Chloe Reopens for Takeout, Bringing Back an Essential Mix of Mediterranean and Vietnamese

Pho-brined chicken is back

Yesterday Haidar Karoum reopened for takeout and delivery at Chloe, the essential Navy Yard restaurant that represents the chef-owner’s decades of of experience in D.C. kitchens with a mix of Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Southeast Asian dishes. The chef’s Lebanese roots and love for fish sauce are apparent in go-to dishes like bronze, caramelized cauliflower that’s topped with tahini, mint, and toasted pine nuts, or spice-roasted chicken that’s brined in a pho broth, air dried, and served with Vietnamese greens and nuoc cham for dipping. Call 202-313-7007 for takeout, or use the Caviar app for delivery.

Karoum, who worked as a sous chef under pioneering organic chef Nora Pouillon before heading up kitchens at Proof, Estadio, and Doi Moi, is one of several prominent names to recently reemerge a month after the coronavirus pandemic led D.C. to enact a dine-in ban. This week also saw the return of iconic French cafe Le Diplomate in Logan Circle, Jeff Buben’s Bistro Bis in Capitol Hill, and Martin’s Tavern in Georgetown.

In other news...

• In Ivy City, luxe tasting menu warehouse-turned-comfort food delivery kitchen Gravitas is halting its takeout operation with hopes of welcoming back customers soon (dining rooms off-limits in D.C. until at least May 15). [Popville]
• Unfortunately named Happy Endings Hospitality in Northern Virginia has a new takeout and delivery service that sends out Cajun food from Chasin’ tails and Vietnamese staples from its Rosslyn food hall. Check out the menu, and order here. [ARLnow]
• Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema mourns restaurants (with the go-ahead from a grief expert) while reflecting on their importance to society and musing on their future for the newspaper’s Sunday magazine. [WaPo]
• Both Washingtonian and Washington City Paper give a gamut of restaurant industry voices a platform to forecast how COVID-19 will change the the business. [W; WCP]
• Like restaurant’s all over the country, Rockville’s Urban Bar-B-Que is fighting to get a break from its landlord, which tells the Washington Post the tenant had acted unprofessionally before the coronavirus crisis. [WaPo]
• Granny and the Boys, the delightful house band for Bloomingdale dive Showtime, put on a stoop concert in Mount Pleasant. [DCist]