Team Maydan continues its expansion with new Middle Eastern restaurant concept Tawle—a casual spinoff of the fiery, Michelin-starred dining room housed in the Manhattan Laundry Building just off 14th Street. Co-owner Rose Previte (also behind 14th Street Corridor restaurant Compass Rose) has set her sights on yet another storied building, the former Iota Club in Clarendon, and next year, she’ll transform it into restaurant/rooftop bar Tawle. The dining spot will be part of the Crossing Clarendon development (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington).
Tawle will open its flagship in Fairfax’s Mosaic District this summer, and at both locations, Omar Hegazi will oversee a kebab-centric menu. The Arlington space—roughly 4,000-square feet, which is even bigger than Maydan—will also offer a robust selection for grab-and-go, takeout, and delivery. The bar program is still in the works, though Previte says the downstairs and rooftop bars will boast some similarities to Maydan: “Lots of Middle Eastern flavors, Arak (an anise-based distilled spirit), mint, and citrus, very fresh.” Wines will be sourced from lesser-seen regions.
Since first announcing Tawle last year, the team and its expansion plans have changed. Originally the restaurant was planned in partnership with Richie Brandenburg (formerly the culinary mind behind Union Market) and Rubén García (the ex-Creativity Director at ThinkFoodGroup) for their massive forthcoming downtown DC food hall, the Market at International Square (1850 K St., NW). Now, Previte and Maydan co-owner Mark Schuster are moving forward with Tawle along with chef Hegazi and another co-founder, Mayu Horie, also a ThinkFoodGroup alum. Previte says a location at the food hall isn’t off the table, but it’s “on hold for now. We have to make sure we have the bandwidth—it’s everyone being realistic about their time.”
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.
