NoMa Hilton Garden Inn Restaurant Space for Lease

27 Dec
Courtyard in Restaurant Space at NoMa Hilton Garden Inn

Courtyard in Restaurant Space at NoMa Hilton Garden Inn

Earlier this year, Todd Gray’s company split ties with the Hilton Garden Inn in NoMa, which had previously housed Watershed by Todd Gray.  After that restaurant closed, the Hilton Garden Inn ran its own restaurant in that space.  It now appears that the Hilton Garden Inn would like to fill that space with a new restaurant.  A new real estate brochure from Papadopoulos Properties advertises a turnkey restaurant with guaranteed conference and events business in the Hilton Garden Inn.  With the recent closure of Union Social, NoMa is definitely a prime target for a sit down restaurant.

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Major Demolition Underway for Union Market Apartments and Culinary Market

26 Dec
Major Demolition Underway at 1270 4th Street, NE

Major Demolition Underway at 1270 4th Street, NE

Major demolition is underway at 1270 4th Street, NE, the future location of The Shapiro, a major residential and retail project in the Union Market area.  This lot–almost an entire city block long–is located immediately south of Masseria and Neal Place Tap and Garden on 4th Street).  Previously the Cash and Carry, the new building will be over 400 units of apartments (built in two phases) and will house a major culinary market by Chef Jose Garces (retail managed by Union Market developer Edens).  As you can see from the photo above, the entire building has been demolished except for the front wall which is being preserved to become a part of the new building.  You can learn more about the design of the building from the developer here.

You can check out a comprehensive map of existing and future plans near Union Market, by checking out District Cuisine’s interactive map here.

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DC Harvest Serving Tasting Menu to Ring in New Year

26 Dec

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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.

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The Wydown Coffee Bar Opening on H Street Today

17 Dec

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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!

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Dish of the Week: Wok Fried Noodles at Maketto

7 Dec
Wok Fried Noodles at Maketto

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.

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Hikari Sushi Closed by Health Inspectors

21 Nov

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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.

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Old City Market and Oven Opening Wednesday (Nov 16) Near H Street

16 Nov
Remodeled Exterior for Old City Market and Oven

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!

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Cotton & Reed Distillery Opens This Saturday in Union Market

11 Nov
Interior Bar Area at Cotton & Reed

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

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.

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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!

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*Photos courtesy of Farrah Skeiky from Dim Sum Media

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Construction Begins for (Near) H Street Chick-fil-A

10 Nov
Construction on Upcoming Chick-fil-A

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.

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Dish of the Week: Grilled Swordfish at DC Harvest

9 Nov
Grilled Swordfish on Fall Menu at DC Harvest

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.

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