Maketto’s Roof Now Looks Like a Southeast Asian Resort

Four years after opening on H Street NE, retailer-meets-cafe mainstay Maketto quietly just unveiled a tropical rooftop respite designed to complement Cambodian and Taiwanese dishes and artfully-presented Small Planes coffee.

The new botanical lounge, a 180 from its formerly minimalist design, sports black-and-wood furniture with wicker accents, dangling lanterns, a mix of live and artificial greenery, and reed screening to block views of the storage area.

“Maketto had affectionately named the rooftop gazebo ‘birdcage’ from the beginning,” says landscape architect Suzy Cho. “I think it’s pretty fitting now that it has a tropical vibe.”

For her first “interior plant stylist” gig for a restaurant, owner Erik Bruner-Yang tasked Cho with converting his breezy hangout into more of an inviting place where patrons wanted to sit, stay, and bring their laptops. Here’s the before-and-after look:

Maketto [official]

Maketto [official]

Plant life includes a Wandering Jew featuring heart-shaped leaves and birds-of-paradise, an iconic species native to eastern Indonesia.

Maketto [official]

Maketto [official]

Other brand new rooftop spaces have popped up across D.C. in the past few weeks. At Dupont’s newly revamped Public Bar Live (1214 18th Street NW), the rooftop went live earlier than expected to capture more summer drinkers.

The full third-story renovation, complete with frozen drinks, is expected to be unveiled in August, in line with the 8,000-square-foot space’s grand opening. The al fresco space hopes to feel “bougier” than before when it was dive-y Public Bar, the team told Eater.

Tierney Plumb/Eater DC

And over at Bloomingdale’s Hopscotch, the Italian-American replacement to Nashville hot wings destination Crisp, the new owners just added a casual seating setup outside of the second-story bar (1837 1st Street NW).

Hopscotch/official photo

More rooftop options are en route. Ivy City’s Gravitas opened its upstairs garden lounge, dubbed The Conservatory, in late May. The space will fully come to life later this summer with the addition of a glass-enclosed greenhouse bar.