Another new restaurant and café is opening at Foggy Bottom’s Western Market food hall. Tigerella, serves Italian-inspired dishes, from the folks behind Mount Pleasant bakery and neighborhood favorite, Elle. They got morning covered, with coffee, pastries and breakfast sandwiches. The dining room opens this month, offering homemade pizzas and pastas created by Chef Vincent Falcone. The all-day menu should delight nearby George Washington University students, teachers and GWU Hospital workers.
AdMo Quick Hits: Tight Five Pub, D.C.’s first rugby bar, is opening at 2471 18th Street NW in Adams Morgan where Smoke & Barrel used to be…. Chas Jefferson plans to open Le Mont Royal before end of Q3 2022 at 1815 Adams Mill Rd., NW (at the intersection of 18th & Columbia) where Southern Hospitality reigned. French-Canadian theme – so expect poutine on the menu?
Union Market Quick Hits: Manhattan-based Minetta Tavern is slated to open at 1287 4th St NE in Q3 2023, across from La Cosecha… Starr Restaurants’ NYC-based Pastis is aiming to open at 1323 4th Street NE in Q1 or Q2 of 2023.
The Wharf Quick Hits: Naeem Mohd of EATernity Hospitality Group (Nara-Ya, La Vie, Bar Bao, Provision14, Yatai) plans to open Kinfolk Southern Hospitality, specializing in southern barbecue, at The Wharf at 685 Wharf Street SW in Q2 2023…. Manhattan-based Limani is slated to open a seafood-centric restaurant at 670 Wharf Street SW as part of Phase II.
Just Quick Hits: Jon Taffer (of Bar Rescue fame) announced he plans to open Taffer’s Tavern in Q3 2022, at 700 6th St. NW in Penn Quarter where Penn Commons was… Thaiverse of Middleburg, VA is slated to open in Dupont Circle where Darlington House, was…. EATernity Hospitality Group plans to open Brisa, a Latin American restaurant, and El Jefé, a taqueria, at RiverPoint on Buzzard Point in SW D.C.
Danilo Simic and Colin McClimans of Nina May in Shaw plan to open Opal, an 80-seat seafood-focused restaurant & bar at 5534 Connecticut Ave., NW in Chevy Chase, D.C. where Arucola (and La Siesta, Capital Crab) used to be in late Q3 2022. They also plan to open an all-day cafe and market, Elena James, across the border in Chevy Chase, Maryland in Q4 2023.
Chef Update: Ben Lambert, formerly of The Point DC, is exec chef at Knightsbridge Restaurant Group’s Modena on H Street NW in downtown DC… Harrison Dickow, formerly of Tail Up Goat and Reveler’s Hour, is now executive chef at Elle.
Palm Beach Gardens-based Bolay Fresh Bold Kitchen will open in Falls Church at Birch and Broad and at Virginia Gateway in Gainesville, where Zoe’s Kitchen was, before the end of Q3 2022. The fast casual chain’s DMV rollout is managed by John Horvatinovich, former director of operations for José Andrés’ ThinkFoodGroup. A third location is slated to open at the Greenbriar Town Center in Fairfax in Q2 2023. Erik Ashton from the Great American Restaurants will be general manager for the Falls Church store, and Paul Paterno, formerly a f & B director at Hilton Worldwide will run the Gainesville store.
Linda Roth is Founder & CEO of Linda Roth Associates (LRA), a D.C.-based public relations and marketing firm that specializes in the foodservice and hospitality industries. Follow her at: @LindaRothPR, #LindaRothPR, or www.lindarothpr.com.
