D.C.’s New Milk & Honey Brings Southern Comfort Foods to the Wharf

The Wharf is flooded with all sorts of dining options for Mexican (Mi Vida, Bartaco), British (Gordon Ramsay Fish & Chips), Spanish (Del Mar), and French (Bistro du Jour), and Lowcountry cuisine finally enters the fold this week with the arrival of Milk & Honey.

Open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily starting Wednesday, May 10, Milk & Honey specializes in Louisiana classics and indulgent brunch dishes from executive chef Chadrick Roberts (676 Maine Avenue NW).

Milk & Honey

Milk & Honey

Milk & Honey is one of the newer brands in Reston, Va.-based Thompson Hospitality’s portfolio, which includes Hen Quarter, Matchbox, The Delegate, American Tap Room, Wiseguy Pizza, and gastropub Makers Union, which is also coming to the Wharf this year. After its 2015 debut in Beltsville, Md., Milk & Honey Cafe embarked on a quick expansion streak across the area. Thompson Hospitality’s 2020 acquisition of the popular soul food chain spawned “Milk & Honey.”

There’s now 10 Milk and Honey locales under the Thompson umbrella, with recent openings in Maryland and Northern Virginia. One of Milk & Honey’s original founders, Food Network star and Nobu alum Sammy Davis, is still involved and introduces the Wharf to his best-selling Carolina shrimp-and-cheese grits and a plate of fried chicken, eggs, and big biscuits smothered in Cajun sauce.

Milk & Honey

Milk & Honey

Milk & Honey

Milk & Honey’s Wharf edition is billed as its most “grown and sexy version” to date, says director of operations Zandrique Harrold. Brand-new dishes include a blackened salmon BLT; berry French toast with vanilla-infused, cornflake-crusted challah bread and fresh Chantilly cream; and a “vegan junk food” creation of candied carrots, tempura-battered asparagus, crispy Brussels sprouts, and portobello mushrooms. Other meat-free options include plant-based “chik’n” and portobello sandwiches. The 100-seat restaurant with a full bar and umbrella-covered patio out front features floor-to-ceiling windows and a sleek, modern interior.

There are few affordable sit-down options along the Southwest Waterfront’s $3.6-billion Wharf development, and this isn’t one of them. A sizable Cobb salad with shrimp and crab costs $32 (or $54 with lobster); sandwiches start at $17; brunch entrees run $19 to $35; and lunch and dinner mains start at $18 and cap out at $42 for Caribbean jerk lamb with herb-roasted potatoes and asparagus.

Surf-and-turf highlights also include a “Tale of Two Fish” (battered catfish and salmon with creamy grits); a pan-seared duet of house-rubbed pork chops; and succulent ribeye steak with asparagus.

Milk & Honey

Milk & Honey

Milk & Honey

Milk & Honey

Milk & Honey

Milk & Honey