Cleveland Park mainstay Ardeo+Bardeo will serve its final dinner on Sunday after 20 years in business.
The new American eatery is closing to make way for an entirely new concept from restaurateur Ashok Bajaj, who’s behind the Oval Room, Rasika, and Bindaas (among others). The latter Indian street food spot, whose flagship adjoins Ardeo, will remain open as usual during the transition—a revamp that will include a change in cuisine, full design makeover, and new head chef.
Ardeo was Bajaj’s fourth DC restaurant, having opened in 1998 when the neighborhood was a popular destination for diners and VIPs. (Ardeo counts the Clintons and other politicos among its past celeb clients.) In recent years, affluent Cleveland Park has made more headlines for a string of restaurant closures, from fine-dining Palena to family-owned spots like Nam-Viet.
That doesn’t dissuade Bajaj, who’s better known for changing or reinvigorating current spaces within his Knightsbridge Restaurant Group than shuttering and walking away. (The hospitality group has a 0-10 record on that front.) Ardeo + Bardeo has evolved several times itself over two decades, transitioning from a modern American restaurant and adjoining wine bar to, most recently, a dual concept that housed Ardeo and Bindaas.
Check back soon for details on the new restaurant.
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.
