Driftwood Kitchen (400 H Street, NE) opened last Sunday for dinner. We’ll have an initial review going up soon (spoiler: we liked it), but in the meantime wanted to post their menu which isn’t on their website yet for those who are interested in trying Driftwood.
Driftwood Kitchen Menu
Driftwood Kitchen Drink Menu
Interior Wall at Kitty’s Saloon
Kitty’s Saloon (1208 H Street, NE) had its soft opening this week and will open tomorrow (Friday the 10th) for full dinner service. For the first month or so, the restaurant will only have its first floor open as they complete construction on the upper level. The lower level features a bar, three two top tables in the back, and a table in the front by their floor to ceiling roll-up window that opens on to H Street. You can see our preview here and view their menu here.
Tables at Kitty’s Saloon
Ceiling at Kitty’s Saloon
Bullfrog Bagels on H Street
Ever since we moved to the H Street Corridor, we have believed that the Corridor really needed a good bagel place. Finally our wish was granted. If you have not checked out Bullfrog Bagels (1341 H Street, NE), you need to as soon as possible. After being a pop-up bagel spot across the City for several months, Bullfrog now resides on H Street. Long time H Street restaurant and bar Star and Shamrock has reduced its footprint by about half and the other half of what used to be Star and Shamrock now houses Bullfrog (the entire space remains connected and shares kitchen space so you can easily grab a bagel at Bullfrog and go to the bar at Star and Shamrock without going outside).
The bagels are very thin and light (as light as bagels can be). They continuously make the bagels while they are open, so they may be out of certain varieties while you are there. However, the bagels are the freshest you will find around D.C. and are usually hot out of the oven. They have the usual favorites like plain, onion, poppy seed, and everything. You can get your bagel plain or with butter, a variety of jams, regular cream cheese, or scallion and chive cream cheese. You can also get it with smoked salmon or make it a true breakfast sandwich with egg, bacon, cheese, avocado, or onion jam (see complete menu here).
Bacon, Egg, and Cheese on Onion Bagel at Bullfrog Bagels
Our favorites thus far are the onion bagels with either scallion and chive cream cheese or done as a breakfast sandwich with bacon, egg, and cheese. The scallion and chive cream cheese is nice and light with a balance of scallion and chives. The bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich is not overly greasy as sometimes happens with breakfast sandwiches.
When you walk in, you take a number and then wait to order. If you’re in a hurry, make sure to call ahead your order as it can get quite busy on the weekends! They are open everyday besides Monday from 7 am-11 am but will sometimes stay open later depending on demand.
Future Home of Sixth and H Bar and Grill
We had noticed construction activity on and off over the last several years at 523 H Street, NE but had not heard anything about what was going into the space. Late last week, the door was open and we were able to peak in and chat with the owner who recently applied for a liquor license for the space. Sixth and H Bar and Grill will be a sports bar that will serve burgers and pizza with multiple TVs inside for sports. They will also have a patio on the side of the restaurant along 6th street. They will be open seven days a week and have late night service (their liquor license says that they will open at 8 am everyday, but we suspect this will change). Inside, the restaurant looks like it is pretty close to being ready to go; it already has several TVs installed over the bar. The outside of the restaurant looks like it could use some refurbishing, but it is unclear if that is going to happen prior to opening. The owner told us that they are planning on opening “sometime after the holidays” before March Madness basketball.
Future Patio for Sixth and H Bar and Grill
Driftwood Kitchen (400 H Street, NE) has spent the past several months renovating the space previously occupied by the controversial Tru Orleans. They have now posted a sign indicating that they are hiring, meaning that they are likely only a few weeks away from opening. More details as we get them.
Po Boy Trophy
Po Boy Jim (709 H Street, NE) will be hosting a po boy eating competition during H Streetfest next Saturday involving a stuffed 10 inch version of their chicken and pulled pork po boy. Every contestant will begin eating at the same time and the first person to finish the entire sandwich will be the winner. The entrance fee is $10, but the winner has the fee refunded as well as receiving a special Po Boy Jim trophy and a po boy named in their honor at the restaurant for a month. They are still accepting signups at the restaurant now!
They also plan on having a full bar with outdoor seating setup in front of the restaurant during the Festival on Saturday.
Chef David Conn’s path to becoming head chef at Kitty’s Saloon (1208 H Street, NE) has not been the most traditional. Initially a music professor at Cornell University, Conn decided that he was tired of academia and was ready to pursue his passion for the restaurant industry. After several years of culinary training in Savannah, he spent the next 14 years in the Nashville restaurant scene where he developed his own spin on country and western cuisines. Next he spent time in the New York City area where he opened additional restaurants before being attracted to the D.C. area.
Chef David Conn of Kitty’s Saloon
In the coming weeks, Kitty’s Saloon will replace the long closed Souk on H Street. The interior and exterior of the restaurant have been completely redesigned. Much of the wood on the inside of the restaurant came from an 1870s barn and has been restored for use in the space. Currently, the restaurant only occupies the ground floor, but the owners of Kitty’s are working with the landlord to buy the upstairs and expand the restaurant (and possibly create an outdoor deck in the coming months). Prior to opening, we caught up with Chef David Conn to discuss his plans and vision for Kitty’s.
After one trip to H Street, Conn was sold on the area. He says that one trip to the Pug and a taste of Toki Underground’s ramen were enough to convince him that the neighborhood was the place to be. He hopes that Kitty’s Saloon will become a neighborhood hangout that will add a unique element to H Street but that will become fully engrained in the neighborhood. For Conn, having a strong connection to the neighborhood and a good relationship with the neighbors is essential for success.
Initially, Kitty’s Saloon was advertised as “contemporary redneck cuisine,” but Conn sees it as a blend of country and western cuisines. The menu will feature around ten small plates at any one time as well as several larger entree plates. Look for it to rotate significantly by season. Conn considers his spice rack and the different blending of spices to be essential to his style. He joked to us that his spice rack is so large that it takes up half of his storage space. Slow braising and other styles of cooking that develop a deep spice and flavor profile are key to the dishes he makes. Continue reading
Table at DC Harvest
DC Harvest (517 H Street, NE) will officially open next Tuesday (September 2nd) for dinner. You can check out our detailed preview here. The following week they will open for brunch on the weekends.
We got a sneak peak of the tentative brunch menu when we came to take pictures of the space. It will be arguably the most impressive brunch menu in the H Street Corridor.
Bar at DC Harvest
A few brunch dishes to look forward to:
-three different egg scrambles: one with housemade spicy lamb sausage, one with a mushroom mix, and one with Maryland blue crab
-lamb burger
-turkey hash made with their freshly roasted turkey
-steak and eggs
-oysters on the half shell
-a traditional greens salad and an heirloom tomato salad
-fruit and granola
We also learned that instead of a traditional bread plate at the beginning of dinner service that the restaurant will instead offer roasted butternut squash chips. And to conclude dinner, all diners will receive several housemade marshmallows with their check. Continue reading
Chilled Avocado Soup with Pickled Shrimp at DC Harvest
DC Harvest, a New American restaurant specializing in fresh and local ingredients, is hoping to open by the end of August at 517 H Street, NE. Brothers Arthur Ringel (head chef) and Jared Ringel (General Manager) plan to have a seasonally rotating menu that will focus on ingredients from the Chesapeake Watershed Region (you can read more on the Ringel brothers’ impressive culinary backgrounds from our friends at the Washington City Paper). They are currently in the finishing stages of a complete renovation of the space and hope to pass final inspection and begin staff training in the coming weeks for a grand opening towards the end of August. In the coming days, the exterior of the restaurant will get a completely new paint job in addition to a brand new sign for the restaurant.
District Cuisine was lucky to get a sneak preview of the menu. A few of the items that you can look forward to trying on the opening day menu:
Appetizer – Chilled Avocado Soup with pickled shrimp. Garnished with micro cilantro and fresh radish (see picture above).
Pasta – Fresh Homemade Kale/Whole wheat Agnolotti filled with homemade Ricotta served with yellow tomato confit, eggplant and fresh marjoram.
Entree – Zatar seasoned Turkey Breast with kamut, shitake mushrooms, swiss chard, pan jus and garnished with crispy turkey skin cracklings.
Additionally, we were told that everything will be made in house and from scratch and that homemade pastas will be a staple of the menu. They chose the turkey breast as opposed to chicken because it was a healthier protein that they knew they could source locally. DC Harvest will feature several local DC brews and will be giving each DC brewery a selection on tap.
We’re very excited for DC Harvest to open up on the Western end of H Street. In the meantime, you can track their progress on their website, Facebook, and Twitter
OhZone Lounge will replace Ohio Restaurant at 1380 H Street. Ohio Restaurant–abandoned and deteriorating for years–has quite a history (including being owned by a drug-dealer turned FBI informant who was tragically murdered in Alexandria). The new owners are planning a bar that will have a patio and eventually a rooftop area. It will feature jazz nights as well as karaoke on certain nights. The owner told us that he plans on opening in October after renovations. His wife is working on the menu that will have a wide range of food. They hope that OhZone Lounge will be welcoming to everyone and will become a neighborhood hangout. It appears that they are working on a website that you can view here.
District Cuisine 