The Farmers Restaurant Group, which operates three Founding Farmers and Farmers Fishers Bakers in Washington, announced plans for a new seven million dollar restaurant concept: Farmers & Distillers. The 300-seat dining room and distillery is slated to open in Mt. Vernon Triangle at 600 Massachusetts Avenue, Northwest in the fall of 2016.
The company’s beverage director, Jon Arroyo, isn’t new to the liquor game—Founding Farmers already pours its own brand of gin and whiskey thanks to Arroyo’s collaboration with local distiller Rick Wasmund of Copper Fox Distillery in Sperryville, Virginia. Wasmund is also helping develop the new project, specifically the on-site production room where the company’s “farm to still” spirits will be made.
In addition to the house spirits and a 30-seat bar, the restaurant will operate similarly to its sister ventures, serving breakfast, lunch, dinner, and brunch. There’re no specific details on the menu as of yet, though material distributed by the group says it will take influence from “the history of the neighborhood, the stories of the immigrant entrepreneurs from the area, and the spirit of George Washington”—Washington being a farmer, and having founded the largest distillery in early America.
Farmers & Distillers isn’t the only liquor producer coming to the District. DC Distilling Company, another combination distillery/bar/restaurant, is slated to open at the corner of 14th and U Streets, Northwest in early 2016. Stay tuned for more details as they develop.
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.
