Sections
  • News & Politics
  • Food
  • Things to Do
  • Washingtonian Events
  • Home & Style
  • Editors’ Picks
  • Events Calendar
  • Health
  • Longreads
  • Parenting
  • Real Estate
  • Shopping
  • Travel
  • Weddings
Reader Favorites
  • 100 Very Best Restaurants
  • DC-Area Events Calendar
  • Brunch
  • Neighborhoods
  • Newsletters
  • Directories
  • Washingtonian Events
Washington’s Best
  • Apartment Rentals
  • DC Travel Guide
  • Dentists
  • Doctors
  • Financial Advisers
  • Health Experts
  • Home Improvement Experts
  • Industry Leaders
  • Lawyers
  • Mortgage Professionals
  • Pet Care
  • Private Schools
  • Real Estate Agents
  • Restaurants
  • Retirement Communities
  • Wedding Vendors
© 2023 Washingtonian Media Inc.
Privacy Policy
All Rights Reserved
 Rss
Skip to content
Washingtonian.com
  • Search
  • Subscribe
  • Menu
Washingtonian.com
  • Subscribe
Reader Favorites
  • 100 Very Best Restaurants
  • DC-Area Events Calendar
  • Brunch
  • Neighborhoods
  • Newsletters
  • Directories
  • Washingtonian Events
More
  • Subscribe
  • Manage My Subscription
  • Digital Edition
  • Shop
  • Contests
  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
Sections
  • News & Politics
  • Food
  • Things to Do
  • Washingtonian Events
  • Home & Style
  • Editors’ Picks
  • Events Calendar
  • Health
  • Longreads
  • Parenting
  • Real Estate
  • Shopping
  • Travel
  • Weddings
  • News & Politics
  • Things to Do
  • Food
  • Health
  • Shopping
  • Home & Style
  • Real Estate
  • Weddings
  • Travel

  • 100 Very Best Restaurants
  • DC-Area Events Calendar
  • Brunch
  • Neighborhoods
  • Newsletters
  • Directories
  • Washingtonian Events
  • Trending Now in Food
  • Damian Brown
  • The Wharf
  • Yellow
  • Shaw
  • Dupont Circle
Food

An Early Look at NoPa Kitchen + Bar (Pictures and Menu)

Inside Ashok Bajaj’s first brasserie.

Written by Anna Spiegel
| Published on April 29, 2013
Tweet Share
Bajaj’s brasserie mixes tradition—burgundy booths, steak frites—with seasonal American and Asian-influenced dishes. Photograph by Andrew Propp.

On May 6, Ashok Bajaj’s rapidly expanding empire—which includes Ardeo + Bardeo, 701, the Oval Room, and Bombay Club—welcomes a new eatery to the fold. NoPa, Bajaj’s first brasserie, will be his third Penn Quarter spot. (Rasika and Bibiana are the first two.)

Unlike new restaurants such as Le Diplomate and upcoming B Too, neither the space nor the menu are meant to evoke a European eatery. NoPa is a brasserie in terms of atmosphere and style—a large, bright space with floor-to-ceiling windows, primed for a bustling crowd and geared toward an eclectic, all-day menu that allows for splurges or a modest meal at any hour. Designer Martin Vahtra, who also created the interior at Rasika West End, combined rustic and industrial aesthetics—think wood walls and deep burgundy booths juxtaposed with metal lamps and beams.

You might start out at the 26-seat lounge, outfitted with a mix of leather banquettes, tables, and high-top chairs. Happy hour from 4 to 6:30 brings 20 percent off anything behind the bar, including top-shelf sips like Johnny Walker. High rollers can purchase a bottle to store in one of the 18 “lockers” above the bar—the spirits will be incorporated into special cocktails that rotate each month, and patrons can gift friends drinks made with hooch from their private stash.

In the kitchen is chef Greg McCarty, an alumnus of both Jean-Georges and Nobu restaurants, alongside Bibiana pastry chef Jemil Gadea. You can start on the savory side with snacky bites like twice-fried chicken and blue cheese fondue, or opt for heartier appetizers such as Parisian gnocchi with glazed mushrooms and crispy soft-shell crabs with avocado-basil purée. The biggest splurge is the shareable $120 shellfish tower layered with freshly shucked oysters, clams, shrimp, mussels, and lobster, but you could just as easily drop in solo for a $14 porchetta sandwich with rosemary mustard or slow-cooked short-rib French dip. Steak frites options also range from a moderately priced hanger to premium dry-aged New York strip. Whichever you choose, save room for Gadea’s twists on throwback desserts such as warm strawberry hand pies with house-made fromage blanc gelato or a frozen “chocolate bar” with roasted almond toffee.

NoPa starts with an all-day menu for lunch and dinner, and will eventually roll out brunch once things are up and running.

NoPa. 800 F St., NW; 202-347-4667. Open Monday through Wednesday 11:30 to 10:30, Thursday and Friday 11:30 to 11, Saturday 11 to 11, and Sunday 11 to 9:30.

More: Best BitesFood & Restaurant NewsMenusNew Restaurants
Join the conversation!
Share Tweet
Anna Spiegel
Food Editor

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.

Most Popular in Food

1

The 100 Very Best Restaurants in Washington

2

DC’s New Over-the-Top Brunch Spot Serves 25 Different Mimosas

3
Bellinis in the waterfront wine garden at Easy Company. Photography by Daniel Swartz

A Breezy Waterfront Wine Bar and Rosé Garden Opens at the Wharf

4

Quiz: How Many of Washingtonian’s 100 Very Best Restaurants Have You Been To?

5
kitchen at Bammy's. A nominee for Best Chef Mid-Atlantic. Photograph by Rey Lopez.

Here Are the DC-Area James Beard Award Semifinalists 2023

Washingtonian Magazine

February 2023: 100 Very Best Restaurants

February 2023: 100 Very Best Restaurants

View Issue
Subscribe

Follow Us on Social

We'll help you live your best #DCLIFE every day

Follow Us on Social

We'll help you live your best #DCLIFE every day

Related

Yellow Cafe Closes in Navy Yard, Adds Cocktails and Pizza in Georgetown

Bellinis in the waterfront wine garden at Easy Company. Photography by Daniel Swartz

A Breezy Waterfront Wine Bar and Rosé Garden Opens at the Wharf

Colada Shop opens a fifth Cuban cafe in Dupont Circle. Photograph by Rey Lopez

6 Hot New Bars and Restaurants to Try Around DC

Crooked Run Fermentation co-owner Jake Andres at the new Union Market brewery and Serata Pizza restaurant. Photography courtesy of Crooked Run

Union Market Is Getting Its First Brewery—With Tons of Pizza

More from Food

DC’s New Over-the-Top Brunch Spot Serves 25 Different Mimosas

8 Fun Food Events Around DC

Yellow Cafe Closes in Navy Yard, Adds Cocktails and Pizza in Georgetown

Bellinis in the waterfront wine garden at Easy Company. Photography by Daniel Swartz

A Breezy Waterfront Wine Bar and Rosé Garden Opens at the Wharf

Quiz: How Many of Washingtonian’s 100 Very Best Restaurants Have You Been To?

The 100 Very Best Restaurants in Washington

kitchen at Bammy's. A nominee for Best Chef Mid-Atlantic. Photograph by Rey Lopez.

Here Are the DC-Area James Beard Award Semifinalists 2023

The Dabney Is Washingtonian’s #1 Restaurant—Watch Us Surprise the Chefs

© 2023 Washingtonian Media Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Washingtonian is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Privacy Policy and Opt-Out
 Rss
Get the best news, delivered weekly.
By signing up, you agree to our terms.
  • Subscribe
  • Manage My Subscription
  • Digital Edition
  • Shop
  • Contests
  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs