The Riggsby Will Bring Its Brand of Throwback Comfort Food to Bethesda

The Riggsby, the retro American restaurant from James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Schlow that serves tableside wedge salads, deviled eggs garnished with crispy chicken skin, New York strip au poivre, and brownie sundaes inside the Carlye hotel in Dupont, is expanding to Bethesda this year.

Bethesda Magazine first reported the news last month, and Eater confirmed it with a representative for Schlow Restaurant Group. Executive pastry chef Alex Levin, who will help open the restaurant with corporate culinary director Ed Scarpone, tells Eater that the group is just about to begin demolition on the Bethesda Row restaurant space that used to house Mike Isabella’s Kapnos Kouzina (4900 Hampden Lane). The location makes sense for the Schlow Group given that it’s next-door to Prima, its fast-casual antipasti bar.

Since opening in 2015, the Riggsby has become a mainstay on local “best of” lists, recently earning the No. 56 spot on Washingtonian’s 100 Very Best Restaurants list. Levin says the project is in the early stages — the group is targeting a late spring opening — so many menu and design decisions are still undetermined.

Based in Boston, Schlow splits time in D.C. and has a deep portfolio of restaurants here including Alta Strada, Casolare, Tico, and Nama sushi.

A couple otherr former Isabella restaurants have been in transition recently. Boston-based Lolita Cocina is moving into the original Kapnos on 14th Street NW, and Victor Albisu’s Huevos is taking over the former Yona space in Ballston. Following a sexual harassment suit that blew up his restaurant empire, Isabella has been working as a consulting chef in Sarasota, Florida.

• The Riggsby Restaurant To Open in Bethesda [BM]
• Beard Award Winner Michael Schlow Opens His First Fast-Casual Restaurant [EDC]
• A Mexican Restaurant From Boston Is Moving Into the Old Kapnos on 14th Street [EDC]