Food

The Salt Line Team Is Opening a New Orleans-Inspired Restaurant in Downtown DC

Dauphine's will highlight Gulf Coast seafood, charcuterie, and classic New Orleans cocktails

Long Shot Hospitality's Paul Holder, Kyle Bailey, Jeremy Carman, and Gavin Coleman

The Salt Line in Navy Yard is all about the New England coast and the Chesapeake. For their next project, the Long Shot Hospitality team is taking on the Gulf coast with a New Orleans-inspired restaurant called Dauphine’s. It’s set to open at 15th and L Streets, Northwest in the fall of 2019.

While none of the owners (Jeremy Carman, Gavin Coleman, Paul Holder, and chef Kyle Bailey) are from New Orleans, Carman says they all share a fondness for the city after many visits. They’re also partnering with some New Orleans bar vets—Cure Co. co-owner and bartender Neal Bodenheimer (a longtime friend of Coleman’s) and bar director Ryan Gannon—to put together the drink menu. One of Bodenheimer’s cocktail bars, Cure, won a James Beard Award for best bar program last year.

“I don’t think that we want to be hamstrung by tradition. We want to give ourselves some creative leeway. But there will be parts of the menu that speak to classics,” says Carman. He notes they’ve taken a similar approach at the Salt Line, which includes some New England staples (clam chowder, lobster rolls) but also original creations like seafood charcuterie.

Because it’s so early on in the process, Bailey is still developing exactly what that menu will look like. That said, expect a continued emphasis on seafood, including a raw bar with Gulf and Mid-Atlantic oysters, as well as a “boucherie” station focused on whole-animal butchery and charcuterie.

Stay tuned for more on the drink menu from the Cure Co. team as well. Carman says they’ll likely focus on New Orleans “classics done right.”

Located in the new, glass-wrapped Fannie Mae building, Dauphine’s aims to channel New Orleans “grande dame” restaurants like Galatoires and Commander’s Palace without feeling too contrived.

“What you’re experience down in New Orleans, there’s so much history and tradition with a lot of those buildings. But this is a brand-new building,” Carman says. “There is such a specific legacy in each of those restaurants, it’s hard to take those influences too literally.”

Grizform Design Architects—also behind the Salt Line—will outfit Dauphine’s 145-seat space with a lot of ferns, emerald greens, and wrought iron. The restaurant also has an adjoining alley, which will be transformed into 150-seat patio with an outdoor bar, fountain, and fire pit.

The hair-down al fresco space is also where you’ll likely find some Bourbon Street-style frozen drink machines. Yes, there may even be Hurricanes.

Jessica Sidman
Food Editor

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.