Neighborhood Eats: A New Shake Shack and A Presidential Eatery

• June 27th 2013

by Jamie Liu

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In this week’s Neighborhood Eats, a Shake Shack for Penn Quarter, a presidential restaurant near Dupont, and a new Top Chef opening on the horizon.

Open: Shake Shack opened its Penn Quarter location on Tuesday at 800 F Street NW (map). Along with the usual Shack burgers and crinkle cut fries, this location will be serving concretes that feature coconut doughnut rounds from neighbor Astro Doughnuts and Fried Chicken.

Teddy & The Bully Bar opened Monday at 1200 19th Street NW (map) from the owners of Lincoln Restaurant. The menu features comfort dishes like fried chicken, meatloaf and mac and cheese, as well as a selection of flatbreads. There’s also an assortment of unique seasonal vegetable dishes — snow pea “angel hair” with lemon, garlic, mint and basil; heirloom tomatoes with apricot, soy and lemon; and melon with cucumber, escarole, radish, mint and pine syrup. Joining a selection of cocktails on tap, oyster shooters, and punches, you can pick from one of three 26-day barrel-aged cocktails, like the Trust Buster with Old Forester bourbon, sweet vermouth, Cynar (artichoke liqueur), and Thomas bitters.

Opening Soon: Bearnaise, the newest restaurant concept from Top Chef alum Spike Mendelsohn, opens Friday at 313 Pennsylvania Avenue SE (map), according to Prince of Petworth. The menu is focused on a prix fixe of soup or salad, and steak frites (with unlimited fries). You’ll be able to choose from one of three cuts of beef, and five steak sauces. If steak frites isn’t to your liking, there are French brasserie-style menu items, including moules frites, escargots, foie gras, and raw oysters. Accordingly, the wine list is primarily French to accompany the food.

In Top Chef alum news, Mike Isabella is geared up to open his new Greek/Mediterranean restaurant Kapnos on July 5 at 2201 14th Street NW (map). The menu will include an array of mezze, including classic Greek dips, seafood crudo, roasted and grilled vegetables, and seafood. But a major attraction will be an array of spit-roasted suckling pig, baby goat, lamb and chicken, as well as mezze. The bar will offer 175 wines, mostly Greek, as well as a trio of lemonade cocktails, and Greek liqueur-based cocktails.

In the weeks following the opening, Isabella will open G, his Italian sandwich shop, at the same address. During the day, you’ll be able to stop by for Italian sandwiches, featuring some of Kapnos’ spit-roasted meats, and in the evenings you can enjoy a four-course, prix-fixe tasting menu.

According to Eater, the representatives for Smashburger tweeted that the chain’s first location in the District will open on July 17 at 1739 Connecticut Avenue NW (map). The Denver-based chain serves burgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, and salads with a variety of toppings. (Fingers crossed that they’ll offer some of their green chile-based menu items as well.) If the Fairfax location is any indication, the specialty burger for the region will be the Capital – grilled onions, aged Swiss, arugula, bacon, tomatoes and mayo on brioche.

Opening Eventually: The punnily named kebab shop Meat in a Box will be opening a second location at 2005 18th Street NW in Adams Morgan in the next two weeks, according to Eater. The second location will also serve pizza, yielding for a mouthful of a name — Meat in a Box and Did Someone Say Pizza?. Late night revelers will be able to try salmon, beef, and chicken kebabs as well as falafel.

Events: If you’re interested in trying unusual beers head to The Big Hunt on July 8, when it hosts the release party of Flying Dog’s limited release pineapple saison from its Rarities series. The tasting notes for the beer include pineapple, citrus, mango and pear. The beer is brewed with pineapple powder, orange, and Chinook hops, and will be paired with DC jerky maker Jerkface’s pineapple habanero jerky.

Tickets are still available for this Sunday’s Brainfood Burger Battle at Poste Brasserie. The event pits chefs from 10 local restaurants against each other to create the best burger. For $75, you’ll be able to enjoy all the burgers you can eat, as well as all you can drink beer options from 3 Stars, Mad Fox, Port City, and Ommegang, and wines from Boxwood, Peirano and Washburn. Proceeds from the event support Brainfood, which teaches teenagers how to cook to equip them with life skills and healthy habits.

Jamie R. Liu is a freelance writer, food nerd, and former DCist food and drink editor. She has contributed to Eater, Washington City Paper, the Express, and AskMen.com.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/neighborhood_eats_a_new_shake_shack_a_presidential_eatery/7255.