OK, let’s deal with the Dick Morris thing right off the bat.

Yes, The Jefferson Hotel was the place where President Clinton’s top political consultant had his dalliance with a $200-an-hour rent-a-date, who promptly sold her story of listening in on Morris’s phone chats with Clinton to the tabloids and got Morris fired in the middle of the 1996 Democratic National Convention.

But The Jefferson, previously known mainly for understated elegance, discreet European-style luxurious service and upscale dining, has long since shaken off its unwelcome notoriety as the site of that tawdry scandal, which once subjected the staff to impertinent questions from tourists — and from reporters like me.

But that’s so 20th century, so who cares?

Certainly not most of my younger colleagues, who were surprised when I told them I’d written about the Morris connection when I last reviewed this restaurant a month after he was forced to resign, and well before he became a widely quoted media pundit and columnist for The Hill. Only staff photographer Patrick Ryan, a native Washingtonian who knows his local history, and staff writer Betsy Rothstein, who profiled Morris recently, recalled his link to the hotel.

Still, a whiff of scandal isn’t necessarily bad for a restaurant; witness recent revelations of congressional hanky-panky at the Capital Grille, cocaine peddling by a waiter at The Palm, and hijinks by various celebrities at Café Milano and other restaurants.

Indeed, if you are looking for a restaurant for a discreet encounter with someone you’d rather not be seen with, this is the place to do it. The dark-hued L-shaped dining room — it seats 40 — and urbane bar area are lined with several secluded alcoves and intimate nooks that ensure privacy, while the walls are adorned with 18th century original portraits and documents, including many from the hotel’s namesake, who, if some of Thomas Jefferson’s recent biographers are to be believed, was no stranger to illicit trysts.

Nevertheless, The Jefferson Restaurant doesn’t seem to have been adversely affected, judging from two recent visits at lunch and one at dinner — although I did encounter a central figure from Washington’s most famous political scandal when former Washington Post Executive Editor Ben Bradlee of Watergate fame walked in for lunch last week.

I rated this restaurant highly at the time, and I’d give it equally high marks now, even though the service at one of my lunches was definitely subpar and the food sometimes falls short of perfection, as when Features Editor Jeff Dufour ordered the rigatoni pasta ($17) the other day. I asked Jeff, no mean food critic in his own right, to rate the dish:

“The dueling sauces of pesto and aged balsamic vinegar added a surprising sweetness, offset by the pungent parmesan cheese on top,” he said. “They should have left well enough alone. The flavors of the sautéed winter vegetables — squash, carrots, shiitake mushrooms and small heirloom tomatoes — went in every which direction, giving the pasta a certain dissonance and incoherence.”

Post critic Tom Sietsema couldn’t have said it better. But I found no fault with my perfectly grilled fresh Atlantic salmon, perched atop udon noodles and accompanied by bok choy and enoki mushrooms and bathed in red miso broth ($17). Staff writer Hans Nichols was also pleased with his choice, cracked peppercorn spiced grilled tuna, served rare with niçoise vegetables and romesco sauce ($19).

Most of the appetizers are well worth the stiff tabs. Both the crab and corn chowder, which is laced with bits of bacon and chives ($10), and the Southern fried crispy oysters, served over corn with spicy New Orleans remoulade ($12), are nothing short of sensational. So is the jumbo lump crab cake, served with corn succotash, okra and tomato vinaigrette ($15). All three show the influence of Jeff Tunks, the talented chef at D.C. Coast, whom the Loews Hotels managers enlisted to rework the menu, but then decided that he had his hands full at D.C. Coast, TenPenh and Ceiba.

The restaurant is now in the capable hands of Executive Chef Andrew Saba, who came over from the Tabard Inn in August. Even though Saba wasn’t working last Friday night, his culinary skills were evident in the entrees that Pat Ryan and I ordered. His pan-roasted Dover sole, served with chanterelle mushrooms, citrus pine nut meuniere and fried parsley ($37) was flawless, although the fried parsley seemed a bit over the top, while my rack of Colorado lamb ($35) was as good as I’ve ever tasted.