DC Harvest (517 H Street, NE) will be ringing in the new year with a three course chef’s tasting menu complete with a champagne toast at midnight. Some of the features of the tasting menu include smoked Arctic Char, crispy duck confit, a wild mushroom napoleon, and a pistachio encrusted lamb sirloin. Reservations and the complete menu available at DC Harvest’s website here.
District Cuisine got news last night that The Wydown passed its final inspection and will be open for business today in the new Apollo building (600 H Street, NE). You can see our previous preview post on The Wydown here. The bar part of The Wydown will be opening late next week. We can’t wait to check it out!
Wok Fried Noodles at Maketto
Dish of the week is an ongoing series from District Cuisine that highlights one of our favorite dishes from a local restaurant.
Maketto (1351 H Street, NE) has received the most attention of any restaurant in the H Street Corridor over the past year, culminating with its inclusion in the Michelin Guide’s Bib Gourmand list a couple of months ago. Throughout all of the positive coverage, one item emerged as the most talked about: the Taiwanese fried chicken. Seemingly every article about Maketto talked about the dish. Don’t get us wrong, we really like the fried chicken, but we think there is one dish that is even better: the wok fried noodles. The wok fried noodles are stir fried with a combination of vegetables and a rich and flavorful sauce (with a mushroom presence) that is the perfect remedy for a chilly winter night. The noodles, which capture the taste of the vegetables and have a hint of smoke in them, come topped with crispy garlic and hot peppers. You can add seared duck breast or pork belly for around $20 (that’s in addition, not total); however, the addition is not necessary (although the seared duck is good) as the dish by itself is quite large and prone to tasty leftovers the next day.
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!
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.
Taqueria and Rosticeria Fresca Prior to Its Opening on H Street
Taqueria and Rosticeria Fresca (701 H Street, NE) is expanding both in terms of its space and its offerings. Fresca opened around a year ago on H Street and has been very popular ever since, especially for lunch. District Cuisine recently reported that they would be creating an outdoor patio. Fresca is now expanding into the rest of the building behind it (down 7th Street), which had previously been a barbershop. The restaurant also has building permits to make several interior renovations that will keep the front part of the building a fast casual counter service restaurant and make the back of the building (where the barbershop was) an 18 seat restaurant with table service. Additionally, Fresca recently applied for a liquor license so that it can serve drinks.
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