Modern   

Washington, DC 20007
202-338-7027
www.primacycompanies.com/modern/index.cfm

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The Modern will be closed due to water damage until approximately Aug. 17, 2006. You could almost miss this place while walking down M Street. Amid the rowdy college bars, multi-national restaurants, and techno-blaring shops, Modern's sleek, understated exterior is refreshing if inconspicuous. As one of the city's newest hipster lounges, Modern plays the hipster role, but with a friendlier edge. Sure, it doesn't open "to the public" until 10PM on some nights, plus it has a VIP area and a dress code. But there's a little less attitude here: You can sit in those VIP tables when empty, the drinks aren't outrageously overpriced (they aren't cheap either) and the doorman doesn't flaunt a flagrant hipper-than-thou attitude. Lounge scenesters will love the modernist decor and clubby atmosphere here. The gem of the subterranean club is its circular sunken bar surrounded by low ottomans; it looks like something out of 'A Clockwork Orange.' The soundtrack ranges from deep house on weeknights to hip-hop and an eclectic pop mix on the weekends, further softening its hipster edge. With its slightly sophisticated sensibility, Modern is a welcome change for those wearied by Georgetown's college scene. If you're part of that baseball-hat-backwards-and-sweatshirt scene, however, you may be turned away from that easy-to-miss door.