About Restaurant Openings Around DC
A guide to the newest places to eat and drink.
Avocado toast has become a millennial symbol, a social signifier, and a cultural lightning rod. But to District Fishwife founder Fiona Lewis and her husband Ben Friedman, it’s also just, you know, breakfast.
And frankly, there aren’t a lot of breakfast options in Union Market, where they spend their days—especially not since Mason Dixie took its biscuit sandwiches elsewhere. That was the impetus for On Toast, their new pop-up stall selling nothing but toast.
So, yes, there is avocado toast on the menu. “It’s been a big thing in Australia for a long time,” says Lewis, a Melbourne native. “Smashed avo toast, it’s a thing. Every cafe has their version.” On Toast’s version comes with feta and za’atar for $6.50. (Add an over-easy egg for an extra $2.75.) But the secret ingredient is a bit of Vegemite, the divisive yeasty spread that Australians love.
Meanwhile, the owners’ 6-year-old son Max is the mastermind behind another trendy treat: unicorn toast. White bread comes topped marshmallow fluff, tiny chocolate chips, rainbow sprinkles, and rainbow-colored edible sugar glitter ($3).
Given their seafood roots, the menu naturally incorporates fish, too. District Fishwife cures its own gravlax, which is paired here with arugula, a caper salsa, and an over-easy egg on sourdough ($10). There’s also shrimp toast ($8.50).
Friedman and Lewis borrow from their Union Market neighbors for other ingredients. All the bread comes from Lyon Bakery, while butter is supplied by Trickling Springs.
On Toast is a pop-up for now, but there’s no specific end date. Lewis says it will stick around “as long as people want to keep buying toast.”
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.
