Hank's Oyster Bar (DC - DuPont)

We stopped into Hank's Thursday night for a casual dinner with some friends.

You have no idea how nice it is to be able to say this. 14th Street has become a culinary wasteland of bar food and ethnic takeout joints against which Hank's is the sole beacon of hope for those seeking a "neighborhood" restaurant.

Our party of four began with a light-hearted bottle of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, an order of fried oysters and a dozen oysters on the half shell.

I have showered praise upon Chef Leeds' fired oysters elsewhere and these were more of the same. Light, crispy, crunchy shells just barely able to contain the soft, moist oyster.

The half shells were good as well - served at the peak of freshness and offering a good variety of both species and geography. If you closed your eyes (and swapped that foofy wine for a bottle of Dixie or Abita) you could almost feel like you were sitting in Casamento's.

For entrees, my wife and I ordered the seared white tuna with peach salsa and sautéed soft shell crabs with citrus buerre blanc as well as a side order of sautéed spinach. Everything was outstanding.

The white tuna was a massive cube of fish that more closely resembled filet mignon. It had been seared on all six sides and was still just barely above room temperature on the inside - exactly how my wife had requested it. The accompanying peach salsa was a simple mix of fresh peaches, tomatoes and lemon juice that paired very well with the tuna.

The soft shell crabs were excellent as well. They were simply sautéed and then dressed with a citrus butter. The acidity in the citrus helped cut the sweetness in the crab, which is why this has become a classic pairing.

The sautéed spinach is straight out of Grammercy Tavern - high heat, toss the spinach with a few cloves of garlic, remove from the heat before it wilts and dress with sea salt and lemon juice. Perfect. Michael Romano would be proud.

Chef Leeds still does not serve dessert at Hank's, so after we mopped up the last of the citrus butter and peach salsa, we settled up and headed up the street for dessert at Sweet Licks.

Hank's continues to deliver. I can hardly wait to see what Chef Leeds does with clam chowder, oyster stew and cioppino, now that the weather is turning cooler.