Matisse

Where Every Evening
Feels Like an Occasion

Fritz and Evelyne Siegfried opened Matisse in 1999. Designed by Thomas Pheasant — named a "Dean of American Design" by Architectural Digest — the restaurant reflects a sensibility that has endured for almost three decades.

Evelyne's vision lives in every detail. Faces and motifs inspired by the artwork of Henri Matisse are worked into the wrought iron staircase and throughout the restaurant's four distinct dining rooms, each unique, but all designed with elegance and timelessness in mind.

That intention has held for twenty-seven years, in a city where it's rare for anything to last, let alone remain this consistent. Matisse has managed to be both: the place where some of Washington's most recognizable figures have quietly done business, and the neighborhood favorite where locals drop in because the roasted chicken with pommes frites is calling.

Guests who got married here return with their children and, increasingly, their grandchildren. The places that become part of our lives are often the ones we return to for the moments that matter most.