DC’s newest celebrity chef-driven steakhouse, Cut by Wolfgang Puck, opened its lounge, dining room, and rooftop bar in Georgetown’s Rosewood Hotel on Monday.
And yet, to describe Cut as merely a steakhouse is to do a disservice to the year-long effort from the international restaurateur and his DC head chef, Andrew Skala*. The pair pays homage to the DC region with locally sourced seafood, cheese, vegetables, wine, and more.
Walk through the Rosewood’s ornate lobby, and you’re immediately greeted by a lush lounge with a massive wraparound seafood bar. On display is everything from oysters, to whole tunas, to scallops. On the menu, Virginia rockfish is served with coconut cream sauce and Thai basil, while Maine lobster is paired with avocado and horseradish.
On the vegetable-focused side of things, small plates include charred leeks which are smoked over the kitchen’s white oak and mesquite charcoal grill and paired with toasted hazelnuts. Baby carrots are seasoned with “shawarma spice” and served on a slated plate, sliced to resemble a cut of meat kabob.
Skala says he’d prefer that Cut be called “grill focused” rather than a steakhouse. However, that’s not to say effort hasn’t been put into the meaty side of the menu, which includes veal sweetbreads and pricey Virginia wagyu. Dishes range from $18 for oxtail bouillon with charred onion and horseradish to $145 for a 35 ounce porterhouse* that’s been aged for 45 days.
Can the restaurant beat the power breakfast scene at the nearby Four Seasons? Skala’s attempts include fresh-basked buttermilk biscuits with strawberry marmalade, cornmeal waffles topped with peaches, and of course, avocado toast (on Seylou Bakery’s Einkorn bread). Additionally, there is an entire section labeled “Eggs Eggs Eggs.” (It features, unsurprisingly, eggs).
Evan Moore—who oversees the dining room and beverage program—showcases more than 500 labels on his wine list, with many bottles sourced from Virginia wineries. The cocktail menu features over 11 local distilleries, and a roving bar cart serves made-to-order old-fashioneds.
Up on the hotel rooftop—which offers stunning views of the Potomac River, Washington Monument, and Georgetown—a lounge serves dishes such as chilled Maine lobster, hand cut steak tartare, and fries with Old Bay aioli.
The restaurant will be open every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with the rooftop lounge open until 9 PM for the first few months (the restaurant plans to extend those hours).
*Corrections: Chef Andrew Skala’s name was initially misspelled. Due to a menu error, the porterhouse’s price was originally listed as $215 and its size was listed as 49 ounces.
Kalina Newman is an editorial fellow for Washingtonian. Previously, she covered metro news for the Boston Globe. Her work has appeared in ARLnow, DCist, and the Washington City Paper. Kalina graduated from Boston University in 2019 with a degree in journalism.
