Chef Adam Schop (left) and the most luxurious item on the menu at Le Diplomate: a three-tiered shellfish plateau heaped with freshly shucked oysters, clams, shrimp cocktail, king crab, and lobster (right). Photographs by Jeff Elkins.
Spring has finally arrived, and it’s perfect weather for relaxing on an outdoor patio with a bottle of cold Chablis and a three-tiered platter of freshly shucked oysters, clams, cracked crab, and chilled lobster. Which you can now do at Le Diplomate, a 14th Street spot from Philadelphia-based restaurateur Stephen Starr, which is finally open after a year of construction.
Nightly dinner service is currently underway, and there’s already plenty of competition for seats on the 60-seat, hedge-lined patio. Chef Adam Schop combines traditional brasserie staples such as French onion soup, hand-chopped steak tartare, beef bourguignon, and moules frites with more modern innovations (here’s the menu). You might start out with tuna carpaccio drizzled with leek vinaigrette or roasted sweetbreads with morels before moving on to house-made pappardelle sauced with wild boar or seared scallops with spring peas and orzo. Simpler dishes—radishes with sea salt and butter, say, followed by savory crepes or an omelet—appeal to the casual weeknight diner.
Restaurants on the 14th Street strip are mainly geared toward the evening crowd, but once Le Diplomate is fully up and running, you’ll find breakfast, brunch, lunch, and mid-afternoon service. While the airy 200-seat eatery is surrounded by windows, the 36-seat garden room, with its glass ceiling and doors opening to the patio, seems particularly suited to reading the paper over a pot of La Colombe coffee and a warm croissant. Later in the day, a stately curving zinc bar or one of the deep semicircular booths promises to be a popular spot for sipping one of the many draft beers, wines, or French-inspired cocktails like a glass of bubbly with Combier Pamplemousse, a grapefruit liqueur. Designer Shawn Hausman—the talent behind see-and-be-seen spots such as Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont and the Standard in New York City—created the chic decor, which manages to feel both buzzy and cozy, thanks to glowing lamps and antiques salvaged from Parisian markets.
The concept was inspired by the corner building, a former laundry facility that reminded Starr of Parc, his French brasserie off Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square. While the menus and design are different, the two have a similar feel, especially from the outside with canopied sidewalk seating. Another welcome carryover: an extensive bakery program, with stacks of fresh baguettes and boules greeting you at the door. The loaves pop up on the menu, but you can also make like a Parisian and tuck one under your arm to go.
The restaurant officially opens on Monday, April 15. Until then, enjoy a 10 percent discount during the soft-opening stage. We’ll report back on daytime services as they start.
Le Diplomate. 1601 14th St., NW; 202-332-3333. Current dinner hours: Sunday through Tuesday 5 to 10, Wednesday and Thursday 5 to 11, and Friday and Saturday 5 to midnight.
Now Open: Daikaya Izakaya |
Sneak Peek: NoPa Kitchen |
Creamy green broth blankets Thai-style mussels, served with toasted bread for soaking up the juices. Photographs by Jeff Elkins.
Whether you’re in the mood for an exotic white wine rabbit sausage, eggplant-based vegan Italian, or an old-fashioned brat, you’ll find them all at a new sausage shop: Fat Shorty’s, which opened this week in Clarendon.
We first broke the news back in February that restaurateur Aaron Gordon planned to transform his salad-and-sandwich concept, Rabbit, into a Belgian-inspired eatery serving sausages, mussels, and beer. The makeover is complete—you’ll now find long beer-hall-style tables, dangling string lights, antique meat grinders lining the walls, and a ten-seat outdoor patio for drinking oversize steins in the sun.
Fried chicken at GBD. Photograph courtesy of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group. All other photos by Andrew Propp.
Back before the fried-chicken-and-doughnut craze had fully hit Washington, the crew over at Birch & Barley/ChurchKey began toying with the two comfort foods. First came the Luther—essentially a sandwich that tucked some crispy bird between two doughnut “buns”—which attracted cultlike fans in droves on Friday and Saturday nights. More recently, in-the-know diners could order a limited number of off-menu fried chicken specials at ChurchKey—essentially a cafeteria tray loaded with different varieties of fried chicken, biscuits, and sides from chef Kyle Bailey, plus Tiffany MacIsaac’s fresh doughnuts. Now the training wheels are off, as GBD (Golden, Brown, Delicious) is poised to debut in Dupont on Friday with the two former specials as menu mainstays, plus so much more.
Morning muffins and bourbon-butterscotch doughnuts
While evening hours bring sit-down service and a bar scene, your first encounter with GBD will be in the morning. The shop opens at 8 AM for drip MadCap coffee and an array of sweets, which you can take to go or consume at one of the 50 seats inside. Pick from nearly a dozen varieties of brioche and cake doughnuts, ranging from classic (freshly fried with a vanilla glaze) to inventive combinations such as a bourbon-butterscotch round topped with house-made bacon, or a citrusy version filled with Key lime cream. A number of MacIsaac’s pastries from sister operation Buzz Bakery are also on display, such as scones and the carrot-zucchini “good morning muffin.” Heartier appetites can nab a fried chicken thigh sandwiched in a sweet potato biscuit with spicy honey.
Stephan Boillon and his crew designed the comfy 43-seat dining room themselves, building the tables from old doors and repurposed materials and hanging local art on the walls. Photographs by Jeff Elkins.
Food trucks and brick-and-mortar restaurants may sometimes go head to head vying for customers, but the two entities are far from mutually exclusive. Restaurateurs José Andrés and Darren Lee Norris have brought their food to the streets through Pepe and Kushi-moto, while the vendors behind Pleasant Pops, Porc Mobile, District Taco, and Seoul Food have all opened eateries after proving themselves on the streets. The most recent owner to make the move from truck to table: chef Stephan Boillon of El Floridano who just opened his first restaurant, Mothership, in Park View.
A view of the bar from the lounge at NoPa, where you can order classic cocktails and snacks or the full menu. Renderings courtesy of NoPa.
White-tablecloth French restaurants? So ’80s Washington. This spring it’s all about relaxed brasseries. April brings two of the biggest restaurant openings of the season, with Stephen Starr’s Le Diplomate primed for its debut on 14th Street within two weeks, and prolific local restaurateur Ashok Bajaj set to open his biggest project yet, NoPa Kitchen + Bar (800 F Street, Northwest). The latter is a more modern, American vision of the brasserie in Penn Quarter, which is slated to host its first guests on April 29. We got a peek at the interior through renderings provided by James Beard Award-nominated designer Martin Vahtra.
Gone are the shiny red surfaces, white walls, and other ’90s-esque trappings of former tenant Zola. Bajaj nearly gutted the inside of the circa-1875 structure, revealing original brickwork and wood moldings. To create an American eatery with French touches, Vahtra contrasted the almost 140-year-old foundation with modern industrial touches, and used a neutral color scheme that reflects the raw wood, brass, leather, and steel used throughout the space. The main dining room, divided into three connected sections, epitomizes the rustic-meets-modern feel with wood and brick walls, accent pieces such as a large gold-plated mirror, and burgundy leather banquettes.
In the main dining room at the Gryphon, flat-screen televisions contrast with rustic touches like leather chairs and chandeliers made from animal horns. Photographs by Jeff Elkins.
The Dupont neighborhood has no lack of sports bars, but if rowdy venues like Mad Hatter and Buffalo Billiards feel a bit too college-y for your taste, consider the Gryphon, the latest venture from the team behind Lost Society. As the mythological creature for which it’s named is part eagle and part lion, the new spot is a hybrid of sports bar and gastropub—the idea is to appeal to food fans as much as the crews who come to watch the game. Here’s what to expect.
Look owner Michael Kosmides wanted a modern take on the “power booth”: At the restaurant, four leather-padded cubes are the best perch to see all the action (and to be seen, of course). Photograph by Andrew Propp.
“We wanted to get out of the pretentious white-tablecloth, take-out-a-second-mortgage-to-have-a-meal game,” says Michael Kosmides. He’s the owner of new K Street spot Look—formerly home to Italian fine-dining restaurant Teatro Goldoni at 1909 K Street, Northwest. The new concept is in soft-opening stages for lunch and dinner this week.
Following in the footsteps of 2941 and Elisir (now Osteria Elisir), the Cities restaurateur is remaking his formally “fancy” restaurant into a more casual concept fit for the times. In place of table trappings and pricey entrées, he has swapped in a tapas-style menu, extended happy hour, and a bold new design that favors interactive light displays and hard surfaces over soft linens. Here are five things to expect from the new place.
Sorry, you won’t find puffin or skyr, despite early reports. The tapas-style menu spans the globe in terms of influence, with everything from yellowfin tuna tartare in wonton cones to saffron risotto with lobster. Sadly for some, the only truly Nordic element of the restaurant is the architect, who’s from Iceland.
2) But the decor recalls the Northern Lights.
Perhaps the Aurora Borealis inspired the interior design, as there are more lights and changing colors in the 150-seat space than in the night sky (or even most nightclubs). The front bar features an interactive light panel that illuminates your cocktail and casts a glow that follows the drink as you move it around. The back stairs will also track your movements with colored panels, while overhead, 30-foot hologram screens project everything from CNN to art displays on the glowing walls. The sign out front will also change hues.
Whiskey-cured salmon is among the offerings at the Grill Room and Rye Bar. Photograph by Jeff Elkins.
The debut of the new Capella Hotel in Georgetown is just under a month away—as is the opening of its public spaces to lounge and eat, the Grill Room and Rye Bar. While the space is still under construction, chef Jakob Esko is already busy testing menus for both.
Wooden tables are crafted from old bleachers from Illinois; Abi Weizmann and Gabe Morales ate a lot of canned foods to make tin-can candle holders to light the dining room. Photograph by Andrew Propp.
We’re calling it: 2013 is the year of the sandwich. Just when we finished regaling you with all the latest between-bread happenings in the past few months in our preview of Bub and Pop’s, Oded Weizmann’s the Carving Room opens its doors at 300 Massachusetts Avenue, Northwest, with a whole roster of house-made meats and sides.
Like many good Jewish delis before it, the 55-seat space is a family operation—but unlike at the delis of yore, you’ll find a bar. Place your food order at the front of the eatery, and then belly up to the booze counter or one of the many tables fashioned from old bleacher seats. The brews are all American, from good ol’ Miller Lite to craft finds like Bear Republic Hop Rod Rye, with drafts available by the group-friendly growler (about six beers). A concise wine list reaches further, including Argentinian Malbec and Spanish Albariño. Cocktails include a mix of savory drinks—think house-made pickle backs and Bloody Marys garnished with crispy corned beef—and more fruity libations like vodka with lemon sour and strawberries and a mule with ginger purée. A boon for drinkers: Happy hour runs from 4 to 7 every day of the week.
A rack of ribs fresh from the smoker at new Bethesda 'cue spot, Smoke BBQ. Photographs by Andrew Propp.
Marylanders, say hello to your newest source of smoked meat: Smoke BBQ Bethesda, now open on Cordell Avenue. The restaurant suffered months of delays, but is finally dishing up an array of smoked meats to a carnivorous crowd.
You won’t find geographical affiliations to Memphis or the Carolinas; co-owners Susan Lennon and Martin Hage—he’s the cook behind the hickory-fueled smoker in back—create their own kind of ’cue. The concise menu features pulled pork and chicken, brisket, and ribs, all dry-rubbed in a mix of spices and left in the smoker for a lengthy stint. Hage will douse these in any of three varieties of sauces: vinegary, sweet-spicy, or a revved-up version of the latter with smoked jalapeños and cayenne. Beef jus from the smoker is sauce enough for shaved brisket, which gets wrapped in foil halfway through smoking to keep it moist and is served in its own cooking juices. Sides include vinegary collard greens with bacon, sharp-cheddar-laced mac and cheese, and slaw tossed with sour cream, lime, and cilantro. In weeks to come, look for specials like smoked wings with house-made Buffalo sauce and brisket chili.
Lennon and Hage are starting delivery service for large orders and are working towards individual delivery to local homes in the warmer months. In the meantime, the 50-seat operation—complete with red-oak bar and tables fashioned by Hage himself—is a nice place to post up with a platter of meats and a cold draft from a nearby brewery such as Starr Hill or Dogfish Head, or play a round of darts while waiting for your order.
Smoke BBQ Bethesda. 4858 Cordell Ave., Bethesda; 301-656-2011. Open Monday through Thursday and Sunday 11:30 AM to 10 PM, Friday and Saturday 11:30 AM until “late” (when eating late, call before you go).
