R.J. Cooper is putting a new spin on DC’s annual summer restaurant week, held August 13 to 19. Instead of offering the usual $20.12 lunches and $35.12 dinners at his forward-thinking Shaw dining room Rogue 24, diners can make reservations through CityEats for the 16-course “progression” menu ($100.12) and the 24-course “journey” menu ($140.12)—each includes cocktail, beer, and wine pairings. On a regular night, the two menus with pairings go for $155 and $185.
“It’s not discounted; we’re manipulating the menu in a different way,” says Cooper. “We want people to come to the restaurant and see what we’re about.” The promotion also celebrates the restaurant’s one-year anniversary in Blagden Alley.
Cooper says the menus will be similar to what you’ll find during any night at Rogue. Planned dishes—which are subject to change—include octopus and smoked-eggplant purée; a 67-degree egg yolk with truffle emulsion; madai flavored with coconut and chilies; squab and watermelon in a foie gras emulsion; and a spin on a gyro that involves lamb tartare and tzatziki espuma wrapped in bitter lettuce leaves. The main difference will involve what’s in your glass: “The norm is that there’s too much, so we’re going to scale back the beverage pairings in the next season and find more creative and quality products,” says Cooper. “And people aren’t going to walk out of here shitfaced.”
The accompanying drinks for Rogue’s restaurant week are still being determined—you may find six beverages instead of eight with that 24-course menu—but regardless, cheers to their birthday. And to possibly avoiding a hangover.
Rogue 24’s Restaurant Week Progression menu is available August 13 through 16; the Journey menu is available August 16 through 19.
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.
