Ivy City’s New Gourmet Market Opens With French Sandwiches and a To-Go Prix Fixe

The chef and owner of a Michelin-starred fine dining venue in Ivy City opens an offshoot market and cafe today that presents some of the same Chesapeake ingredients appearing on $150 tasting menus in a more affordable format. Baker’s Daughter, a new sibling spot a few blocks away from Gravitas, brings on a range of snacks, soups, sandwiches, composed entrees, and sides representing comfort food dishes from all over the globe. There’s also a four-course, multiple-choice prix fixe ($45) available for takeout.

Chef Matt Baker has wanted to open a more casual option than Gravitas for a while. A plan to open a sandwich shop in the Ballston Quarter food hall fizzled out, but now customers in Northeast can find Baker’s jambon-beurre, a French ham and cheese sandwich on a baguette with butter and cornichons, for $16 at Baker’s Daughter (1402 Okie Street NE). The shop has a la carte menus for breakfast (9 a.m. to 11 a.m.) and lunch and dinner (11 a.m. to 9 p.m.).

Dishes like matzo ball soup, beef lasagna with bechamel, and bowls of Mexican pozole studded with white hominy, pork shoulder, and chile de arbol were all developed by cooks at Gravitas during a pivot to takeout and delivery in the first months of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Choripan, a South American chorizo sandwich, shares menu space with espelette pepper-spiced avocado toast and falafel fritters served with tzatziki sauce. A hefty “chef’s breakfast sandwich” packs in a fried egg, bacon, Virginia ham, Gruyere, baby arugula, and espelette aioli on sourdough bread.

A la carte options will be limited to start, but the full menu should be fleshed out by Monday, September 14. The shop opens at 11 a.m. on its opening day (September 11). The to-go prix fixe is available out of the gate. Each of those meals start with a serving of herb-topped focaccia and whipped butter, then move into separate sections with two options each. The first edition of the prix fixe includes plates like a summer peach and burrata salad; seared scallops over a stew of white beans, chorizo, and kale; beef Bourguignon made with bacon lardons; and a cheesecake topped with blackberry compote.

Leading DC/For Baker’s Daughter

Vigilante Coffee goes into espresso drinks, and Baker’s Daughter also has its own lineup of pressed juice. The market sells charcuterie, cheeses, oils, vinegars, chips, crackers, granola, and other specialty products that Baker sources for the tasting menus at Gravitas. The shop plans to start selling $65 CSA boxes later this month.

There are a small amount of indoor seats available at Baker’s Daughter, but the business was designed primarily for grab-and-go, takeout, and delivery. Customers can place pickup orders online and get delivery through Grubhub or UberEats.

• The Chef at Michelin-Starred Gravitas Is Building a New Cafe Designed for Takeout [EDC]
• Michelin Guide Reveals 2020 Stars for D.C. [EDC]
• Celebrate a Special Occasion With D.C.’s Fanciest Takeout Meals [EDC]
• Salads Take Center Stage At This New Fine Dining Restaurant [EDC]