You’ve got to admit it: 901 Restaurant in Penn Quarter is about as sophisticated an eatery as any in D.C. It even offers patrons self-lighting menus, a definite advantage in the wee, dark hours when nightclubbers hang out to eat. With executive chef Thomas Hall overseeing the kitchen and its crew, patrons will find food with flair: he creates a rather unusual menu, one that has a section for shared dishes, as well as one for regular offerings meant for you and you alone. A native of Maryland, Hall recalls his first kitchen job at the age of 16, when he announced to his boss that he was leaving to go to college. “You’ll be back,” his boss said. That pronouncement was wise: Hall did come back to the kitchen, though not necessarily to the one in that particular restaurant.