Wahlburgers Coming to Dupont & Ballston
Boston-based Wahlburgers, the five-year-old burger joint from the Wahlburg brothers – actors Donnie and Mark and chef Paul – is coming to the DMV to challenge other celebrity burger restaurants including Bobby’s Burger Palace from Bobby Flay, Shake Shack from Danny Meyer and Good Stuff Eatery from Spike Mendelsohn along with a plethora of locals like Five Guys, Z Burger, Smash Burger and the new Boston-based Tasty Burger, which opened last month in Shaw.
Wahlburgers officially announced back in June that it will open its first 6,500-square-foot DMV location later this year at One Dupont Circle in the space that formerly housed Ping Pong Dim Sum (see item below). Now, even before its first location has opened, Wahlburgers has announced it will open a second 6,600-square-foot location in Ballston adjacent to the Ballston Common Mall in the Ballston Point Building at the intersection of Wilson Boulevard and Glebe Road in Arlington. The Ballston location will include a counter for quicker service as well as a full-service dining room with a large bar and patio.
In addition to burgers, the chain serves a variety of sandwiches including chicken and fish, salads, frappss and float, and dishes like sloppy Joes, mac and cheese and chili. Wahlburgers also has location in Orlando, Toronto, New York and Las Vega with others planned in Philadelphia and Detriot.
Wahlburgers is also a subject of an A&E reality television show.
Buredo opens second location in Dupont
Buredo, which serves sushi burritos near Franklin Square, opened a second, larger location last week at 1213 Connecticut Ave. NW in Dupont on Wedneday.
Most of the menu is the same as its counterpart, but a few specials will be exclusive to the Dupont store including the Gogo with spicy tuna, avocado, cucumber, cilantro, jicama, coconut flakes, tempura crunch and coconut crema; and Sofie’s Kiss with slow-cooked pork shoulder, shrimp tempura, carrot, kimchi slaw, red onion, cucumber, corn, jalapeno, sriracha mayo, unagi sauce.
Other dishes include the Mr. Noka edamame bowl with shelled edamame, broccoli, green apple, carrots and watermelon radish. Dinners can add yellowfin tuna, salmon sashimi, tofu, pork shoulder or shrimp tempura and one of three sauces.
The new restaurant also has a custom tap system serving Tractor sodas, which come in flavors like blood orange with pomegranate and turmeric, lemongrass-lime and cola with cinnamon and vanilla.
Buredo Dupont Circle s open from 11 a.m.-11 p.m. daily.
American Tap Room closes in Clarendon
American Tap Room, 3101 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, closed last weekend.
The restaurant served dinner Saturday, but was closed on Sunday. A sign posted on the door encouraged customers for “visit one of our other locations” and encouraged employees to “stop by Monday or Tuesday for information on other locations and pay checks.”
American Tap Rooms in Bethesda, Reston, Richmond and Rockville remain open. The chain is owned by Reston-based Thompson Hospitality, which also owns Austin Grill, although only the Springfield location of that restaurant remains open, Be Right Burger with locations in Reston Town Center and Dulles International Airport, the former Willie T’s Lobster Shack in Dupont and the forthcoming Hen Quarter, which is replacing Autin Grill in Old Town and Silver Spring.
Despite rumors that the trouble location was closing, a manger told ARlnow.com earlier in the week that it was not closing. Sources say a mobile phone retailer – possibly a Verizon store – will open in part of the restaurant’s former space.
Ping Pong Dim Sum leaves D.C. market
London-based Ping Pong Dim Sum has closed its last restaurant in the area.
According OpenTable, the Ping Pong Dim Sum at 900 Seventh St. NW in Chinatown is “permanently closed.” The phone has also been disconnected. The closure comes less than a year after the restaurant closed its Dupont Circle location in January. The Chinatown location was the original D.C. location and the first in the U.S.
Borderstan reported that as of Thursday, there were no signs indicating the restaurant had closed and that chairs were still stacked on top of tables inside.
The chain was one of the city’s few upscale dim sum offerings when it first opened, although competition has increased as more Asian restaurants opened in the city. No word yet on what might replace it.
The chain still has restaurants in London, Dubai and Mumbai, India.
Masa 14 adds omakase option, new summer dishes
Masa 14, 1825 14th St. NW, unveiled a new $40 omakase experience, with a minimum of three plates selected by the chef per guest. It is available from 3-11 p.m. Sundays, 4-11 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 3 p.m.-midnight Friday and Saturday.
Dishes could include new summer menu items such as watermelon crudo with black sesame, yuzu, lime and jalapeno; cobia sashimi with tomato dashi, charred scallion, puffed rice and cucumber; yellowfin tuna with ginger soy vinaigrette, hearts of palm, watercress and orange; chicken wings with nuoc cham, peanuts, five spice, scallion and chili; pork belly with green curry, dirty rice, Old Bay and herb salad; steak fried rice with corn kimchi, 62-degree egg and grilled mushrooms; oysters with cucumber, melon and chili; diver scallop with edamame dumpling, charred corn and truffle popcorn; miso Cubano with country ham, serrano, miso mustard and comte cheese; crispy shrimp with yuzu kosho aioli, wasabi and Tso’s sauce; yucca fries with red curry aioli, eel sauce and bonita; octopus lo mein with squid ink, caponata, burnt bread and herb pesto; soft shell crab with red curry, chili xo, mint, shiso salad and coconut; crispy calamari with sweet chili, Thai basil and aji amarillo aioli; bulgogi beef lettuce wrap with smoked mushroom, pickled lychee, flat iron and carrot; and Korean fried chicken with miso lotus root, pickles and Korean BBQ. New a la carte menu items range in price from $8-$15.
Commissary, Logan Tavern celebrate Olympics
Commissary, 1443 P St. NW, and Logan Tavern, 1423 P St. NW, both owned by Eat Well DC, will celebrate the summer Olympic games in Rio with specials.
Commissary will have Olympic-themed cocktails every day from Aug. 5-21 and will show the games on its full wall projector in the dining room. Drinks, priced at $9 each, include The Bronze Medal with muddled oranges, mint, pomegranate syrup and cachaça; The Silver Medal with cachaça, lime and sugar cane; and The Gold Medal with whiskey, cachaça, lime, mint and sugar cane.
Logan Tavern will have international drinks and Brazilian food specials throughout the games.
Legal Sea Foods offers summer cocktails
Legal Sea Foods, 704 Seventh St. NW, 2301 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Arlington, Tysons Galleria and in Ronald Reagan National Airport’s National Hall, is severing cocktails that stand up to the warmer weather.
Available through the end of September, the drinks are made with seasonal ingredients and priced from $9-$12 each.
The cocktails include Fun Time Punch made with Plantation 3 Star and original dark rums, Pierre Ferrand Ambre Cognac, Citadelle gin and grape-hibiscus punch; Smoke & Mirrors with Del Maguey Vida mezcal, peach liqueur, almond, lemon, tonic and Peychaud’s bitters; High Tea with Pierre Ferrand Ambre cognac, Citadelle gin, Montenegro amaro and ginger-cardamom black tea; and iced-Irish coffee with Teeling small batch Irish whiskey, cold-brew Mexican organic fair trade coffee, demerara sugar and cream.
Lupo Verde offers special rosés, mozzarella plates
Lupo Verde, 1401 T St. NW, is serving eight bottles of rosé wine all this month. Diners can choose a rosé by the glass for $10-$14 or by the bottle for $40-$75.
Diners who order a rosé during the month of August will receive three complimentary one-ounce bites of cheese from the restaurants’ in-house cheese shop, which offers over 100 different varieties of cheese imported from Italy. The cheese offering will change weekly.
The featured rosés include: Cab/Sang/Merlot Fontezoppa Cato, Marche 2014; Aglianico Rubrato Feudi di San Gregorio 2014; Telamonti ‘Tre Saggi’ Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2014; Nero D’Avola Torre dei Venti Fazio 2014; Paolo Cali Mandragola Frappato Vittoria 2014, as well as Medici Emete: la vetta del Lambrusco Reggiano 2014.
Lupo Verde is also offering diners mozzarella de buffalo from Italy all month in three different sizes. Diners can order 125 grams of mozzarella for $14, 250 grams for $27 or 500 grams of braided mozzarella, which feeds four to five people, for $70. All three mozzarella platters will be paired with charred peaches, hazelnuts imported from Irpinia, Italy, honey and toasted bread. The 500-gram mozzarella will also come with prosciutto, house-made bread and sliced tomatoes. The 500-gram mozzarella must be ordered 48 hours in advance.
Righteous Cheese hosts local cheese & craft beer class
Righteous Cheese, 1309 Fifth St. NW in Union Market, will host a local cheese and craft beer class from 7-8 p.m. on Thursday, Aug.11.
The DMV has become home to several brewers and cheesemakers in recent years. Participants will learn how to pair chees and beer while getting the lowdown on the stories behind some special makers, as well as taste four local brew and four local artisanal cheeses.
Tickets are $49 and must be purchased in advance. Seating is limited to 16.
Kevin King new food & beverage manager at Rosewood hotel
Kevin King is the new food and beverage operations manager for the 49-room Rosewood Washington D.C. hotel, formerly the Capella Hotel, 1050 31st St. NW in Georgetown.
King brings over 13 years of hospitality experience in banquet and restaurant management, event planning and business administration to his new position. He began as an assistant banquet manager at the Four Seasons Hotel and Resort in Exuma, in his home country of the Bahamas in 2003. Five years later, he was tapped as the assistant banquet manager for the Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts in Beverly Hills, Calif. There he was responsible for maintaining a staff, conducting banquet inventory and managing the banquet team during hotel events. King later was promoted to assistant director of banquets, and in 2013 was appointed to director of banquets at the Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts, Beverly Wilshire.
King’s most recent position was general manager at The Blvd restaurant at the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire.
Editor-in-Chief Mark Heckathorn is a journalist, movie buff and foodie. He oversees DC on Heels editorial operations as well as strategic planning and staff development. Reach him with story ideas or suggestions at dcoheditor (at) gmail (dot) com.