Red Hen

When Red Hen opened its doors in 2013, the initial buzz was centered on the restaurant’s quirky wine list. And while this wasn’t fair to the chef, Michael Friedman, who makes some of the finest pasta in D.C., it makes sense. With about 100 labels on offer, Red Hen’s beverage director and co-owner, Sebastian Zutant, can take credit for introducing D.C. to orange wine, as well as cult natural wine producers like Frank Cornelissen. While most of list’s real estate is owned by northern Italy and Sicily, it also has a notable selection of off-the-beaten path wines from Virginia, New York, Croatia and Hungary, all at very reasonable markups.