Mallard. 1337 14th St., NW
When it comes to Southern cooking, chef Hamilton Johnson has serious cred: the South Carolina native spent eight years in the kitchen at the late Vidalia, which for two decades was DC’s best place for fancified shrimp and grits and lemon chess pie. This week, Johnson debuted Mallard, which takes over the Birch and Barley space in Logan Circle.
There, Johnson is serving up hearty Southern dishes inspired by his upbringing: shrimp and grits with smoked pork; cornmeal-crusted flounder with poached oysters and corn; pork trotters with eggs, chow chow, and grits; and banana pudding with Nilla Wafters and Cracker Jack.
And of course, there’s lots of duck, in the form of duck wings with RC cola, chicken-fried duck leg, and—upstairs at beer destination Churchkey, where Johnson is also overseeing the menu—a duck confit tartine with peach preserves and camembert.
Mallard’s bar will share some of Churchkey’s draft, bottle, and canned beer collection, assembled by beverage director/beer savant Greg Engert. Erin Dudley, the restaurant’s wine director, is highlighting boutique wines with a focus on sustainability. Cocktails are also Southern-themed, with three different spiked lemonades and plenty of whiskey, including a rye cocktail accented with pimento dram, strawberry, and pickle.
The revamped restaurant—named in honor of Johnson’s dad, who carved wood decoy ducks—has a homey parlor feel, with dark-wood chairs, green leather banquettes, and vintage frames on exposed brick walls. Johnson’s aim is to make the place feel immediately welcoming: “We want to treat people like you would if you were inviting someone over for dinner.”
Weekend brunch will start in September, and Johnson plans to offer crabcake Benedict, more duck, and biscuits. “It’s Southern, there’s gotta be biscuits everywhere,” he says.
Mallard is open Tuesday through Saturday, 5 to 10 PM., and Sunday 5 to 9 PM.
