New on U
Ulah Bistro, 1214 U St. NW (202-234-012), welcomes a new executive chef, Eddie Moran, formerly with Station 4 and Sou’Wester in the Mandarin Hotel, both in Southwest DC.
Night Owl
Until recently, we’ve griped about Washington’s dearth of late dining spots. Not any longer. Joining our night owls is Bar Pilar, with a special menu available Friday and Saturday nights from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Served in the upstairs dining room, the menu will offer the downstairs “shareable plates,” including roast pork, fried buttermilk chicken, halibut ceviche, smoked trout roe, vegetarian dishes, seafoods, salads and desserts. With his expanded kitchen, executive chef Justin Bittner has added new dishes as well. Located at 1833 14th St. NW, Bar Pilar is open daily, including weekend brunch. Call 202-265-1751 or www. barpilar.com.
Birthday Bash
Black Restaurant Group chefs/ owners Jeff and Barbara Black – named “Restaurateurs of the Year” at the 2012 RAMMY Awards in June – are also marking the one-year anniversary of Pearl Dive Oyster Palace and Black Jack. The birthday bash is slated for September 20. Party guests will be treated to two new kinds of oysters: Old Black Salts and Black Pearls, a result of the partnership between the Blacks and Rappahannock River Oyster Company in Chincoteague, Virginia and Toby Island Oysters in Topping, Virginia. The party goes from 7 p.m. until 1:30 a.m.; tickets are $150 per person, which includes open bar, food and live music. (Pre-sale until September 1.)
Tickets may be purchased at www. blackjackdc.com/events-offers. Proceeds from the event will be donated to Food & Friends on behalf of the Black’s Family Foundation. Food & Friends helps persons living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other serious illnesses by preparing and delivering meals and groceries. Pearl Dive Oyster Palace & Black Jack is located at 1612 14th St NW; call 202- 986-8778.
More from the Black Family
Upstairs from Pearl Dive Oyster Palace, the Black Jack bar has also unveiled 10 festive summer cocktails. Priced at $12 each, the potables are created by the mixology brothers Ari and Micah Wilder. Appropriate for our sizzling August weather, two will be frozen. Newcomers include the Blue Vein (vodka, lime, house-made cassis and ginger beer); Sazerac (rye, absinthe, bitters and lemon gomme –similar to simple syrup); El Dorado (jalapeno Tequila, mezcal, habanero, fruit bitters). You get the idea. Black Jack also dispenses nine draft beers, plus 40 in cans.
Cluck Cluck in Bloomingdale
Early next year, look for the Red Hen, a restaurant due to hatch at First Street and Seaton Place NW, not far from Bacio Pizzeria. We’re not sure if chicken will appear on the “Italian-influenced” menu. However, for the 50-seat project, former sommelier Sebastian Zutant and executive sous chef Mike Friedman of Penn Quarter’s tony Proof are teaming up with Mike O`Malley of 9 Group, a Las Vegas casino resort. Zutant, by the way, lives right here in Bloomingdale. Why the moniker Red Hen? The guys just liked the name, we’re told. u capitalcommunitynews.com u 21