“Top Chef” alumnus Kwame Onwuachi will head the kitchen at Kith and Kin at the new Intercontinental hotel at the Wharf on the Southwest waterfront. The 3,500-square-foot restaurant will feature Caribbean flavors, Creole cuisine and African accents, taking advantage of Onwuachi’s travels and childhood.
C-C-Changes: Chef-owner Charlie Palmer has completely renovated his Charlie Palmer Steak on Capitol Hill, including the bar, lounge, dining room and private dining spaces. The see-and-be-seen restaurant is also rolling out a new food and beverage menu.
Chef Update: Emily Sprissler is executive chef at Fairfax-based Guest Services Inc. in Virginia … Gina Chersevani is working as a consultant with Taqueria Del Barrio on Petworth’s ever-popular Upshur Street to help refresh the restaurant’s bar program.
Just Opened: Wilson Hardware opened at 2915 Wilson Boulevard in Clarendon, where Rí Rá Irish Pub used to be (before that, the space held a real hardware store, Virginia Hardware). It’s a 7,000-square-foot pub with a patio lounge, a mezzanine lounge and a rooftop bar … Arepa House DC has opened in Adams Morgan at 2120 18th St. NW, where Halal Kabob House used to be … Succotash has opened in the Equitable Bank building at 915 F St. NW, where Platinum Nightclub used to be. Ed Lee, chef-owner of 610 Magnolia in Louisville, Kentucky, created the new menu, as he did for Succotash’s National Harbor location. Partners Michael Reginbogin and Jason Berry of Knead Hospitality and Design run design and operations, respectively. Being from Kentucky, Lee determined which bourbons made the list, assisting beverage director Brook Vandecar. The kitchen is manned by Dean Dupuis, formerly of Brasserie Beck, and Phil Cronin, who relocated from Kentucky … Brandon Williams’s seasonal farm-market stand is now a restaurant at 637 Florida Ave. NW called Fishscale, serving mahi-mahi, salmon, rockfish, snapper and seabass burgers.
Quick Hits: Med Lahlou and chef-partner Matteo Venini will open Lupo Marino at the Wharf, offering pizza and Italian street food. Lahlou also owns Lupo Verde on T Street NW, with another planned for Palisades … Alexandria Restaurant Partners plans to open an Italian restaurant in Old Town at King and Union Streets, where Carluccio’s was. Their empire in Old Town Alexandria also includes Virtue Feed & Grain, Vola’s Dockside Grill, Hi-Tide Lounge and The Majestic … Great American Restaurants plans to open a 250-seat restaurant in the Crown Farm development in Gaithersburg, Maryland, by spring 2018 … The Neighborhood Restaurant Group is planning to open restaurants, bars and/or coffee bars at 1401 Pennsylvania Ave. SE near the Potomac Avenue Metro station on Capitol Hill, where New York Pizza has been.
Lucy, an Ethiopian restaurant, will open in November on Cordell Avenue in Bethesda, Maryland, where Grapeseed used to be. It’s the second Lucy (the first is in Silver Spring) for owners Mekonnen Abraham and his wife Seble Lemma, who will add more vegan dishes to the menu in Bethesda.
The Secret Garden, a restaurant and beer garden offering American and German-inspired food, will open in Alexandria’s Del Ray neighborhood at 3410 Mt Vernon Ave., where Señor Chicken used to be, under the same owner, Abe Hadjiesmaeiloo. The plan is to offer lots of American craft beers, as well as draft beer from Germany and Belgium.
Supra, which translates to “feast” in Russian, will serve Georgian (the country not the state) food at 1201 11th St. NW. The owners are Jonathan and Laura Nelms and chef Malkhaz Maisashvili, who was executive chef at the Embassy of Georgia. The Georgian connection comes from Jonathan Nelms’s stint working in Russia. The goal is to open by the end of the year.
Linda Roth is president of Linda Roth Associates, a public relations and marketing firm that specializes in the hospitality industry. Reach her at linda@lindarothpr.com.
