Fine Dining Fixture 1789 soon reopens in Georgetown with a new chef

1789, the culinary centerpiece of Clyde’s Restaurant Group restaurant collection, reopens next week in Georgetown after a long absence during the COVID-19 crisis. Newly appointed executive chef Kyoo Eom plans to bring back brunch for the first time in decades.

The DC Fixture, tucked away in a historic townhouse (1226, 36th Street NW) since 1962, plans to open three of its quaint fireplaces-filled dining rooms for dinner on Friday, November 6. After that, it will open from Wednesday to Sunday. Some tables have been removed to maintain social distancing, so to get the most out of business, Sunday brunch will join the mix starting November 15. The Tombs, the stone siblings bar and brunch popular with Georgetown students, is temporarily closed.

Eom’s à la carte menu at 1789 includes elegant presentations of wagyu tartare, sherry-glazed eggplant, roast duck, monkfish and rack of lamb. His white tablecloth restaurant experience includes cooking at renowned 2941 in Falls Church and a stint with celebrity French chef Daniel Boulud in New York City. He recently served as the first chef at Kimpton’s Dirty Habit, sending Rice Krispy crusted French toast with coffee butter and orders of truffle fries to diners and tourists alike in Chinatown.

Pastry chef Shari Maciejewski, a former Inn at Little Washington alumnus, also joined the 1789 team this spring after a short stint at the Liberty Brewery in Georgetown. She stayed busy while waiting for the 1789 reopening, hosting a Saturday pop-up at her bakery with personalized cakes, pies and boxes of seasonal baking to take away.

1789 grew three years ago with the addition of its adjacent Club Room, upscale bar and lounge that expects to welcome drinkers again later this year.

In other news …

• Penn Quarter’s sangria-stunner Boqueria has also just returned to the DC food scene after an eight-month hiatus that began on her first birthday. The Spanish tapas and paella bar, which maintains a second outpost at Dupont Circle, is rebooting with indoor and outdoor dining, lunch and dinner pickup and delivery.

Rey Lopez / Eater DC

• An Asian market tucked under hard-wearing Thai restaurant Rice offers Logan Circle a new place to stock up on staples like imported curry paste, galangal, lemongrass and an assortment of fish and soy sauces. There are also meal kits, a made-to-order sushi bar, bottled Thai beers, wine, sake, flowers, cookbooks and rice cookers in daily operation (11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. ). Rice remains open for take-out, delivery, on-site dining, and alfresco dining at 1608 14th St NW.

Rice / official photo

• Zymmo, a new mobile app that connects independent chefs with DC-area diners looking for ready-made meals and private chef experiences at home, will help feed investigators and voters at Capitol One Arena from noon to 1:30 p.m. today. Ecuadorian chef Ana Garcia, one of the app’s first participating partners, will prepare 150 empanadas.

• The Comus Inn, the scenic Sugarloaf Mountain getaway on the outskirts of Montgomery County, reopened this week with a fresh new look, hyper-local menu, and property. The revamped venue features a beer garden serving beers, lawn games and live music. Executive Sous Chef Scott Hines hails from the Farmstead Grill and Hotel Revival in Baltimore.

• The team behind Clarendon’s sand-covered beer garden, the Lot, will be planting a holiday pop-up inside the nearby Clarendon shuttered ballroom, Arl now reports. Owner Mike Bramson told the outlet that the “Winter Wonderland on Wilson” bar will be operating during the month of December at 3185 Wilson Boulevard.
• A four vendor Herndon dining hall dubbed Spice Village is coming to the village center in Dulles next month, NoVa Mag reports. The opening lineup includes a booth for Peri Peri Original, the international roast chicken chain that Spice Village owner Khyber Shinwari owns locally, and another for the Indo-Chinese restaurant Mandarin Halal Express in Springfield.