Stable Launching With Gooey Cheese, Swiss-American Dishes

Atlas District residents can settle in for tastes of the Alps served in a ski chalet-like once a Swiss-themed newcomer gets underway Tuesday, April 4.

Stable, a new 3,200-square-foot restaurant at 1324 H Street NE from Swiss-trained chefs David Fritsche and Silvan Kraemer, features an interactive raclette station allowing guests to prep and slice Switzerland’s iconic bubbling cheese dish.

The cozy wooden bench area reserved for the year-round station is an ode to those nestled inside Alpine restaurants, Kraemer said. Hanging flower pots house fresh rosemary and thyme, an olfactory treat for patrons planted below.

It’s the first spot for the best friends, who both grew up in Switzerland but didn’t meet until working together in Dubai in 2002, followed later by tandem gigs at The Dupont Circle Hotel.

Their menu at Staple is uber authentic, and guests are invited to practice their best accents when ordering. Starters include Schinken Gipfel (ham and Dijon mustard croissant), Poulet im Chorbli (chicken wings) and Landjager (cured and smoked Swiss-style salami).

The chefs expect a traditional dish of veal accompanied by potato rosti and mushroom cream sauce ($27) to be popular. Wines hail from Switzerland, as well as neighboring Italy, France, and Germany. The menu ranges from $6 to $27 for individual dishes; the $35-per-person raclette section can accommodate up to 12 guests at a time.

Dinner service is scheduled Tuesday through Sunday. Weekend brunch is being offered right out of the gate, with morning fare such as pan seared Fleischkase ($15) with two eggs sunny side up, potato straws, and gravy.

The homemade wurzel bread is in good hands; Fritsche raised his baking game in the past year by working overnights at The Swiss Bakery in Springfield, Virginia.

“If you’re not doing it on a regular basis you fall out of it,” Fritsche said. Now he’s addicted to dough. “If I don’t bake for just one day, I’m miserable,” he told Eater.

Management said a sun-drenched back bar could feature a formal happy hour at some point in the future. (For now, the Embassy of Switzerland has booked a private happy hour there later this week).

Weekday lunch is TBD, as “there’s not a lot of business people around on H Street,” Fritsche said.

Status: Scheduled to open for dinner at 5:30 p.m. 1324 H Street NE; website.

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