Neighborhood Eats: Fall Restaurant Openings To Watch (Part 2)

• September 27th 2012

by Rebecca Cooper

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Neighborhood Eats follows up last week’s look at the most-anticipated restaurant openings around the area this fall, with a second installment of openings that will happen in the coming months. Here’s a few more to keep your eye on.

Drafting Table: With this next venture, Red Velvet/Tangy Sweet/Rabbit owner Aaron Gordon is continuing his evolution with a full service bar restaurant — although he’s not forgetting some of the lessons from his more casual establishments. The menu at this vintage, architecture-themed eatery at the former ACKC space in Logan Circle won’t be huge, sticking to a simple theme: “fun and delicious,” as Gordon puts it.

Drafting Table’s name was inspired by a fortuitous find of eight old-fashioned architect’s drafting tables which they had to have in the dining room, Gordon says. Designer Andrew Christenberry built communal tables and a bar that match. Drafting chairs, lights utilizing old Baltimore bus route lamps and a bricked floor round out the vintage drafting motif. “What I like about it is it really combines retro with a lot of modern lines,” Gordon said of the design this week as he and his staff were preparing for the opening.

Cuisines will vary from dish to dish. There will be a mixed pickle plate, a Middle Eastern falafel, an all-American burger, duck confit over seared radicchio, an Asian kaya toast, says chef Ciji Wagner. Gordon and Wagner are aiming to open the restaurant at 1529 14th Street NW on Thursday, Oct. 4.

Ambar: Something a little different is coming to the Barracks Row strip this fall in the form of Ambar, a Serbian bar and restaurant from Ivan Iricanin. Iricanin, who’s been director of restaurateur Richard Sandoval’s DC operations for the past few years is a native of Serbia with a passion for modern Balkan cuisine. (Sample dishes include prunes stuffed with goat cheese, rolled in bacon with potato dumpling and a homemade cheese pie on tzaziki salad with prosciutto and arugula.) Work is underway on the space at 523 8th Street SE, which used to house Jordan’s 8, and the interior is largely gutted. The 3,000-square foot restaurant will include two levels and a 700-square foot outdoor patio, and is expected to open sometime in November, a representative says.

Woodward Table: Drafting Table isn’t the only Table opening in DC this fall; Woodward Table and Woodward Takeout are opening in the former Potenza space at 1430 H Street NW this fall. Restaurateur Jeffrey Buben, of Vidalia and Bistro Bis fame, plans to open the combination restaurant and neighboring lunch spot in November. There will be a large bar area that will seat up to 100 people, a private dining area and a menu featuring regional favorites like turtle soup, lobster with spinach souffle and brisket, Buben told the Washington Post earlier this summer.

Range: Fans of Top Chef alum Bryan Voltaggio have been waiting with bated breath for him to make the move down to DC from Frederick, Md. practically since he opened Volt in 2008, and the wait is almost over. Voltaggio is opening a combination sit-down restaurant, market, coffeeshop and wine store in the sprawling second floor of the Chevy Chase Pavilion at 5355 Wisconsin Avenue NW. The opening date is expected to be in mid- to late November, says a spokesperson for the restaurant; this summer, Voltaggio bumped the projected opening back from mid-September to mid-November, and construction is still very much underway at the shopping center.

Red Apron: This first brick-and-mortar location of the butchery is joining a slew of other new eateries and retail outlets in the Mosaic District project in Merrifield, Va (map). The butchery, which is part of Neighborhood Restaurant Group, will feature sustainably-sourced, handmade sausages, charcuterie and other items being made at Red Apron’s commissary in DC. (Until now, the products were mainly sold at farmers’ markets and other retailers around the city.) The opening is still slated for November, NRG spokesperson Megan Bailey tells UrbanTurf. Also around the corner: another Red Apron retail location in Penn Quarter, although that’s not expected to open until January.

SŪNA: The partners have been super hush-hush on this new Capitol Hill restaurant — they won’t even reveal the location — but restaurateurs Ari Gejdenson, Erik Bruner-Yang and chef Johnny Spero certainly seem to be gearing up for a fall opening of their newest venture. Spero told Eater in August he was fairly confident of a fall opening for the 42-seat restaurant, and he outlined two different tasting menus: one four-course and one eight-course, both of which would cost less than $100.

Daikaya: DC will have its thirst for ramen further satiated this fall with the opening of Daikaya, a noodle bar and izakaya at 705 6th Street NW from Sushiko owner Daisuke Utagawa. Utagawa tells Eater that the ramen bar on the main level of the space should be open by late November, while the izakaya may be a little further behind. Utagawa and his partners, Yama Jewayni and Katsuya Fukushima are also working on a cocktail bar, to be called Kiji Club, down the block at 600 F Street NW.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/neighborhood_eats_fall_openings_to_watch_part_2/6082.