100 Very Best Restaurants: – Rooster and Owl

Plates of fried quail and barbecue carrots at Rooster & Owl. Photograph by Scott Suchman

About Rooster and Owl

cuisines
American
Location(s)
2436 14th St NW
Washington, District of Columbia 20009-4502

Open wood shelves with kitschy ceramic roosters and copper pendant lamps add a dash of playfulness to this exposed-­brick dining room, where chef/owner Yuan Tang, an alum of New York’s Jean-­Georges, shows his culinary moxie. His four-course menus are a testament to Tang’s multicultural vision and flights of fancy. Expect takes such as uni-butter-slicked gnocchi, black bass with pumpkin mole, and a fantasy of a bánh mì with bacon and foie gras. There’s a wine pairing, but the cocktail version is a lot more fun. Expensive.