The chef, after all, has been there for nearly two years. The look of Spezie is not as richly elegant as Tosca, but the food is.

Lafranconi, who hails from Italy’s Lake Como region, conjures fritto misto of shrimp, calamari, scallops and oysters with a basil purée, which may sound ho-hum, but it surprises. The batter on the seafood is wispy and seemingly oil-free; its sauce, a concentrated harmony. But it’s the pastas that truly display Lafranconi’s ability. Ravioli stuffed with ricotta and raisins with sage and Parmesan sauce provoked stinginess when my guest asked for a taste. But I acquiesced once my companion offered the quid pro quo: fettucine with vermentino, wine-braised rabbit and artichoke ragu. Vegetarians do well here: ricotta gnocchi with tomato sauce, linguine with pesto, green beans and potatoes, porcini ravioli with pistachios. All pastas are available in half portions, a good way to start on your way to the sautéed monkfish medallions with fresh sage or marinated pork loin with rosemary mash.

Upping the Stakes

Urbana (2121 P St., NW; 202/956-6650; www.urbanadc.com; $75 per person, all inclusive), located in the Hotel Palomar in Dupont Circle, attracts with its happy hour. Considering there are no big office buildings in the area, it’s quite an accomplishment that young professionals pack the place every evening. And the trendsetters are sticking around for dinner. The dark lighting, plush sofas and fruity cocktails may lure them in, but it’s the food that keeps them there.

Charlie Palmer acolyte Alexander Bollinger, in his first position as executive chef, runs the kitchen. He calls his theme Western Mediterranean. The formula, familiar to D.C. diners, factors in the following: various kinds of steamed mussels (chocolate stout and blue cheese sounds awful but is, in fact, lovely); wood-burning oven pizzas; charcuterie/cheese selections; and small plates as adjuncts to the usual appetizer/entrée scenario. Bollinger is at his best when he keeps things simple: Asparagus with speck and shaved pecorino and tempura soft-shell crab with brown butter are well-executed starters. Pappardelle with morels, cream and sugar snaps make a great meatless meal if you eschew the terrific branzino with roasted cauliflower and preserved lemons or the halibut with ramp pesto. Lamb loin with fava bean purée and blackberry jus works nicely, only because Bollinger tempers the sweetness that such meat and fruit pairings often engender. With Bollinger at the helm, Urbana seems to be on the right course.