Hikari Sushi (644 H Street, NE) was closed by the D.C. Department of Health on Friday for violations of the District’s health code. While the violations are not available online yet, usually the Health Department does not shut down a restaurant unless the violations are fairly serious.
Remodeled Exterior for Old City Market and Oven
District Cuisine has been excitedly waiting for the opening of Old City Market and Oven (522 K Street, NE) for several months. The former convenience store turned gourmet market officially plans to open its doors on Wednesday (November 16th), according to General Manager Mahadi Lawal. Our friends at Borderstan had a good preview piece late last month that you can view here, but District Cuisine recently learned some additional exciting details about the new spot.
Owner Curt Hansen has owned the property at 522 K Street for over 30 years but decided recently that he wanted to change it from a typical corner store to a gourmet market that would better meet the needs of the community. The entire space was completely renovated over the past several months and will now sell gourmet groceries, wine, prepared foods, and coffee. While they will not serve pizza for the first several weeks, eventually they will have pizza fresh from their pizza oven featuring topics such as hummus, caramelized onions, potatoes, and salmon as well as other more traditional pizza toppings. The coffee will be from M.E. Swings, and they will offer cappuccinos, macchiatos, lattes, and mochas. We look forward to stopping by soon to check everything out!
Interior Bar Area at Cotton & Reed
Cotton & Reed (1330 5th Street, NE) has come quite a long way since District Cuisine toured the space last November (you can see our post with construction photos here). The rum distillery and tasting room by friends and former co-workers Reed Walker and Jordan Cotton will open this Saturday in Union Market (less than half a block away from the main Union Market building). District Cuisine got a sneak peak as part of the media preview last week.
A Peak Through the Door to the Distillery at Cotton & Reed
Cotton & Reed will be open from 4 pm until midnight Wednesday-Friday and noon until midnight Saturday and Sunday. The distillery has a beautiful bar in the front where customers can order craft cocktails featuring Cotton & Reed rum created by mixologist Lucas Smith. In their opening run, Cotton & Reed created a white rum and a dry spiced rum, both of which are available for purchase or as shots. During good weather, the front window will be open to allow a fresh breeze to come in through the bar. Visitors will be able to get a tour of the distillery located in the back behind the bar area during business hours. The entire space is also available to rent for larger parties and events.
As Cotton & Reed becomes more established, they will produce additional varieties of rum. They plan to distribute their rums to area restaurants and stores when they open. Cotton & Reed will be a very welcome addition to the Union Market area, and we hope that it inspires similar local businesses to join the area in the near future!
*Photos courtesy of Farrah Skeiky from Dim Sum Media
Construction on Upcoming Chick-fil-A
As was reported several months ago, Chick-fil-A is replacing Checkers at 1401 Maryland Avenue, NE, just one block off of the H Street Corridor. The Checkers site sat vacant for several months, but construction has begun in recent weeks. We’ll update once we learn more details on an opening date.
Grilled Swordfish on Fall Menu at DC Harvest
Dish of the week is an ongoing series from District Cuisine that highlights one of our favorite dishes from a local restaurant.
Several weeks ago, DC Harvest (517 H Street, NE) rolled out several new items for its fall menu, including a new pasta dish (featuring red kuri pumpkin, broccoli, chickpeas, and a walnut pesto), a braised brisket entree, and a cocoa rigatoni with braised venison ragu. Our favorite so far is the grilled swordfish plated over greens sauteed with sausage and dates and topped with DC Harvest’s pickled ramp butter. We always appreciate seeing swordfish on a menu as it is somewhat rare to find around the District. The calabrese sausage and the sweetness of the dates interact well with the bitterness of the greens and make a truly memorable and tasty dish. Stop by and check out the fall menu before they transition to winter as it gets colder.
New Interior at Citi Pizza on H Street
Citi Pizza (504 H Street, NE) has been closed for several months due to a significant renovation and remodel. The restaurant has a bright new exterior and redid its front entrance with glass to make it more welcoming. District Cuisine got a peak inside over the weekend which revealed that Citi Pizza will now offer a small dine-in option in addition to takeout. The new interior is very open so that customers can watch their food being made (previously Citi Pizza only had a little window for customers to order through). While construction is mostly complete, they hope to reopen within the next 1-2 weeks. The menu will largely be the same as before; however, they are considering adding some additional items like salad.
New Paint Job for Citi Pizza on H Street
Pow Pow Now Serving Weekend Breakfast
Pow Pow (1253 H Street, NE) began serving breakfast this past weekend and will be adding breakfast to its online ordering this coming weekend. Breakfast will be served from 10:30-12:30 on Saturdays and Sundays. There are three different breakfast egg rolls to choose from:
For a limited time, each egg roll is $5 and comes with a cup of coffee.
Poke Bowl at District Fishwife
Dish of the Week is a new ongoing series from District Cuisine that highlights one of our favorite dishes from a local restaurant.
In case you haven’t found out yet, several months ago, District Fishwife in Union Market expanded its offerings to include freshly prepared meals in addition to its seafood selection. The meals are primarily lunch items (dinner on the weekend) and include fish sandwiches, salmon burgers, and most recently a chili crab fried sandwich. Our favorite is the Ahi Tuna poke bowl (you can also get it with salmon, depending upon what they have available). Poke bowls (a style of marinated raw fish from Hawaii) have recently become very popular both around town and nationally (see recent Washington Post story here). District Fishwife’s preparation has a bed of rice with two different types of marinated tuna on either side of the container: a soy based marinade and a spicy aioli marinade. In the middle you get wasabi, seaweed salad, ginger, thinly sliced carrot, and fish row. The two different marinades are both delicious and play well together with the rice and salad in the middle. The poke bowl is a great way to have an interesting, fresh, and fairly light lunch or dinner (unlike several of their items, you can get the poke bowl in the late afternoon).
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