Nashville-style hot fried chicken. Maryland crab rolls. Spam mac n’ cheese. These are just a few of the items you’ll find on the menu at Barrel & Bushel, which is slated to open in the Hyatt Regency Tysons Corner Center in mid-April.
Chef Dan Dienemann heads the 200-seat restaurant, and comes most recently from Founding Farmers; the restaurant just opened a branch nearby Tysons II Galleria. Though not affiliated, the two eateries share a few general similarities—namely a local-when-possible approach, and wide-reaching menus that hope to offer something for everyone. As a self-described “barrel-forward restaurant,” Barrel’s beverage focus is less broad, and hones in on three popular cask-made drinks: wine, beer (over 20 craft drafts), and bourbon.
The large space will be divided into four areas: an express counter offering quick-grab sandwiches and salads; a communal barroom oriented towards shareable plates like duck-fat fried chicken legs and pork belly lollypops; a dining room for sit-down breakfast, lunch, brunch, and dinner; and a roomy outdoor patio that seats roughly 70 guests in warm weather.
Much of the fare follows the theme of American classics with a twist, such as a spin on fried chicken and waffles that combines Nashville-style hot chicken, French toast, and an accompaniment of mac n’ cheese topped with a layer of crispy Spam (though the meat product doesn’t pop up frequently, Dienemann says he likes to use it as a seasoning). Another hearty riff is a grilled cheese eggs Benedict where Cooper cheese—a fancier American—is melted between English muffins, and topped with poached eggs, Virginia ham, and hollandaise.
Not every item is quite so hearty. Dienemann plans for dishes like toasted red quinoa with fruit and Greek yoghurt at breakfast, deconstructed entree salads for lunch, and sustainable seafood plates such as marinated salmon with toasted garlic and broccolini. Or you could always meet half way, and preempt a salad with an appetizer order of fried chicken-cheese biscuit sliders.
Stay tuned for a firm opening date soon.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
