Sea Craft Fin Joins Hip, Casual Seafood Restaurants in Dupont Circle by Rachel Hunt and Stephen Qualiana On a very cold night in January, we walked down the half-flight-below-street-level entrance into Fin, which opened in spring 2003, mainly because we like the Dupont Circle area and because it is an area that is home to a lot of embassies. Fin is just below a popular section of 19th Street, NW. That chilly night, unfortunately, the restaurant was having a heating problem. We left our coats on when we first arrived, but it warmed up quickly once the glitch was resolved. Fin is part of a Baltimore-Washington restaurant conglomerate called Capital Restaurant Concepts that includes 13 other establishments, most notably J. Paulís, Paoloís, Georgia Browns and Neyla. The restaurant is in a large, long, spacious area with low lighting and a high ceiling of molded concrete, which had been dressed up by wooden beams intermittently spaced across. A row of lights hang from the center of the beams. Although itís a seafood restaurant, you wouldnít know it because it doesnít have any cloying nautical themes in the rather spartan and modern dÈcor. No stuffed fish on the walls, no fishing gear hanging from the ceiling, no attempt to make the restaurant look as if youíre dining aboard a ship. The restaurant is too hip for that. The only clue that you might be in a restaurant dealing with the sea is a bottom-lit strip of aquamarine frosted glass running down the middle of the dining room that separates the two rows of booths. There are other rows of booths, which are slightly elevated, along each side of the long walls. A large, square bar is near the entrance with an extended table area for small parties. Across from the bar on one side is an open kitchen, which seems to be the energy center of the place. We liked the soft, dim lighting from the amber-colored, bullet-shaped glass lamps on the ceiling and from the candles on the tables. The walls are virtually bare except for several large mirrors and a built-in aquarium at the back of the dining room. Our waitress was warm, friendly and helpful in an unobtrusive way. She gave us a few suggestions, steering us away from one item but recommending a few others. The day boat scallops ($7.95) were unusually prepared and served on a white triangular plate. A syrupy brown sugar-and-soy sauce was drizzled over the browned scallops, accompanied by a creative grapefruit and seaweed salad, showing some Asian influence, and capped with a tomato crisp. The lobster tortelloni ($7.95) seemed to be homemade pasta stuffed with mascarpone cheese in a lobster-sherry reduction, with chunks of lobster, tomato and basil. The grilled calamari ($7.95) was served on a large red radicchio leaf with a large pepperoncini on each side. The lightly seasoned squid was very tender and worked well with the smoked tomato coulis dipping sauce. The Fin salad ($5.95) was a large, typical combination of greens and veggiesómescalin, red radicchioóbut with some unexpected condimentsópickled beets and seasoned peanutsódressed in vinaigrette. The presentation of the entrees was unusual in that the fish and vegetables were served on separate plates. One of the specials, the grouper ($19.95), was carefully grilled and blackened with a slightly crisp outer crust and white loose flaky chunks of meat. It was in a thick, slightly peppery cinnamon sauce. The accompanying polenta was creamy and not gelatinous at all. Another of the specials, the mahi mahi ($17.95), was blackened but not overpoweringly so, with a moist, firm white flesh in a cranberry-based sauce. The baby asparagus were flavorful and firm but not stringy. However, the accompanying carrots were tough in a way that seemed to be an age problem rather than a cooking problem. The key lime pie ($6.95) was in a graham cracker crust with a smooth, tart filling. The chocolate cake ($6.95) was a dark, dense two-layer cake with a fudge-like icing and whipped cream with chocolate-syrup drizzles. The rich coconut-like filling between the layers nicely offset the taste budsí immersion in chocolate. Our favorite was the banana cream ($6.95), a somewhat original dessert, with the potent filling wrapped in a crispy filo and the whole thing covered with whipped cream. When we arrived at Fin at 7:30 in the evening, the restaurant was about a quarter full, and as we were finishing dessert at about 9:30, it was more than three-quarters full. Fin is popular but itís a later kind of popular with a volume from a spirited talking levelóthe kind of environment that brings the conversation out on a winterís night. And we hated to leave now that we had warmed up to the place. Fin is located at 1200 19th St., NW. The telephone number is (202) 530-4430. All major credit cards are accepted. Dress is urban casual. Finís kitchen is open for lunch and dinner Monday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., on Friday until 11 p.m. and on Saturday from 5:30 to 11 p.m. Rachel Hunt and Stephen Qualiana are the restaurant reviewers for The Washington Diplomat.