Terrain Garden Cafe Chain Expands to Bethesda

Farm-friendly restaurant Terrain Garden Cafe, part of an Urban Outfitters-owned crop of restaurants that includes Amis and Pizzeria Vetri, is coming to downtown Bethesda, Maryland later this year.

The all-day bistro, which plans to serve everything from cheese plates to brined pork chops, is projected to open at 4801 Bethesda Avenue in late fall or early winter 2018, a rep from Philly-based URBN Food & Beverage confirmed to Eater.

The 1,900-square-foot space will be the fifth location for the restaurant, which likes to land in affluent communities; there are existing outposts in Palo Alto, California; Westport, Connecticut; and Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. Next up is a Devon, Pennsylvania site debuting later this year. Each regionally influenced restaurant serves seasonal produce, meats, and dairy products gathered from nearby farmers.

How-to events, like bread and chocolate truffle-making classes, and holiday-centric dinners are also part of the equation.

Pizzeria Vetri, which opened in mid-2016 along the 14th Street Corridor with a lineup of Sicilian and Neapolitan pies, is the only other sister D.C. restaurant.

Meanwhile, Italian owner/chef Marc Vetri is feeling the aftershock of its now-defunct relationship with the retail chain. Philly’s Alla Spina, one of several eateries Vetri and partner Jeff Benjamin sold to Urban (while still staying on board with the company) in 2015, just closed. Benjamin departed Urban Outfitters in summer 2017. Vetri followed at the end of last year.

Vetri and Benjamin still own Vetri Cucina, which wasn’t included in the 2015 sale.