While chatting yesterday with Tryst beverage director David Fritzler about an entirely unrelated matter, Best Bites learned about bar plans for the company’s forthcoming Columbia Heights operation. “Fishbowl” has been put out there as a possible monicker, though Fritzler referred to the project as “The Fourth Place”—it is the fourth venture from his boss, Constantine Stavropoulos, who also owns The Diner and Open City in Woodley Park. (The latter was referred to as “The Third Place” for some time prior to its opening.)
The new project, which occupies 7,000 square feet of real estate at 11th and Monroe, will have a bar that seats 22 to 24 people, according to Fritzler. There will be an emphasis on value wines and lesser-known varietals, and we’ll likely see a collection of keg wines behind the bar, along with a nitrogen system.
Fritzler is a craft cocktail guy—a member of the Guild, a pourer of Blue Blazers, and a recognized rickey-mixer—but serving up bespoke drinks at a 200-seat, 24/7 restaurant-and-coffeehouse hybrid seems like an impossible endeavor. Ah, but here’s how he’s getting around that: The new restaurant’s eight- to ten-seat back bar will be the haven for the cocktail geeks, the spot where the bartender will be on hand to create custom drinks, talk ingredients, etc.
Fritzler says the forthcoming Fourth Place should open in April. For more information about what to expect, turn to the Prince of Petworth.
