If there’s one thing Washington insiders can agree on, it’s that bipartisanship is dead in the nation’s capital. The one exception may be a casual Italian restaurant called Ama.
The House minority leader, Representative Hakeem Jeffries, has been spotted there on several occasions, as have his fellow Democrats Chellie Pingree, a representative from Maine, and Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey. From the Republican side, the Food and Drug Administration commissioner, Dr. Marty Makary, has eaten there. So has President Trump’s nominee for surgeon general, Dr. Casey Means, who lauded Ama as a “must try” restaurant in her “Good Energy” newsletter.
Vani Hari, a rising figure in the Make America Healthy Again movement who calls herself the Food Babe, said that on her way into town, she sometimes directs her Uber driver to go to Ama straight from the airport.
Ama’s crossover appeal is a notable anomaly in a city where even the choice of a lunch or dinner spot has become highly politicized.
These days, Democratic power players favor the Italian restaurant Centrolina, a favorite of Kamala Harris. Butterworth’s, a new French bistro on Capitol Hill, is a see-and-be-seen destination for Trump loyalists who indulge in caviar bumps and beef-tallow fries. The Executive Branch, a members-only club co-founded by Donald Trump Jr., opened in June.
