Chef Will Artley Unveils His Pop-Up Plans For Del Ray

Last week, former Evening Star Café chef Will Artley teased the people of Twitter with news that he was planning a pop-up restaurant somewhere in Alexandria's Del Ray neighborhood for one week only. There were no dates, no location, no menu information beyond the fact that it would be some of his greatest hits. But suffer no more. Artley tweeted dates for "Project 2312" earlier today — January 30 through February 6 — and he'll be personally taking reservations kind of any minute now once the reservation line is officially hooked up. But first, here's some information about what's in store.

So here's the deal: Thanks to the consulting work Artley has been doing for the the restaurateurs behind Pork Barrel BBQ, Dragon and Chop Chop concepts, they've agreed to let the chef take over the still-vacant space next door to Pork Barrel for one week only. Since pop-ups are kind of all the rage these days, the ideas was to "bring some excitement to Del Ray." He'll be doing two seatings a night at 6 and 8 p.m., with some room at the bar for walk-ins. The menu will be a la carte with 4-5 cold appetizers, 4-5 hot appetizers and 5-6 entree options all based off of Artley's favorite blast-from-the-past dishes. They'll also have some craft cocktails, a few wine selections and Port City beer.

To make the whole thing run, Artley is bringing back some familiar faces, including a former sous chef, a pasta guy he used to work with to do the gnocchi and some of the old crew from Evening Star Café — "It feels like we're getting the band back together," Artley says. He's also employing some DC Central Kitchen students to help run the place. But wait, it gets better. Artley says he's been talking with some of his chef friends and "don't be surprised if we have a couple of hot young chefs come in and play for one night."

We'll keep you updated when the reservation line opens or just watch @chefwillartley on Twitter.

UPDATE: The number to call for reservations is 703-596-2312. Happy dialing.

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