The D.C.-area restaurant openings we're most excited about this April
This month's band of go-getters includes a veteran restaurateur branching out in new directions, a first-timer looking to build community with tank-to-tap beers and a U.K. hospitality group infatuated with Mid-Atlantic seafood.
Chef-turned-restaurateur Tim Ma, who has migrated from Vienna (Maple Ave Restaurant) to Shaw (the now-defunct Kyirisan) to Navy Yard (Any Day Now), aims to fulfill a lifelong dream of opening 'quote, unquote, a Chinese restaurant by a Chinese person in Chinatown' with his latest venture.
Ma originally launched Lucky Danger as a pandemic carryout near Mount Vernon Square in late 2020. He subsequently opened other branches in Pentagon City, but this month marks an elevation of the concept, as he brings a refined, sit-down version of the restaurant to 709 D St. NW. Ma and chef de cuisine Robbie Reyes have revamped an existing menu built on Americanized offerings like crab Rangoon, General Tso's chicken, and beef and broccoli. The new menu features spruced-up entrées including Sichuan-style mapo tofu with fermented black beans and rice cakes; Maryland blue crab lo mein; egg noodles blanketed in black vinegar and toasted breadcrumbs; whole crispy flounder freshened by papaya salad; and Peking duck with fish sauce, cured cucumber and butter lettuce. Look for additional snacks at a cocktail bar tucked into the back. And prepare to nurse 'overproof' whiskey drinks at a semiprivate mah-jongg parlor nestled behind a wall of red lanterns.
Ma is also launching Tacocat — an outgrowth of the Asian-fusion snacks he served at Wild Days on Eaton's rooftop — in the Foggy Bottom food hall Western Market. This version of Tacocat will be an all-day venue serving breakfast tacos and Any Day Now's coffee service in the morning, and globally inspired tacos accompanied by tequila, mezcal and beer starting at 11 a.m. And if that weren't enough, he's planting Sushi Sato in the three-level home of the short-lived Bronze (1245 H St. NE). The plan is to serve sushi on the first two floors — including a two-tiered, time-restricted all-you-can-eat option ($50 per person for standard fare, $70 for premium offerings). Ma says he's reserving the top level for an undisclosed project.
His secret to juggling multiple openings all over town without losing his mind?
'We've built a really big, diverse team now, so luckily, we have the bandwidth to do so,' he says of an eponymous hospitality group that's now home to like-minded business associates and about 15 chefs tasked with keeping their respective kitchens on point.
709 D St. NW. luckydanger.co. Entrées, $25 to $90.
'We're here to create a community space,' Henceforth managing partner Mike Spinello says as co-founder and head brewer Benjamin Mullett nods approvingly from the entrance of their nascent 10-barrel brewhouse on H Street. Spinello, a local resident who dreamed up the homegrown brewpub in March 2023, joined forces with Mullet, an award-winning alum of Skipping Rock Beer Co. in Stanton and Pale Fire Brewing Co. in Harrisonburg, to make their own fun starting April 19.
They have carved up the three-story establishment where H Street Country Club once stood into themed areas, including the dedicated brewhouse, a casual pub (seating for 25), a stylish wine bar (30), a dedicated taproom (75) and a rooftop deck still under renovation (expected to come online this summer). Mullett says the brewhouse will keep up to 12 beers flowing from the taps at both the downstairs pub and upstairs tasting room. 'It's all going to stay here with us,' Mullett says of every drop of beer produced. While he's partial to Belgian-style brews and dark lagers, Mullett says they'll probably launch with an easy-drinking cream ale that's been well received at special events and experiment a bit with light, dark, hoppy, sour and extra-special bitter beers before settling on a core lineup. 'Whatever the customers are enjoying the most, we'll continue to make that,' Mullett says.
Chef Walfer Hernandez, an alum of Capitol Hill bourbon den Barrel, is working on an array of beer-friendly snacks and sandwiches for the pub crowd and some snazzier options for those dining upstairs. Opening pub grub includes a half-dozen types of chicken wings (one fried, the others grilled); fried mushroom quiche; soft pretzels twisted into the Henceforth logo; jagerwurst on pretzel buns; and gyros stuffed with roasted lamb, pickled onions and tzatziki sauce. Entrées include crab cakes, pasta carbonara with guanciale, roasted cauliflower with black garlic labneh, braised beef cheeks, and a house burger featuring a bacon-fat-infused patty topped with nutty Lusk cheese. Desserts range from peach tart with coconut rum to blood orange possets.
Spinello says wine director Monica Lee, an alum of Mount Pleasant restaurant Elle, is in charge of lifting everyone's spirits at the wine bar and noted that the pub will feature some batch-made cocktails — along with other Easter eggs.
1335 H St. NE. henceforthdc.com. Entrées, $12 to $24.
At the Wharf's airy new Fish Shop, expect a lineup that's frequently in flux. 'Our menu is going to be changing quite often because we are trying to utilize what the fishermen are able to get for us,' chef de cuisine Ria Montes, an Estuary alum, says of the sourcing plan for the newcomer opening April 29.
Whereas parent company Artfarm's original Fish Shop in Ballater, Scotland, features Loch Leven clams, Macduff lobster and Shetland mussels, Montes says its D.C. counterpart will highlight sustainably farmed oysters, wild blue catfish, soft-shell crabs, striped bass and tuna (when in season) plucked from our surrounding waters. Her opening menu items include crumpets laced with smoked trout from Virginia-based Smoke in Chimneys; Tall Timbers oysters from Maryland's Double T Oyster Ranch served raw, with kombu-green apple mignonette, or grilled with 'nduja brown butter; an adaptation of Scottish seafood bisque stocked with Maryland blue crabs, pickled clams and double cream; roasted Chesapeake rockfish; and a roasted half-chicken paired with an emulsified oyster sauce honoring a recipe from the historic 'Maryland's Way' cookbook.
Oyster lovers looking to ignite each slurp can splash on a housemade hot sauce forged from locally grown habaneros, Fresno chiles and aji dulce peppers fermented for 30 days before bottling.
Pastry chef Patrick Gannon, most recently at Kiln in Alexandria, is contributing sweets ranging from dark chocolate ice cream flecked with sea salt and olive oil to tiramisu spiked with candied Virginia peanuts. Montes says he's also working on a Smith Island cake.
D.C.'s Fish Shop expands on a restaurant portfolio that includes Scotland's flagship Fish Shop, the bicoastal Manuela (Los Angeles, New York City) and other European eateries. The Wharf location will sprinkle seating for about 200 guests around a dedicated oyster bar, a main dining room overlooking the marina, three private dining spaces and patio seating (in the works).
Design touches include a signature tartan woven by Scottish artist Araminta Campbell, custom bar lamps made of recycled glass by Washington Glass School director Erwin Timmers, and an overhead art installation depicting a shoal of fish crafted by Scottish willow weaver Helen Jackson and North Carolina wisteria weaver Angela Eastman.
610 Water St. SW. fishshopdc.com. Entrées, $30 to $45.
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