‘Top Chef’ Alum Katsuji Tanabe’s Clarendon Restaurant Sets an Opening Date

Top Chef season 12 alum Katsuji Tanabe is readying his Clarendon restaurant for an early September opening. The chef, who is known for his Kosher Mexican restaurants and his cooking style based on his Japanese and Mexican heritage, is slated to open Le Kon on Saturday, September 1.

Located at 3227 Washington Blvd. in the former Park Lane Taven space, the Arlington restaurant will have room for 200 guests with approximately 25 seats at the bar; eight in a bar/lounge area and about 180 in the dining room, which includes a 15-seat communal table. Core Architecture + Design is handling the design, which will include scarlet ombre corn husk wall hangings and Day of the Dead-inspired custom wallpaper.

With chef de cuisine Patrick Tanyag at the helm of the open kitchen, Le Kon’s menu will include steaks priced at $30 to $50, and dishes like pig head carnitas, chicken al pastor, and tempura red snapper, along with ceviche small plates and raw oysters with mezcal mignonette. Prices will range from $10 to $12 for small plates and $20 to $30 for entrees. Expect to find a cocktail menu that riffs on the theme of Mexican cuisine with Asian influences.

This is the first D.C.-area restaurant for Tanabe, who opened his MexiKosher Restaurant in NYC and LA, and partnered with a restaurant group to open Barrio in Chicago.

Le Kon/Facebook

Le Kon/Facebook

The restaurant will be open from Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for lunch and 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. for dinner. Order brunch on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. A limited menu and cocktails will be available daily from 10 p.m to 2 a.m.

• ‘Top Chef’ Alum Katsuji Tanabe Is Opening a Restaurant in Clarendon [EDC]
• Le Kon [Official Site]