Good news for cocktail fanatics: the Columbia Room is almost back. Derek Brown’s spirits bar, long considered one of the best places to drink in Washington, will reopen on February 9. Originally housed in the Passenger (now closed), the new digs are located above the Dabney in Shaw’s Blagden Alley.
Though drinkers once had to reserve one of the coveted few stools in advance, there’ll be more room to sip at the Columbia Room 2.0. The 2,400 square-foot space is divided into three areas: a 20-seat “spirits library” for à la carte imbibing; a 14-person tasting room for three and five-course set menus ($75 and 100 per person, respectively); and an outdoor “punch garden” that’ll open in the spring. Head bartender J.P. Fetherston and others will lead the tastings, which include a mix of cocktails and snacks, plus upgrades like glasses of Champagne ($25) or Osetra caviar service ($100).
Anyone looking to get in the door early can make reservations online for the tasting room, or a private spirits library experience for four-to-six guests ($100 per person).
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.
