The Latest Dish: Cut at the Rosewood, Glover Park Grill, Porchetta District
By • January 4, 2021 0 2152
Ezequiel Vázquez-Ger and Enrique Limardo of Seven Reasons fame are partnering with Alex Alevras to open a Mediterranean/Latin American fine-dining restaurant, Imperfecto, at 1124 23rd St. NW in the West End, where Greek celebrity chef Argiro Barbarigou’s first U.S. restaurant, Yria, was slated to open. The expansive sidewalk in front will seat 75, with indoor seating for 100 in the dining room and bar. An opening in the first quarter of 2021 is targeted.
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library’s $211-million renovation includes something libraries don’t usually have: a café selling food and beverages for on-site consumption. The café is named Marianne’s after Marianne Ali, a cherished part of DC Central Kitchen, who managed the job training program before she passed away. DCCK will provide food-service job graduates and trainees to Marianne’s. Chef and GM Terrell Danley oversees the kitchen. Menu and kitchen design support comes from José Andrés’s ThinkFoodGroup. Occasions Caterers will handle catering.
Quick Hits: Wolfgang Puck’s Cut steakhouse at the Rosewood hotel has reopened, with chef Andrew Skala at the helm … Clyde’s Restaurant Group’s new District MeltHouse ghost kitchen specializes in the ultimate comfort food: “gooey and gargantuan” grilled cheese sandwiches and mac and cheese … Surfside just opened a new location at the Wharf at 33 District Square SW … Matchbox will open new, smaller locations at the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station and at D.C.’s Cathedral Commons, where The Grilled Oyster Company used to be … Toosso Pakistani Kitchen opened at Loehmann’s Plaza in Rockville, Maryland … From the folks that brought you Napoli Pasta Bar in Columbia Heights comes Napoli Salumeria at 1301 South Joyce St. at Pentagon Row in Arlington, Virginia. Andy Clark, formerly of Fiola, The Red Hen and San Lorenzo, is the chef. It’s takeout-only for now.
Chef Update: Hamilton Johnson, formerly of Honeysuckle, now heads the kitchen at Glover Park Grill, the former Casolare within the Glover Park Hotel, part of Schlow Restaurant Group. Pivoting to the times, he is putting hearty American comfort food on the menu (think double-fried Buffalo wings and short rib cheesesteaks). Glover Park Grill is open with indoor and outdoor seating every evening, with plans for a new outdoor terrace.
Just Opened: St. Vincent restaurant/bar/e-commerce store opened in Park View at 3212 Georgia Ave. NW, where Union Drinkery used to be, with indoor seating and an outdoor garden. Brought to you by Peyton Sherwood of The Midlands Beer Garden and Frederick Uku, formerly of The Red Hen, they modeled it after New Orleans-based Bacchanal Fine Wine & Spirits, so live music is anticipated. Sam Molavi of Compass Rose, St. Anselm and Ripple is the chef.
Georgetown Gourmet at Key Bridge birthed Porchetta District, offering takeout-only porchetta sandwiches from locally sourced family farms. Owner Aykan Demiroglu has built his Italian restaurant reputation running Bistro Vivant in McLean, Virginia; Locanda on Capitol Hill; and Le Paradou in Penn Quarter.
Paraíso (which translates to “paradise” in Spanish), a Mexican taqueria and mezcaleria, has opened where Emilie’s used to be at 1101 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. Owner Sam Shoja hired Geovanny Beltran, from Guerrero, Mexico, to lead the kitchen. The market area will now focus on Mexican-inspired products.
More Mexican: In the second quarter of 2021, Jason Berry and Michael Reginbogin of Knead Hospitality + Design plan to open Mi Casa, a 130-seat Tex-Mex restaurant, at 1648 20th St. NW, where Bareburger used to be. Chef Roberto Santibañez, culinary director of Mi Vida, directs the food operation. They plan to open more quick-service restaurants — in Dupont Circle, Penn Quarter and Crystal City, Virginia — as well as more Mah-Ze-Dahr bakeries, next year.
Fast-Casual Growth: Fast-casual concepts from outside the area are targeting this region. Colorado-based Rush Bowls opened at 1209 U St. NW in the third quarter of this year, with plans to sign new locations. Onur Can is the local franchisee of this healthy food concept. Also, Asad Sheikh, of the full-service Bombay Street Food, has launched three units of his fast-casual Butter Chicken Company in the DMV.
Linda Roth (@lindarothpr) is the founder and CEO of Linda Roth Associates, a D.C.-based public relations and marketing firm that specializes in the food service and hospitality industries. Visit her on the web at lindarothpr.com.
