Rogue 24 toque RJ Cooper has had a busy few weeks between opening Gypsy Soul in Merrifield and preparing his former tasting menu-only restaurant for à-la-carte service. Now he’s ready to go “back to the basics” with a new menu at the Shaw eatery starting Wednesday, featuring more traditional appetizer- and entrée-sized portions.
“The neighborhood is changing and getting younger,” says Cooper. “We can be a destination restaurant and also provide an experience from the neighborhood.”
Most of the dishes are larger versions of items on the 24-course “journey” menu, which is still offered to guests when making reservations. Though there’s no designation between starters and main courses—categories are divided by vegetables and proteins, or, in this case, “vegetation” and “land”—the $10-to-$18 options are meant as beginners, and mains run $24 to $36. While Cooper goes more rustic at Gypsy Soul (think chicken-fried quail), all of Rogue’s dishes will continue to lean more modernist, such as roast duck with Indian pickles, oats, and sorrel, or bone-marrow flan with sea urchin and mustard greens. More in the mood for a steak Caesar? Try a 100-day dry-aged hanger with anchovies, romaine, and black garlic.
The new menu will be offered during regular hours starting Wednesday, August 20.
Rogue 24. 922 N St., NW; 202-408-9724.
Find Anna Spiegel on Twitter at @annaspiegs.
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.
