About Restaurant Openings Around DC
A guide to the newest places to eat and drink.
Eunoia. 320 Florida Ave., NE.
Mexico City native Josa Maldonado has worked in acclaimed kitchens ranging from Pujol in Mexico City to the French Laundry in California to Jatak in Copenhagen. Those global influences and more come together at brand-new Eunoia in Union Market, where Maldonado is serving up a seasonal menu that spans from seaweed mole to an elevated eggplant lasagna.
Eunoia is owned by Iva and Alex Gotzev, who also operate Dupont Circle pilates studio Toolbox DC and neighboring cafe Zeleno. Maldonado, who initially moved to DC to open Mexican restaurant Maiz 64 (now closed), met the Gotzeves after taking a part time job at Zeleno. Maldonado aims to bring a similar health-minded approach to Eunoia, sourcing local ingredients, focusing on vegetables, and making his own preserves, misos, and other fermentations.
The seaweed mole combines more than 15 ingredients including cinnamon, cumin, peppers, onions, garlic, potato miso, and coconut milk, giving it some curry flare. In addition to different types of seaweed, spinach helps give it a vibrant green color. The mole is served with smashed roasted fingerling potatoes seasoned with fermented serrano chili and lime alongside chicken skin chicharron and finely diced Swiss chard.
Maldonado says his scallop aguachile is another highlight. The carpaccio-style dish features a layer of avocado hidden below the scallop with a black leche de tigre made from lime, celery root, celery, lemongrass, ginger, white soy sauce, and squid ink. The dish comes with tostadas made from scratch and is finished with Szechuan pepper and cilantro stems. “Why stems? Because cilantro is a very healthy ingredient that we should be eating more,” Maldonado says. “In this way, we use the whole product. And this is something that we want to apply in every single dish.”
Maldonado also wanted to pay homage to the owners’ Bulgarian roots with a dish inspired by a Bulgarian moussaka that Iva Gotzev once made him. Barbarella eggplant is subbed for noodles in a lasagna-style dish layered with San Marzano tomatoes, chard, burnt eggplant/chevré puree, and a medley of cheeses—all rolled up. It’s finished with more of the tomato sauce and eggplant puree, plus acorn-flour sourdough breadcrumbs, basil oil, and parm.
The bar takes a similarly global approach. One citrusy whiskey cocktail draws inspiration from the apricot trees native to Silistra, a small town in Bulgaria. Another spiced clarified milk punch combines brandy, bourbon, and rum with carrot juice and chai. The wine list centers around bottles from Bulgaria, Italy, and Mexico.
The opening menu is themed around the garden, but the focus will rotate throughout the seasons with a “forest” menu from October through February followed by a “sea” menu through May. Maldonado says he won’t completely overhaul the menu each season, but rather update ingredients to what’s available and at its peak. For example, you’ll always find a constantly changing crudité platter with tempura-style fried vegetables mixed in.
“What we want is to change the menu constantly, but not because just we want,” Maldonado says. “The earth is going to tell us what to change.”
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.
