Extended Brunch at DC Harvest for 4th of July
DC Harvest (517 H Street) will be featuring extended brunch from 11am until 4pm on July 4th but will be closed for dinner the night of the 4th. A great opportunity to check out some of their new brunch items before the fireworks!
DC Harvest on H Street
DC Harvest (517 H Street) will be offering Father’s Day specials tomorrow for both brunch and dinner. At brunch, they will be offering $15 bottomless mimosas and $20 bottomless bloody marys. At dinner, when you buy 3 entrees, dad’s entree will be free. DC Harvest is now taking reservations for both seatings if you don’t have plans yet!
DC Harvest Father’s Day Specials
Construction Signage at Nando’s on H Street Several Weeks Ago
We just received an email that Nando’s (4th and H Street, NE) will have its grand opening next Saturday (the same day as the streetcar, February 27th) on H Street. All of the proceeds from the opening weekend will go towards H Street’s Atlas Performing Arts Center and several members of DC United will be at the grand opening. Nando’s had originally planned to open in January, but, as is common with many restaurant openings in the District, ran into delays.
Turkey Club Sandwich at Uni Bistro
If you live on the west end of H Street, you know Batter Bowl Bakery well. For us, we stop there multiple times a weekend to fill up on our favorite iced coffee and warm pastries. Several weeks ago, Batter Bowl changed its name to become Uni Bistro, which features the same great coffee and pastries plus many new lunch and dinner entrees. The name Uni Bistro is a play off of both the restaurant’s proximity to Union Station and the unique image and vibe that the owners envision for the restaurant. They also hope to attract more of an afternoon and evening crowd as the restaurant previously only had a strong morning clientele. For now Uni will maintain its existing hours; however, they may expand later into the evening in the future. You can view their new menu here.
Lasagna at Uni Bistro
The expanded menu was under development for quite a while, and it is delicious. Some of the items are similar to ones that were on the previous lunch menu, but many of the items are brand new. All of the items are fresh and made in house daily. Our favorite so far is the Uni bruschetta, made with freshly baked bread (we recommend asking for sourdough) and topped with a combination of basil, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese that tastes almost like pesto. We also like the lasagna–a healthy serving of ground beef lasagna served with a side salad that includes walnuts and cranberries. The lasagna is cooked long enough to provide a golden brown to the cheese on top without drying out the sauce, noodles, and meat on the inside. Other solid options include the turkey club sandwich and the Eighth Street sandwich, an open face sandwich with chickpeas, hummus, avocado, capers, and tomatoes. Both sandwiches come with the side salad.
Uni Bruschetta at Uni Bistro
Uni Bistro serves its new menu both in house and to go. Their to go packaging holds up well regardless of which of the items you select. Most of the items we have tried thus far are large enough to serve as dinner or as lunch and a snack later. If you haven’t tried the new menu at Uni Bistro outside of breakfast, you need to stop by and check out the new offerings. It has quickly become one of our good-to spots for a quick dinner or lunch on H Street.
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Ongoing list of restaurants and bars that are open during the storm. Will update as long as there is power! Listing specials that we know of as well. Email us with additional details (districtcuisine (at) gmail).
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Storefront That Was Supposed to Become Sin Bin Sports Bar Now Up For Lease
Several years ago, a concept called “Sin Bin Sports Bar and Restaurant” announced that it would be moving into 1336 H Street and applied for a liquor license. Sin Bin was going to be a sports bar that also had an outdoor space. Construction began on the site but for many months it has been stalled and vacant. Well it now appears that it is back on the leasing market as you can see from the posting here. The real estate posting notes that the building is currently a shell but that the owner may work with the tenant “on some rent abatement.”
Sour Cherry Gel Cocktail Shooter at DC Harvest
We’ve loved DC Harvest’s food for awhile, but recently DC Harvest has changed up its drink menu and now has several new creative cocktails available. Under the leadership of new bar manager Matthew Fisk, DC Harvest’s drink menu has branched out from only having domestic alcohols to instead having a mix of domestic and international. Fisk–a former philosophy and ancient language graduate–comes to DC Harvest by way of New Orleans and Proof, Vinoteca, Ripple, and Daikaya in D.C. In discussing the changes to the cocktail menu, Fisk says “when I came here to DC Harvest, the bar was completely stocked with offerings that only came from the United States…I strongly advocated for a more international presence behind our bar…the cocktail is an American institution, like rock and roll. Its origin is multiple. Mixing together ingredients from different lands is how this country began, and what often makes the U.S. a wonderful place to hail from. We will always feature spirits from our friends and neighbors at home, but we will also not forget that most of us came here from elsewhere.”
Clover Kyu at DC Harvest
A sample of the new drink menu (descriptions and photos courtesy of Fisk and the staff at DC Harvest; links added in by District Cuisine if you would like to learn more about the drinks or alcohols):
Que Hora Son at DC Harvest
Much has been said of the H Street Streetcar over the past several weeks and months (years actually). Often overlooked in that discussion is the impact the streetcar has already had on H Street restaurants and bars and the impact that it will have on them in the future. For restaurants that opened several years ago, they endured months of major business disruptions due to construction. For some of them, the road in front of their restaurants was torn up and completely blocked for months on end. For newer restaurants, many of them chose to invest their money in the H Street Corridor because of the promise of the streetcar running. We caught up with many H Street restaurants and bars–both brand new and those open for awhile now–to get their perspective on the importance of the streetcar opening and operating on H Street. *As you will see at the end, we did talk with one restaurant that has become frustrated with the D.C. Government’s handling of the streetcar and no longer supports it.
The Argonaut (1433 H Street): “10 years ago when Joe Englert and I (Scott Magnuson) opened the Argonaut, we had a grand vision of a packed streetcar bringing people up and down the street. This vision is something I latched onto as we struggled being the only business open at the time. We struggled through two and a half years of construction which had one side or the other of the Argonaut closed. Like many of the other businesses it was extremely painful to go through. City officials need to not only get the current line up and running ASAP, but they must finish the line downtown and to Minnesota Avenue for the streetcar to have a chance to succeed as a transportation option. Failure to complete the line will result in a failed streetcar. The one advantage businesses have with the current track is that it will bring people from NoMa to the bars and get them home. It will not be a valid transportation option until the line goes downtown. We are pro streetcar and can’t wait to see it up and running!”
&pizza (1118 H Street): “The streetcar opening up is important for H Street because it provides a proper means of transportation from a transit hub such as Union Station but also, further, it starts to lay the foundation for further means of transportation going east of H Street. I (Steve Salis of &pizza) believe that there will be a lot of development taking place east of H Street in the years to come and this is a great vehicle to support the maturation for those communities while leveraging the leisure components that H Street provides.”
Dangerously Delicious Pies (1339 H Street): “As a business that moved onto H Street in 2009, we, along with our fellow H Street businesses, have certainly dealt with some crazy challenges in general, but certainly in regards to the preparation of the streetcar in particular. Collectively, small businesses and local residents have put up with a lot and have paid out a lot in taxes and it only seems logical that we at least see the project through, now that we are so close to completion, as opposed to cutting some major losses.”
Driftwood Kitchen (400 H Street): “The streetcar, if implemented as promised, would really help do two things: connect the two sides of H Street for the consumer, and open the H Street Corridor up to Metro traffic by ease of accessibility. We would love to see Northwest D.C. have a convenient means to see what H Street has to offer. Connecting us to the rest of the Metro would simply be a boon for businesses in our neighborhood.”
Le Grenier (502 H Street): “The streetcar is a nice option to fix the parking issues that hurt business but above all, an easy, fancy, green way to go up and down the corridor and stop by any businesses. We will be proud to be part of the first (new) streetcar in D.C..”
Smith Commons (1245 H Street): “With the limited parking on H Street, the streetcar would provide travel from Union Station where guests could park and take the streetcar to all H Street locations.”
DC Harvest (517 H Street): “The opening of the streetcar would continue the revitalization of H Street and be instrumental in bringing more new people to our proud part of D.C..”
Micho’s Grill (500 H Street): “Most of us on H Street are mainly small business family-owned restaurants and (many) serve authentic international foods. We rely on foot traffic to keep us going. The streetcar will play a major role in exposing us to the rest of D.C..”
Sol Mexican Grill (1251 H Street): “The streetcar is very important to us. It will promote tourism in our neighborhood which means more business for everyone.”
Ocopa (1324 H Street): “(the streetcar will) increase traffic and broaden market audience for businesses in the neighborhood because parking is limited and difficult. Union Station offers great Metro access but is too far from most restaurants. It’s also (currently) challenging to keep employees who do not live in NE D.C..”
Tony’s Breakfast (1387 H Street): “It (the streetcar) matters because too much money went into the project (to abandon it), and because it is a good tourist attraction.”
Biergarten Haus (1355 H Street): Biergarten Haus has become frustrated with the D.C. Government’s handling of the streetcar and no longer supports it: “one more example of the lack of accountability, planning, and impact for the District of Columbia’s residents and businesses by the government in the District. Not to mention, the waste of 200 million of our hard earned tax paying dollars.”
Pan Roasted Arctic Char Will Soon Make Way for Ruby Trout at DC Harvest
As H Street begins to thaw out slowly from January and February, DC Harvest is beginning to transition to its spring menu. During the winter months, DC Harvest featured a delicious Arctic Char that was pan roasted and served with maitake mushrooms and topped with a smoked walnut romesco. Just a few days ago it was rotated off the menu to make way for a dish featuring ruby trout. Additionally, the vegetable pairing for DC Harvest’s scallop entree will change as winter vegetables give way to early spring ones. In the coming weeks, look for ramps, additional wild mushrooms, spring peas, and spring asparagus to be worked into the menu. Despite the seasonal changes, our favorite dish–the sous vide old bay fried chicken–remains a staple of the menu on Monday and Tuesday. The sides for the fried chicken do vary by season and are currently multicolored carrots.
Old Bay Fried Chicken at DC Harvest
DC Harvest is also now booking its upstairs rooms for large groups during the week. It seats up to 25 people and features a view of the open kitchen. Anyone who is interested can stop by or reach out to the restaurant.
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