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At ABC Pony, corkscrew pasta is napped with garlicky butter, olive oil and topped with prosciutto. Photo: Celeste McCall
ABC Pony proprietor Erik Bruner-Yang pauses before a 1986 Kurt Russell movie poster. Photo: Celeste McCall
CAPITOL CUISINE by Celeste McCall
East Meets West Our beloved World Champion Nationals have departed for the season, but their Navy Yard neighborhood is anything but quiet. A recent arrival near Nats Park is ABC Pony, a ’80s- and ’90s-themed fast-casual noodle house. Named for a child’s toy, the 99-seat ABC Pony is located in the ground level of the NOVEL South Capitol Residences at the corner of I and South Capitol streets SE. The sunny space opens into NOVEL’s sumptuous lobby. “When I opened Toki Underground (Atlas District) in 2011, I thought every neighborhood should have a great noodle shop,” local chef Erik Bruner-Yang explained. “Since then, noodle shops have evolved… and then this location became available.”
Tapping Asian ingredients like Filipino spring roll wrappers, Japanese glutinous rice dough and Hong Kong-style XO sauce, Bruner-Yang marries Asian and Italian cuisine. When he’s off duty, Bruner-Yang, 35, favors Italian food. His Taiwanese mother often served spaghetti alongside rice, we’re told. Joining Bruner-Yang are executive chefs Chris Yates, formerly of Elle (Mount Pleasant), and Paolo Dungca, previously with Bad Saint (Columbia Heights) and Kaliwa (District Wharf). ABC Pony’s décor showcases 80s and ’90s artifacts. Bookended by a toy horse and a Yoda figure, vintage cassettes line one shelf; toys and wine bottles snuggle on another. A poster from the 1986 Kurt Russell flick, “Big Trouble in Little China” dominates a wall. The modest newcomer resembles a coffee shop, but the food is gourmet, four-
JANUARY 2020 H 83