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Ryan Chetiyawardana, the London-based cocktail maven who presides over the No. 1 ranked venue on the the World’s 50 Best Bars list from 2018, announced today that he’ll open a business in Washington as part of an expansion that includes three new operations.
Chetiyawardana aims to open Silver Lyan in the District by November, imbibe.com reports. The announcement also included plans to rebrand Dandelyan — his top-ranked bar in London — as Lyaness and to move his Super Lyan bar from its London home inside the basement of cocktail restaurant Cub to a new space in Amsterdam.
It’s unclear where Silver Lyan will be located in Washington. A representative for Chetiyawardana confirmed to Eater that the new brand is coming to D.C. but could not share any more information.
In addition to recognition from the World’s 50 Best Bars, Dandelyan has won Best New Bar in the Wold (2015), World’s Best Cocktail Menu (2016), and World’s Best Bar (2017) by Tales of the Cocktail. It was recognized as the best place to drink in Britain by the Observer in 2015.
Chetiyawardana announced in October that Dandelyan would close. Days later, it received its No. 1 ranking. According to Eater London, the theme of the final menu at Dandelyan is botany, with cocktails inspired by rootstock grafting, big toothpaste, and the impact of pop culture on agricultural capacity.
Driven by a commitment to sustainability, Chetiyawardana drew notice at now-closed White Lyan for developing a bar program devoid of all perishables — including ice and fruit — that relied only on house-distilled spirits and paved the way for a rise in batch-made cocktails.
An Eater profile of Chetiyawardana described him as a “molecular mixologist” whose venues full of concentrates and concoctions operate as much as kitchens as bars.
