Embrace the winter season in DC with new restaurant openings and diverse culinary offerings from acclaimed chefs.
What’s New
New restaurant openings in DC offer a wide array of dishes and drinks boasting winter flavors and seasonal menu offerings from top local chefs.
Chef Christian Irabién is behind the anticipated Amparo Fondita. The upscale Mexican restaurant opened Nov. 1 and takes guests on a culinary journey through the coastal regions of Mexico, while using locally sourced, seasonal ingredients. The menu is seafood-oriented, but also offers vegetarian options, and dishes that celebrate the traditional Mexican agricultural system.
Former Minibar Chef Rubén García debuts his first solo restaurant called Casa Teresa, located inside the new downtown food hall The Square. The restaurant honors the open-fire and home cooking traditions of Spain, and García’s native Catalonia. Meals will be served family style with a focus on whole fish, grilled meats and local vegetable dishes. Other menu highlights include a jamon cart and slow-cooked stews.
Michelin-starred chef Nicholas Stefanelli’s opened Philotimo, a long-anticipated tribute to Greek cuisine. The restaurant originally opened in 2022 but was forced to close for almost a year due to a fire. It was recently reopened in DC’s Midtown Center. The menu highlights Stefanelli’s research and extensive travels throughout Greece, and includes a large variety of small plates, cured meats, pasta, and seafood.
Limani, a Mediterranean seafood restaurant, opened in an over-water structure at The Wharf. The three-story space is home to the largest full-service terrace at The Wharf and offers extensive water views. The menu features Greek specialties, a raw bar, and grilled shareable dishes.
The team behind Compass Rose and the Michelin-starred Maydan have brought their latest masterpiece to life with Medina. Nestled within an enchanting Bedouin tent, this cocktail lounge draws inspiration from the Arabic term for an ancient or historic town. Medina's menu offers shareable small plates, an assortment of North African Tagine dishes, exotic cocktails with ingredients sourced from Tunisia, Morocco, Sicily, Malta, and the Canary Islands, complemented by a fine selection of Mediterranean wines and a unique martini cart.
Seasonal Offerings
The Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) is bringing back DC Cocktail Week from Nov. 28 to Dec. 5. Immerse yourself in the art of mixology at any of the 100+ participating restaurants and bars throughout the Metropolitan region, which will feature cocktails paired with small bites and other beverage-centered delights. The week-long event will end with a celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition in the United States.
Expand your culinary horizons during RAMW's highly anticipated Metropolitan Winter Restaurant Week. From January 15 to 21, 2024, participating restaurants will offer unique prix-fix opportunities to indulge in the city’s award-winning culinary scene. Lunch and brunch menus will be available for $25, as well as two dinner options for $40 and $55.
Opening Soon
DC restaurateur Hakan Ilhan (from Brasserie Liberté, Il Piatto and Ottoman Taverna) is getting ready to open Alara, a Mediterranean restaurant in Georgetown in early 2024. The atmosphere will be cozy and European, and its seasonal menus will be inspired in the Turkish, Greek, Lebanese and Israeli cuisines.
The owners of Mt. Vernon Triangle’s French-Chinese restaurant Bar Chinois are expanding to 14th Street with a new fusion concept. Bar Japonais, a French-Japanese Izakaya, will replace the Spanish restaurant Estadio in Logan Circle in early 2024. It will be set in a sleek and sophisticated ambiance with plenty of sharable plate offerings, sushi, crudos, French wine, Sake and cocktails.
Georgetown is set to gain the popular Osteria Mozza from the Los Angeles area.
A Michelin star chef, Nancy Silverton is partnering with Stephen Starr, who is behind some of DC’s most coveted restaurants Le Diplomate and St. Anselm. Osteria Mozza will serve fresh pasta and wood-fire pizza and feature a market where you can purchase canned Italian products.
Starr will also duplicate New York City’s Meatpacking District’s scene-y bistro, Pastis in DC’s Union Market in 2023. The new site will provide a glamorous backdrop for a French menu filled with beef bourguignon, sardines, escargot and weekly specials like decadent dover sole and duck confit.
A New York City art-nouveau-styled brasserie, La Grande Boucherie is opening
an outpost in the historic Federal-American National Bank building near the
White House. The New York City location was featured recently on the Sex and the City reboot and exhibits authentic French dishes with an emphasis on seafood. Restauranteur Emil Stefkov, of The Group NYC, will also open a Japanese restaurant called Washoku Room and an indoor/outdoor Italian trattoria called Olio é Piu at the same location.
Reagan National Airport will soon have new dining and drinking options coming
in late 2023. The new restaurants include Local brewery Atlas Brew Works, Half Moon Empanadas and Cava Mezze grill.
Clydes is planning to open a new restaurant in the Union Market district next summer. Cordelia Fishbar will serve dishes made over a charcoal flame grill. The restaurant is expected to seat 250 guests and will have a private event space.
Maryland-based 2Fifty Texas BBQ is planning to open a location in Mt. Vernon Triangle in early 2024. The restaurant was ranked the “#1 Best BBQ Joint in the DC Area” by the Washington Post.
Recent Additions
Italian-American restaurant and pizzeria Grazie Nonna opened in DC’s Midtown Center in September. Chef Gerald Addison and Casey Patten partnered to offer creative pizzas and comforting pasta dishes inside an elegant dining room filled with candelabra.
Award winning restaurateur Stephen Starr, from St. Anselm and Le Diplomate, opened El Presidente in September. The restaurant serves upscale Mexican fare in an eccentric setting, filled with eye-catching decoration and immense attention to detail. Menu highlights include the Hamachi aguachile, a guacamole with blue crab, build-your-own tacos al carbon and agave-centered drinks.
An ambitious 25,000-square-foot culinary marketplace opened in downtown DC. The Square (1875 I Street, NW) is located inside International Square, the complex above the Farragut West Metro station. Unlike a traditional food hall with individual vendors, it will be collaborative, with the in-house butcher and bakery furnishing several stalls and shops. The chefs behind the Square, Richie Brandenburg and Rubén García are bringing years of hospitality experience to their business venture.
Indian restaurant Bindaas’ Cleveland Park location will soon be a wine bar named Little Black Bird with an expected opening date in early September. Guests can choose from over 100 different wines by the bottle. Food pairings include lobster and lamb loin.
Meli opened in Adams Morgan serving Greek and Mediterranean small dishes and wine. The restaurant from group Eastern Point Collective offers membership with proceeds going to local nonprofits and special access to grill boxes and a virtual retail market.
Replacing the popular bar Columbia Room, Death & Co opened this summer. The New York bar has locations in Denver and Los Angeles. Visitors can enjoy high-quality cocktails and mocktails.
The newest location of Kitchen + Kocktails from restaurateur Kevin Kelley recently opened near Franklin Park. The menu consists of southern cuisine staples including southern fried catfish and black-eyed peas with smoked turkey. Signature cocktails on the menu include the Gold Fashioned that features 24k gold and special to-go cocktails.
Navy Yard’s new café, Any Day Now from chef Tim Ma, is open all day. Highlights include Scallion Pancakes, stuffed with eggs and American cheese and a choice of vegetarian kimchi filling, sausage or bacon. Fresh pastries include banana nut muffins, cinnamon rolls and butter croissants. The restaurant also serves dinner with menu offerings including honey walnut calamari and chicken and waffles.
Bolivian restaurant Saya Salteñas recently opened in Foggy Bottom near George Washington University. This is Maria Helena Iturralde’s first physical restaurant after starting a catering business during the pandemic. Saltenas are traditional Bolivian food that are filled with different meats.
The newest restaurant to open in Georgetown, Kyojin from the Yume Hospitality Group is dishing out sushi and is housed in the former L2 lounge. There is a special bar where guests can select from 40-50 sakes. Chef Saran Kannasute is well known in the area having previously worked for Zabb DC and RA Sushi.
Food truck Glizzys Vegan Food Company now has a physical location in Congress Heights at the Sycamore & Oak Retail Village. The vegan restaurant serves plant-based hot dogs and sandwiches. The hot dogs boast creative names such as the Shaw dog which consists of plant-based sausages, beans and special “uptown sauce.”
Popular New York restaurateur Philippe Chow brings a luxurious dining experience to the Wharf. Enjoy a Beijing-style menu boasting Peking Duck, Nine Seasons Spicy Prawns and Chilean Sea Bass. Signature cocktails include “Take Me To The Bridge,” featuring Providence Haitian Rum and Branca Menta. The restaurant currently serves dinner and will eventually add brunch.
Purl, located on H Street, serves classic comfort food and playful cocktails. Ashlee Jack, the director of hospitality at Lemon Group Hospitality, is the mastermind behind Purl and collaborated with cocktail curator Kelsey Ramage to design the menu. Diners can enjoy lobster truffle mac & cheese and pappardelle with a braised short rib and red wine ragu.
Oyster Oyster recently opened Oyster Garage, a casual offshoot to assist with meeting the demand for the popular restaurant. Chef Rob Rubba was recently named “Chef of the Year” by the James Beard Awards. The oyster garage seats 20 and guests can order pizza by the slice, oysters on the half shell and beer and wine. The playful concept has two pinball machines and brightly colored murals.
photo credit: Urban Roast