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Zuppa Fresca: A Young Chef Brings an Exciting Vision to NoMa

19 Jan

Open Kitchen and Bar at Zuppa Fresca

Even if you know D.C. well, you may not know anything about NoMa.  Technically defined as the area immediately north of Massachusetts Avenue, NoMa is the area to the north of Union Station up to and around the New York Avenue Metro stop that has seen incredible growth in high rise (for D.C.) office buildings and apartment buildings over the past few years.  While NoMa is not currently known for its cuisine or nightlife (with the possible exception of Todd Gray’s Watershed restaurant), a new restaurant has an exciting opportunity to elevate the dining scene in the area and begin to place it on the culinary map.  That restaurant is Zuppa Fresca, located on the ground floor of the Loree Grand apartment building (250 K Street NE).  When the Loree Grand building first opened, it was going to have a restaurant by Gillian Clark (of The General Store and others).  However, Clark’s restaurant never opened, and Zuppa Fresca quickly took its place.  Zuppa Fresca is already open serving breakfast and lunch Tuesday-Sunday; however, the restaurant has much more planned in the weeks and months ahead.

Zuppa Fresca is headed by new chef Alfio Celia, a graduate of L’ Academie de Cuisine in

Window Tables at Zuppa Fresca

Maryland.  Celia started his culinary career when he was 13 cooking in his father’s restaurant.  After his early start, he went on to master his skills at L’Academie de Cuisine so that he could become a part of the D.C. dining scene.  He believes that it isn’t enough simply to make great food.  For him, “a chef has to be able to tell a story with his food and it has to be an interesting story.”  He thinks that NoMa is the place to develop his vision.  In our interview he had warm thoughts about NoMa saying that it will “have explosive growth in the upcoming years and the food scene will need to grow.”  He also believes that other chefs will follow the lead and begin making NoMa a dining and going out destination.

Onion Rings with Aioli

Zuppa Fresca (as you could probably guess from the name) is Italian cuisine but don’t be thinking boring chicken alfredo.  Celia tells us that his dinner menu will buck the usual Italian restaurant theme and not serve many pastas.  Instead, his menu will feature a combination of traditional Italian flavors and modern dishes that have a “Sicilian flair.”   He says that he wants to showcase Sicilian and Italian food “that is overlooked by other Italian cuisine.” Rather than excessive amounts of pasta, expect different kinds of seafood and veal.  He expects that the menu will change daily and that he will be in the kitchen personally preparing many of the dishes. Continue reading →

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New Restaurants Coming to NoMa and H Street

5 Dec

Exciting restaurant news for the NoMa and H Street regions at the end of last week:

Zuppa Fresca in NoMa: Our friends over at Frozen Tropics and DC NoMa reported that the Loree Grand apartment building in NoMa has found a replacement restaurant for Jillian Clark’s “Kitchen on K Street” that had been scheduled to open on the first floor of the building until it was recently announced that it had pulled out.  Looking inside, it had been obvious that the space had already been designed for the incoming restaurant for several months, but little work had been done over the past several months.  Fortunately, Zuppa Fresca, a new Italian restaurant by Alfio Celia will be opening soon.  DC NoMa (menu included) and Frozen Tropics have more details.

Chicken Tortilla on H Street: Frozen Tropics also reports that Chicken Tortilla is opening on the east end of H Street (1324 H Street).  The new restaurant will open on the same stretch of H Street where Shawafel and Pho Bar and Grill recently opened.

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Pho Bar and Grill: Another Cheap and Tasty Option on H Street

30 Nov

Outside of Pho Bar and Grill

It may have taken awhile (we were inaccurately told they would open months ago) and there may still be a few kinks (they still can’t serve alcohol because of a delay with their liquor license application), but Pho Bar and Grill on H Street (1360 H Street NE) has finally opened.  The restaurant is located on the east end of H Street near the fairly recently opened Shawafel and across from popular bars like the Rock N Roll Hotel and H Street Country Club.  It serves a variety of Vietnamese dishes but focuses on pho (a traditional Vietnamese soup that usually features broth, a type of meat, noodles, and a variety of other ingredients ranging from basil to lime to hot sauce to bean sprouts).

If you walk in and are not immediately greeted, don’t be deterred or you will miss out on the food (menu here).  The service is somewhat lacking (as it is many places on H Street), but the food will have you coming back for more.  As a starter, try the crispy egg rolls.  For $5, you get two lightly fried rolls that have a mixture of shrimp, pork, and crab meat–mostly pork.  They are nicely cooked so that there is a light crunch when you bite into them, but they are not overly hard or greasy.  Pho Bar and Grill also has several types of dumplings, but we have yet to try them as they have been out. Continue reading →

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ShopHouse Kitchen: Chipotle’s Successful Attempt to Revolutionize Asian Food (On a Small Scale for Now)

28 Sep

Grilled Steak Bowl at ShopHouse Kitchen

Over the last decade, Chipotle revolutionized Tex-Mex food.  Existing in almost every state, Americans across the country return to Chipotle over and over when they want relatively cheap and quick Tex-Mex.  Especially among college students and young adults, Chipotle has such strong brand loyalty that people will drive for miles and wait in long lines for their favorite burrito.  Chipotle made Tex-Mex food quick, cheap, and high quality nationwide in a way that other quick service casual chains had not been able to master.  However, revolutionizing just one type of cuisine was not enough for Chipotle.  The company is now attempting to revolutionize Southeast Asian food with its new restaurant, ShopHouse Kitchen, which recently opened its first (and currently only) location in Dupont Circle.  While Chipotle claims that it does not have plans to expand ShopHouse Kitchen right now, if it is successful, it would seem logical for them to start expanding it aggressively like they did with Chipotle.

ShopHouse Kitchen is set up very similarly to Chipotle.  The customer slides down the counter telling the server how to customize their meal as they go.  The first decision is a bowl or a sandwich.  The sandwiches are a take on Banh Mi sandwiches and have less customization than the bowls.  If you choose a bowl, you then have to choose whether you would like rice or chilled rice noodles; if you choose rice you must decide jasmine rice or brown rice.  The next step is the choice of meat: grilled chicken satay, pork and chicken meatballs, grilled steak, or tofu.  The next steps in the process make it more complex than Chipotle.  You get a choice of vegetable: Chinese broccoli, eggplant and Thai basil, long bean, or spicy roasted corn; you get a choice of topping: roasted garlic, toasted rice, or crushed peanuts; you get a choice of garnish: green papaya slaw, pickles, or herb salad; and finally you get a choice of sauce: spicy red curry, green curry, or tamarind vinagrette.  On your first trip you may want to study the menu before you get in line, the choices are more numerous and potentially confusing than your standard Chipotle burrito order that you know by heart.  Additionally, because of all of these options, you are much more likely to change up your order on repeat visits whereas most people seem to have one order at Chipotle that they get over and over again. Continue reading →

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Pho Bar and Grill Opening Next Week On H Street (Menu Photos)

17 Sep

Just learned while walking through the H Street Festival today that Pho Bar and Grill (1360 H Street) will be opening next Sunday.  Menu looks good (and cheap), we can’t wait to check it out!

 

 

 

 

 

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Shawafel: A Welcome Addition to H Street

17 Aug

Shawafel

The east end of H Street has a plethora of restaurants and bars with many different themes and atmospheres.  Yet if you wanted a casual and quick meal or late night food after a night out on H Street, you were basically limited to Taylor Gourmet’s sandwiches (not a bad choice at all), pies, or venturing into one of the sketchier late night establishments that will serve you everything from Chinese food to fried fish from behind a bulletproof glass window.  Fortunately, Shawafel, which opened Monday at 1322 H Street, has changed the game and filled a much needed niche.

A quick serve casual Lebanese restaurant, Shawafel is located across the street from popular establishments like H Street Country Club and the Rock and Roll Hotel and down the street from Sticky Rice, Red Palace, and Toki Underground (as well as many others).  This prime location makes it an excellent stop for anyone who doesn’t want to have a lengthy dinner but still wants quality food before going out.  Its location near so many H Street bars and its late hours (3am Thursday-Saturday) will no doubt make it a popular place in the early hours of the morning for post bar food. Continue reading →

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Inspire BBQ: A Nice Neighborhood Carryout

28 Jul

Inspire BBQ from Across H Street

You can easily drive H Street everyday and not notice Inspire BBQ.  Its small store front with only two tables outside and a tarp currently serving as its sign do not stand out.  However, this relatively new BBQ joint located at 650 H Street is a nice place to grab a cheap and tasty dinner on the way home or for lunch on Saturday (closed Sunday).  Recently, they announced that they would be open until 11pm.  Whenever you go, plan on taking it with you because there is literally no where to sit inside and only two tables outside that are practically on the curb.  Because there are not many other places around it, parking is usually pretty easy in the evening.

We are always skeptical that BBQ places with too many meat choices and without a clear regional preference (i.e. Carolina, Texas, Memphis, Savannah, or Kansas City) will lack focus.  We prefer that BBQ restaurants have a clear style and focus rather than trying to be everything at once.  Places with too many varieties of meat risk not doing any of them well.  While Inspire BBQ did not have a clear region and did have several meat options (beef ribs, pulled pork, pulled chicken, chicken quarters, and brisket), we left satisfied. (Note: beware of the menu online, it claims that certain dishes are served ways they are not.  For example, the ribs did not include bread or onions).

Continue reading →

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Tru Orleans: A Block of the Big Easy on H Street

20 Jul

On opening weekend, Tru Orleans succeeded in bringing a tiny bit of the French Quarter in New Orleans to DC’s H Street Corridor.  In fact, if you ignored the rundown buildings across the street, you might think you had been briefly transported to Bourbon Street.  The exciting atmosphere and promising food at Tru Orleans (400 H Street, NE) should excite anyone who has ever visited the Big Easy.

Tru Orleans from Across H Street

Only months ago, what is now Tru Orleans was a rundown former radio station on the western end of H Street.  The western end until recently had not experienced the same level of investment as the eastern end.  The Tru Orleans owners completely gutted the building and built a second level as well as a small patio on the street that rings the building.  The second floor looks like it came straight from the French Quarter: an open air bar complete with an iron balcony around the entire bar and several lazy fans that help cool it off.  Patrons can sit at the bar, eat dinner at the few tables upstairs, or lean over the balcony and people watch on H Street below.  The downstairs (first floor) level features more tables and art work imported directly from New Orleans.  Jazz adds the final authentic element to the overall atmosphere.  For opening weekend they were handing out Mardi Gras beads and goodie bags featuring Mardi Gras masks to each table.  One of the servers even wore a mask for part of the night.  Continue reading →

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