Sommelier Brent Kroll’s ‘Hardcore Bubblehead’ Bar Will Pop Open in Shaw

Maxwell Park owner Brent Kroll has a sparkling new project in the works. The lauded sommelier will bring a new bubbles bar called Pop (2108 Vermont Avenue, NW) to the Shaw neighborhood this summer, reports the Washingtonian.

For Kroll, a bubbles bar (or “fizzbar” as he calls it) isn’t limited to Champagne and other sparkling wines. Pop will pour all manner of carbonated beverages: beer, cider, spritzes, and more, according to Pop’s website. After all, the bar is named for what soda is called in Kroll’s hometown of Detroit, the Washingtonian says.

In that same vein, Detroit-style pies will make an appearance, courtesy of Navy Yard’s Side Door. At Pop, they can be studded with traditional toppings or mentaiko (cod fish roe), cured egg yolk, and nori, thanks to Masako Morishita, the Maxwell Park chef who first gained a following with herJapanese comfort food pop-up Otabe. Other Japanese and American comfort food mash-ups are also in the works, according to the Washingtonian.

Masako Morishita became Maxwell Park’s executive chef last August with hits like a McDonald’s-inspired teriyaki burger, savory cabbage pancakes, and the same sardines recipe her mom makes overseas.

Food and Wine named Kroll Sommelier of the Year in 2018, while Esquire called Maxwell Park one of the best bars in the U.S. in 2019.

Kroll calls the new bar a place for “hardcore bubbleheads and neophytes alike.”

• Maxwell Park Sommelier Brent Kroll Is Opening a D.C. “Fizz Bar” With All Kinds of Delicious Bubbles [Washingtonian]
• Look Inside Maxwell Park, Shaw’s New Temperature-Controlled Wine Bar
• Pop DC [official website]