Big news for Arlingtonians: chef Jonah Kim, recently of the shuttered Pabu at the Four Seasons Baltimore, will open Yona, a noodle bar at 4000 Wilson Boulevard. Restaurateur Mike Isabella is a partner in the project, but will not oversee the menu.
The Ballston eatery is set to be a full-service restaurant, open for lunch and dinner. The Korean-born, Japanese-trained Kim plans to serve traditional tonkotsu (pork-based) ramen, as well as several riffs on the noodle soup. Evenings will bring small plates—think steamed duck buns, crispy Brussels sprouts, and Korean double-fried chicken with a spicy bourbon glaze. Lunch will be geared more toward the business crowd, with quick eats like donburi rice bowls. Taha Ismail, the beverage director for Isabella’s restaurant group, Mike Isabella Concepts, is behind the sake, beers, and cocktails.
Yona is slated for spring 2015, and will mark yet another expansion for MIC. Isabella is slated to open two eateries next door: Kapnos Taverna in December, and Pepita next year. Could Wilson Boulevard become the new 14th Street? Possibly, if Isabella has anything to do with it.
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.
