Fine Dining Fixture 1789 Reopens Soon in Georgetown With a New Chef

1789, the fine dining showpiece in Clyde’s Restaurant Group’s collection of restaurants, reopens next week in Georgetown after a lengthy absence during the COVID-19 crisis. Newly named executive chef Kyoo Eom plans to bring brunch back for the first time in decades.

1789 [official]

The D.C. fixture, nestled inside a historic rowhouse (1226 36th Street NW) since 1962, plans to open three of its quaint, fireplace-filled dining rooms for dinner on Friday, November 6. After that, it will open Wednesdays to Sundays. Some tables were removed to maintain social distancing, so to make the most of business, Sunday brunch will join the mix starting November 15. The Tombs, the stone-framed sibling bar and brunch spot beloved by Georgetown students, remains temporarily closed.

Eom’s a la carte menu at 1789 includes elegant presentations of wagyu tartarte, sherry-glazed eggplant, roasted duck, monkfish, and racks of lamb. His white tablecloth restaurant experience includes cooking at respected 2941 in Falls Church and a stint with French celebrity chef Daniel Boulud in NYC. He was most recently the opening head chef at Kimpton’s Dirty Habit, sending out Rice Krispy-crusted French Toast with coffee butter and orders of truffle fries to diners and tourists in Chinatown.

Pastry chef Shari Maciejewski, an Inn at Little Washington alum, also joined the 1789 team this spring after a short stint at Georgetown’s Brasserie Liberté. She’s stayed busy while waiting to reopen 1789, running a Saturday pop-up out of its bakery with custom cakes, pies, and seasonal pastry boxes for takeout.

1789 grew three years ago with the addition of its adjacent Club Room, an upscale bar and lounge that expects to welcome back drinkers later this year.

In other news...

• Penn Quarter’s sangria-fueled stunner Boqueria also just returned to D.C.’s dining scene after an eight-month break that began on its first birthday. The Spanish tapas and paella bar, which maintains a second area outpost in Dupont Circle, reboots with indoor and outdoor dining, pickup, and delivery for lunch and dinner.

Rey Lopez/Eater DC

• An Asian market tucked under resilient Thai restaurant Rice offers Logan Circle a new spot to stock up on staples like imported curry paste, galangal, lemongrass, and assorted fish sauces and soy sauces. There are also meal kits, a made-to-order sushi bar, bottled Thai beers, wine, sake, flowers, cookbooks, and rice cookers at the daily operation (11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.). Rice remains open for takeout, delivery, dine-in, and outdoor dining at 1608 14th St NW.

Rice/official photo

• Zymmo, a new mobile application that connects independent chefs to D.C. area diners looking for ready-made meals and private chef experiences at home, will help feed poll workers and voters at Capitol One Arena from noon to 1:30 p.m. today. Ecuadorian chef Ana Garcia, one of the app’s first participating partners, will make 150 empanadas.
• The Comus Inn, the scenic Sugarloaf Mountain getaway situated on the outskirts of Montgomery County, reopened this week with a new look, hyper-local menu, and ownership. The retooled venue houses a beer garden serving area brews, lawn games, and live music. Executive sous chef Scott Hines hails from Baltimore’s Farmstead Grill and Hotel Revival.

• The team behind Clarendon’s sand-covered beer garden the Lot will plant a holiday pop-up inside the shuttered Clarendon Ballroom nearby, ArlNow reports. Owner Mike Bramson tells the outlet the “Winter Wonderland on Wilson” bar will run for the month of December at 3185 Wilson Boulevard.
• A four-vendor Herndon food hall dubbed Spice Village is coming to the Village Center at Dulles next month, NoVa Mag reports. The opening lineup includes a stall for Peri Peri Original, the international roasted chicken chain that Spice Village owner Khyber Shinwari owns locally, and another for Springfield’s Indo-Chinese restaurant Mandarin Halal Express.