Ghost kitchens—restaurants offering only pick-up and delivery—are haunting every DC neighborhood these days, offering new takeout options for ramen, sliders, and enough Detroit pizza to rival Motor City. The latest addition to the ghost game is Stringray Kitchen, opening at Shaw’s Declaration on January 20. The kitchen plans to host different concepts for three-month time stints while Declaration remains in hibernation, starting with a menu of Asian-influenced street food created by Presidential Restaurant Group culinary director Takeshi Nishikawa.
Globe-trotting dishes and homey comfort food don’t always go hand in hand. But Nishikawa, a Japanese native who’s cooked at Restaurant Eve and New Heights, isn’t afraid of creative fusion. Chinese-American favorite General Tso’s chicken is reincarnated in taco form, and matzo balls—a Jewish classic at restaurateur Alan Popovsky’s other restaurants— float in hot-and-sour soup instead of the usual chicken broth.
Nodding to host restaurant Declaration’s roots as a pizzeria, there are also pies topped with Cantonese-style barbecue pork, as well as confit duck and hoisin sauce. On the dessert side of the menu there’s a Hong Kong-style bubble waffle folded around vanilla ice cream and Kit-Kat bars.
Like ghost kitchens, carryout cocktails have become a fixture of the pandemic-era dining landscape. Stingray Kitchen will offer Mai Tais, Old Fashioneds, and a twist on the classic mule using Asian pear.
The opening concept at Stingray Kitchen will be available until March 31.
Stingray Kitchen. 804 V St., NW. Open Thursday to Saturday from 5 PM to 9 PM; Sunday from 5 PM to 8:30 PM.
Daniella Byck joined Washingtonian in 2022. She was previously with Outside Magazine and lives in Northeast DC.
