Mediterranean Standby Iron Gate Tests Out Patio Service With a Pop-up This Week

Greek-Italian mainstay Iron Gate will welcome customers back to its quiet Dupont location this week for the first time since the COVID-19 crisis led much of the city to shut down in mid-March. Sit-down service on the secluded, brick-lined patio will restart as a pop-up running for dinner Thursday, July 23, through Saturday, July 25, with a Sunday brunch on July 26. Due to high demand, the pop-up will resume the following weekend (Thursday, July 30, through Sunday, August 2).

A la carte items ($7 to $24) from chef Anthony Chittum feature ingredients like bison tartare, oak-grilled octopus, and local lamb kebab. Local summer tomatoes, blue crab, and shell beans are also in the mix. A family-style option, filled out by antipasti, entrees, and desserts, is $65 per person with a two-person minimum. Sunday brunch marks the return of its popular ricotta pancakes with caramelized stone fruit.

Reservations are required, and a 22-percent service fee will automatically be tacked onto the meal as part of a contactless payment system.

In other news...

• After being furloughed from their federal jobs during the 2019 government shutdown, sisters Nikki Howard and Jaqi Wright created a popular cheesecake delivery business that garnered national attention. On Tuesday, the pair announced big news during another economic crisis. They plan to open their own store for the Furlough Cheesecake at National Harbor (170 American Way, Oxon Hill, Maryland) on Thursday, July 30.

• In a significant reversal, NYC restaurateur Danny Meyer will abandon his pioneering no-tipping model in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the New York Times reports. Front-of-house workers will receive tips, and back-of-house staff will be part of a new revenue sharing model, Meyer says. The practice kicks off this week at Meyer’s inaugural restaurant, Union Square Cafe, and will be adopted across his Union Square Hospitality Group slowly reopening portfolio. In D.C., that includes Navy Yard’s months-old Maialino Mare and rooftop bar Anchovy Social.
• D.C. cidery ANXO teamed up with local institution Heurich House Museum to recreate a Prohibition-era cider. The new Heurich’s Liberty Apple Cider collab revives D.C. brewer Christian Heurich’s fermented apple drink, first sold in 1920. A century later, the tart, non-hopped version (6.9% ABV) ferments the same Stayman Winesap apples that Heurich used.
• Michelin-starred Maydan alerted customers on Friday that it’s now delivering via DoorDash. North African and Middle Eastern dishes include grilled turmeric chicken legs and goat shawarma. Groups can also order celebratory feasts with three days advance notice.
• Four Alexandria Restaurant Partners places (Vola’s Dockside Grill, Mia’s Italian Kitchen, Theismann’s and Palette 22) are offering “Doggie Menus” outside, Northern Virginia Magazine reports. Options include beef and rice with carrots in a light gravy, grilled sirloin, apples, or frozen yogurt.