HOH eyed Speaker John Boehner holding court in the bar area at Charlie Palmer Steak on Thursday night. The Ohio Republican sat with three people at a table near a window toward the front of the Capitol Hill hot spot. He sipped a glass of wine and headed outside at least twice to smoke a cigarette.

Boehner also did a little networking — both Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa) came into the restaurant for dinner, and Boehner got up to greet them.

Although he appeared to be having fun — he was overheard laughing loudly several times — Boehner didn’t seem to appreciate the attention of star-struck bar patrons. Moments after someone at the bar snapped a camera phone photo of the Speaker, he left.

But Boehner didn’t immediately head home, considering an HOH spy saw Boehner later on at the Monocle Restaurant.