Washington DC: Food and politics from the Hay-Adams Hotel to Ben’s Chili Bowl

Nothing is as it seems here, says James Cusick – even a fast food joint has its story

Ben's Chili Bowl (AFP/Getty)

What does a US president-elect do in DC when he wants to get more adventurous than just calling room service? If you’re Barack Obama, and you’ve given the Secret Service no choice in the matter, then you head to a nothing-fancy joint on U Street, order the half-smoke dog in a bun, with mustard, onions, chili sauce and cheese fries.

The motorcade that found space outside Ben’s Chili Bowl 10 days before Obama’s 2009 inauguration, was the kind of political spectacle no one would have forecast in 1968.

The night after the assasination of Martin Luther King Jnr, the black activist leader, Stokely Carmichael, was in DC. Out of respect for Dr King, the “honorary prime minister” of the Black Panthers thought businesses in the capital should have closed. At the intersection of U and 14th, all hell broke loose as full-scale riots engulfed the neighbourhood. Over three days of looting, mob violence and all the rest, there were more than 6,000 arrests with 12 people killed. More than 900 stores and businesses were wrecked.

Carmichael was blamed for promoting “racial violence”, and whether that’s true or not, Ben’s Chili Bowl played a part. Despite the DC police imposing a curfew, legend has it that the Panthers’ leader ordered Ben’s owner, Virginia Ali, to keep the doors open and the chili dogs coming.

So, 41 years later, on the eve of becoming the first black president of the United States of America, do you think Obama accidentally picked U Street and the militant headquarters of that fiery night out of a tourist guide book? No, neither do I.

That’s often the interesting thing about DC. Nothing is quite what it seems. In the weeks before an inauguration, it’s traditional for the president-elect to stay in the small brick-built terrace on the north-west corner of Lafayette Square. Blair House (nothing to do with Tony), as the president’s guest row is called, was owned by advisers to Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln before the US government bought it in 1942. One story suggests that the visiting Winston Churchill drove the Roosevelts nuts when he stayed at the White House, prompting Mrs R to demand that nearby Blair House be bought so that Winnie could be dumped there if he ever came back.

Barack and Michelle Obama expected to be in “Blair” early enough to allow their two daughters to start school. But the George W Bush White House travel agency kinda misplaced the president-elect’s booking. Easily done ...

Obama paying for his meal at Ben's in 2009 (Getty)

That’s how in January 2009 the Obamas became guests of the Hay-Adams hotel. Situated at the north end of Lafayette, it occupies the space where the homes of John Hay and Henry Adams once stood. Hay was Lincoln’s personal secretary. Adams was a leading academic, and a descendent of two former US presidents, John and John Quincy. That political heritage wasn’t good enough to stop a developer buying the two houses in 1927, razing them, and building a luxury hotel.

If you’re lucky enough to get a room with a balcony, then the Hay-Adams’ marketing motto – “Where nothing is overlooked but the White House” – makes perfect sense. Staff are tight-lipped about the fortnight where they remained open to “routine” guests, and yet found a way of letting Sasha and Malia Obama wander down to the kitchens and feel at home.

There was a £20m renovation in 2001, with the renowned interior designer, Thomas Pheasant, adding an upmarket, under-stated serenity. The upgrading still continues. Can hotels at this level do “relaxed” and “precise” at the same time? Most can’t. The Hay-Adams can.

When I worked for Sir David Frost, I knew if he was in Washington he would be in the Hay-Adams. Why? Well, the main lobby isn’t big, and from day one staff know your name, welcoming you in and out. The shy-and-retiring Frosty would have loved the quick fix of attention between main door and lift. I can almost see him wave and say: “Bless you, bless you all.”

Off The Record bar at the Hay-Adams

With the 2016 presidential race now entering its critical phase, there’s a key institution within the Hay-Adams that will have a role to play. The small basement bar is called Off the Record. With the Treasury, the Old Executive Building, the Interior and Commerce departments, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and God knows who else all within walking distance, and the State Department a short cab ride away, what else would you want to call a networking watering hole? If the West Wing staffers across the road regard Lafayette Square as their back yard, Off the Record is the garden shed place to gossip.

Sadly, this year something will be missing. John Boswell, OTR’s senior bartender, retired last year. For the know-all Dr Johnsons who inhabit DC, Boswell had kept their secrets for nearly two decades. He knew everyone from George McGovern to Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton and beyond. I caught up with John late one night in 2000, and found him uncharacteristically pessimistic about what was about to happen to DC. His grim forecast had a name: GW (or just “Dubya” as they say here).

Noticing my Scottish accent, he asked what I preferred – Scotch or bourbon? I said I didn’t know enough about bourbon. So, he lined up 10 in small-shot glasses and told me to commence testing. I picked out a Woodford, saying it was decent stuff. That was the only one he charged me for. My kind of place.

In the Clinton years, the thought of wandering up the mile-stretch of 14th Street from Thomas Circle to Florida Avenue, taking in U, was a non-starter. Gunfire was heard at least once a week; drug dealing and street prostitution didn’t help. Some 30 years after the riots, Washington, like Detroit, was suffering from falling population and the rest. Some were wondering if maybe Congress got it wrong in 1812 when only nine votes prevented the US government from abandoning DC as the capital.

But Clinton’s 1997 Taxpayers Relief Act eventually kicked in; a DC recovery programme helped. And that promised Whole Foods store, the marker of imminent gentrification? It finally appeared on the U Street mile-stretch along with a new club and restaurant scene that has changed the city dynamic of downtown DC in less than a decade. What Clinton sowed, Obama has watched grow.

When I first went to DC some 30 years ago, I usually headed for the safety of Georgetown. That would now be a serious tourist mistake. Barack Obama’s visit to Ben’s Chili Bowl, and the $10 bill he personally handed over the counter, was therefore a bigger deal than it looked.

The U and 14th story has stellar new chapters in places like The Brixton (on U Street), Andy Shallal’s community restaurant, Busboys and Poets (on 14th and V), which opened in 2005, or Eric Hilton’s marvellous Marvin on 14th, which opened in 2007 and is a kind of culinary/bar homage to Marvin Gaye’s years of exile in Belgium.

Of the new stars that keep coming, Le Diplomate on 14th and Q, which opened in 2013, stand-out. In early 2014, the night before President François Hollande was booked for a state dinner at the White House, Michelle Obama is said to have risked her appetite with a quick visit to Stephen Starr’s near-perfect copy of relaxed Parisian dining. France has the Deux Magot, London has the Wolseley and the Ivy, and DC has this “authentic” diner where the menu is basically anything that Hemingway would have ordered.

In and around the Hay-Adams this spring and summer, as the party conventions loom, political deal-making will become the power sport of the season. Le Diplomate is maybe too noisy for intimate chat, but the Oval on Connecticut Avenue NW is a noted rendezvous point for serious politicos. So too is the Bombay Club, with its Moghul-Goan-Keralan menu. It’s DC’s equivalent of Westminster’s noted Cinnamon Club. Nelson Mandela is said to have loved the place, but – would he have chosen it rather than a chili dog at Ben’s with Obama? This is a serious political question.

Washington DC is an ever-changing city. It has no choice. And it makes mistakes. In 1922, the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated to the man who helped end slavery. But new segregation laws meant black Americans watched that opening ceremony across the road, cordoned off by strong ropes.

Mistakes on the horizon? Plenty. The rumour that the White House will shortly be rebranded as Trump Mansion? Oh, please, they can’t be that mad ... can they?

Getting there

James Cusick flew with United Airlines (0845 8 444 777; united.com), which offers a daily non-stop service from Heathrow to its hub at Washington DC/Dulles and more than 300 other American destinations. Return fares start at £412. Washington Dulles is also served from Heathrow by British Airways, American Airlines, and Virgin Atlantic.

Staying there

The Hay-Adams hotel, 800 16th Street NW, Washington DC (001 800 853 6807; hayadams.com) has doubles from $376 (£269), room only.

Visiting there

Ben’s Chili Bowl, 1213 U Street NW (001 202 667 0909; benschilibowl.com).

The Brixton, 901 U Street NW (001 202 560 5045; brixtondc.com).

Busboys and Poets, 2021 14th Street NW (001 202 387 7638; busboysandpoets.com).

Marvin on 14th, 2007 14th Street NW (001 202 797 7171; marvindc.com).

Le Diplomate, 1601 14th Street NW (001 202 332 3333; lediplomatedc.com).

The Oval Room, 800 Connecticut Avenue NW (001 202 463 8700; ovalroom.com).

Bombay Club, 815 Connecticut Avenue NW (001 202 659 3727).

More information

washington.org

visittheusa.com