Here Are the Latest Eating and Drinking Options at Eaton DC

Eaton DC’s food and beverage pieces are slowly coming to life, granting downtown diners a hip escape to down rooftop tacos or sip sake cocktails behind a lobby-level library wall.

First to arrive inside the 209-room hotel was the lobby’s all-day cafe Kintsugi, which debuted with gluten-free pastries and Floyd, Va.’s Red Rooster Coffee on Saturday, September 8. Over the past week or so, two bars — Wild Days and Allegory — have also come online inside the cultural hub taking shape at 1201 K Street NW.

Rooftop respite Wild Days is currently making $14 cocktails like the “Imagine” (Cimarron Reposado tequila, celery, apple, lime, and celery-ancho salt) and “Burn Baby Burn” (Civic vodka, ginger, Szechuan peppercorn, and lime). There’s also wines (starting at $10 for a glass), bottles ($40 to $80), and lots of local players filling out the beer list ($5 to $11). Six kinds of tacos ($10 for a trio) include octopus, mushroom, and short rib varieties.

Meanwhile, Allegory — Eaton’s dimly-lit lobby bar tucked behind a wall of books — is serving a short lineup of four $16 cocktails like the “Kokoro” (sake, rum, sherry, lime cordial, and amazake tincture) and the “2666” with tequila, mezcal, PX, Palo Cortado, creme de cacao, and mole bitters. There’s no food, and the opening menu starts at $7 for a DC Brau Pilsner and all the way up to $250 for a bottle of Grand Cru Brut champagne. The bar, lined with a dark Alice in Wonderland-themed mural, is currently open from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. with a grand opening planned for the end of the month.

James Jackson/Eaton DC

Eaton’s wellness ethos is evident at both Wild Days and Allegory, with each menu featuring a spirit-free section. Those $6 drinks integrate London’s SeedLip, a distilled non-alcoholic spirit that mimics the taste of booze (downtown’s refreshed Mirabelle also uses the elixir to produce faux cocktails). Some bites at Eaton also have a healthy bent — like Wild Days’ vegan chicharróns with Impossible Burger chili and vegan queso — and there’s also guacamole and elote corn ($8 each).

The enclosed industrial-style rooftop housing Wild Days doubles as a music venue, and an adjoining outdoor patio overlooking K Street NW is packed with fire pits, swaying banana leaf palms, and an incoming urban garden with produce that’ll land on plates at chef Tim Ma’s lobby restaurant American Son — Eaton’s major finale food piece scheduled to arrive soon. The Kyirisan chef tells Eater his growing garden wish list includes fish peppers.

Eaton comes from humanitarian Katherine Lo, whose father runs luxury hotel operation Langham Hospitality Group. Other amenities will include a radio station; wellness center with yoga, meditation, and alternative treatment rooms; a 20,000-square-foot co-working club dubbed Eaton House; lots of private event space; and a plush movie theater, complete with its own elevated bar snacks menu (think: truffled popcorn).

• Eaton DC’s New Cafe Opens Saturday With Vegan Pastries [EDC]
• Chef Tim Ma’s New Restaurant Inside Eaton Hotel Is Opening This Month [EDC]
• Tastemakers Tim Ma and Derek Brown Add Local Flavor to Next-Generation D.C. Hotel [EDC]