Char Bar draws a clientele nearly as diverse and exotic as its menu. Where else would you have a chance of meeting Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump with their kids, students from nearby George Washington University, Jewish tourists, and local families? (Photos: Eli Greengart)

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isten, I’m here at Char Bar,” my source whispers into his phone, “and I see Jason Greenblatt, David Friedman, and a third guy I don’t recognize, Middle Eastern, surrounded by security guards.”

I race downstairs into the balmy street, hail the first cab I find, and give the driver the address of the tony eatery in Washington’s famed Foggy Bottom section, only steps away from the White House. My mind is racing faster than the taxi —the streetlights whiz by as I open the throttle on my speculations.

Who could be meeting with President Trump’s advisor for Mideast negotiations and the US ambassador to Israel, in DC’s only glatt kosher eatery? The ambassador from Bahrain? A Saudi government minister? The administration is preparing to release its long-awaited Middle East peace plan… could this be a strategy session? An early pitch, or a trial balloon?

Within minutes, I’m there. After paying the driver, I bound up to the glass doors of Char Bar, collecting myself as I enter the cool swoosh of air conditioning. I survey the diners seated in the sleek but warm décor until my eyes come to rest on the group.

My hopes are dashed. There are Jason Greenblatt and David Friedman, all right — but they’re sitting with Ayoub Kara, a veteran Druze politician who happens to be Israel’s minister of communications. Ho-hum, another meeting with a visiting Israeli official.

Well, since I’m here anyway, I might as well get something to eat.

Despite my disappointment at the scoop that wasn’t, there’s plenty else to be found at Char Bar this night. This unofficial meeting place for the Jewish Who’s Who in Washington opened its doors on L Street nearly four years ago, serving up steaks, burgers, deli sandwiches, and barbecue, as a revamped version of its predecessor, Eli’s, which was more of a traditional Jewish deli.

Michael Chelst, the restaurant’s operator, joined two years ago. As a foodie and amateur chef myself, I don’t miss this opportunity to ask Michael what the Char Bar house specialty is.

“Probably the pulled barbecue brisket, which comes on a taco,” he says.

The most popular menu item? “That’s got to be the Hickory Burger, our house burger topped with pulled barbecue brisket and onion rings.”

Michael surprises me with a plate of deep-fried edamame drizzled with a sweet-tasting sauce. (Edamame, for the uninitiated, is a Japanese term for soybeans in the pod.) I try to place the sauce, and Michael says it’s a secret recipe — a mixture of soy and teriyaki, with Montreal steak seasoning and other spices. It’s one of Michael’s signature fusion cuisine dishes, like his lamb “bacon” that he uses as one of his hamburger fixings.