"Galileo has the best Italian food. It feels like a Tuscan farmhouse plopped down in the middle of D.C. My favorite dish is the veal chop. They also do a great grilled whole fish and risotto il fungi. And their grilled portobello mushroom is beautiful, like a piece of meat. The crowd is pretty high-profile Washington. There's also this great restaurant called Rupperts. It only has 17 tables, but it has exquisite food. The menu is different every night. It's all specials, and a great little wine list. They always offer you four different kinds of homemade bread, hot out of the oven. Very different is A.V. Ristorante Italiano, which is straight out of the Rat Pack - 1950s Italian food. Lots of red sauce, little fireplace in the back, jukebox."

NIGHTLIFE
"Blues Alley is a jazz supper club in Georgetown. It's intimate, and all the headliners go there. It's been there forever. You can also go to Nathan's in Georgetown for a drink. It's at the crossroads of M Street and Wisconsin, so it's in the heart of the action. It's run by a woman named Carol Joynt, a longtime CNN reporter and producer, so a lot of people hang out there."

SATURDAY

BREAKFAST
"When I had my first job on Capitol Hill back in the early 1980s, I would go to the Eastern Market. It's about seven blocks south of the Capitol. It's a farmer's market, a great big old warehouse with butchers and cheese makers and people coming to set up their stalls with produce. In the back corner, there's a breakfast bar. You just walk up, get a paper plate, and they have the best homemade pancakes and sausage, egg, and cheese sandwiches on homemade bread. It's probably been there 30 or 40 years. It's real down-home. For a Tex-Mex brunch, go to Austin Grill. They have great migas and fresh tortillas. Especially now, it's great because it will make you feel like you're in the president's home state of Texas. It's straight out of Austin."