821 Upshur Street, NW
From a press release:
Tickets are on sale for the first StartUP Kitchen restaurant, DC Dosa, launching Monday, September 17. Space is limited in this four week pop-up that showcases the pioneer incubatee, Priya Ammu and her fast casual Indian Concept.
DC Dosa, offers dosas, the popular Indian lentil and rice pancake, three ways—three fillings and three chutneys—made to order and ready to go. The fillings and chutneys vary seasonally and are vegetarian, vegan, and gluten free.
Diners receive four opportunities to try a sampling of Ammu’s food and critique the winning concept with a three-course-meal. Each Monday through October 8, diners will have the opportunity to meet the operating restaurateur and provide feedback in real-time to help enhance the final concept.
Tickets for dc dosa StartUp Kitchen restaurant are $35 and can be purchased here.
Menu after the jump.
SEPTEMBER 17- 7:30-9:30 p.m.
Bhel Puri
Appetizer of puffed rice with green mango, red onion, peanuts, and crunchy chickpeas dressed with sweet tamarind chutney
Choice of Dosa
Four Lentil dosa with roasted sweet potatoes and eggplant filling
Or
Trio of fermented rice mini dosas with bell peppers and tomato topping
Chutneys to include tomato peanut and sesame cilantro
Carrot Halva
Warm carrot dessert served with crème fraiche
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SEPTEMBER 24TH
Bhel Puri
Appetizer of puffed rice with green mango, red onion, peanuts, and crunchy chickpeas dressed with sweet tamarind chutney
Choice of Dosa
Four Lentil dosa with roasted sweet potatoes and eggplant filling
Or
Trio of fermented rice mini dosas with bell peppers and tomato topping
Chutneys to include tomato peanut and sesame cilantro
Carrot Halva
Warm carrot dessert served with crème fraiche
__________________________________________________
OCTOBER 1st
Appetizer of puffed rice with green mango, red onion, peanuts, and crunchy chickpeas dressed with sweet tamarind chutney
Choice of Dosa
Mung lentil dosa with cabbage and carrot filling
Or
Whole green lentil dosa with lemon and cashew rice filling
Chutneys to include roasted sweet onion and cilantro garlic
Seviya
Vermicelli pudding in cardamom honey milk with pistachios
__________________________________________________
OCTOBER 8th
Bhel Puri
Appetizer of puffed rice with green mango, red onion, peanuts, and crunchy chickpeas dressed with sweet tamarind chutney
Choice of Dosa
Four Lentil dosa with roasted sweet potatoes and eggplant filling
Or
Trio of fermented rice mini dosas with bell peppers and tomato topping
Chutneys to include tomato peanut and sesame cilantro
Carrot Halva
Warm carrot dessert served with crème fraiche
Epiphany on Georgia Avenue has the best BBQ in DC… I tried them just last week and OMG, their BBQ sauce is magical.
I haven’t tried Domku yet, but I think it would be great if new restaurants mobbed that section of town, especially Indian food and a Ramen/Sushi spot. That area there could def. use more food diversity!
That is one confusing press release. Read it five times and I’m still not totally sure I understand what is going on. Sounds like Domku is serving someone else’s food for $35 per person?
Was really looking forward to this, but there’s also a ticket fee, so for two people that’s $76 plus (tax?) tip. For dosas. I don’t think so.
Yummm, dosas. This menu sounds fantastic. Not sure if I’ll shell out $35 for the 3-course meal, but I’d definitely go to the fast-casual place if/when it opens.
Love the idea, but 35 bucks for “fast casual Indian”??? That’s crazy talk. I’ll keep trekking out to Woodlands to get my dosa fix…
Agreed – this pricing is really high. At first I thought $35 was the price to attend all four dinners — but for one meal??? What a disappointment, we were so excited to hear about this yesterday.
Good thing we have a dosa grinder and can make our own dosas at home…
I don’t know if $35 is high or not for these meals, but isn’t the point of this to allow a budding restaurateur to get her feet wet, get some experience, get some exposure, get some practice. Maybe you could think of your $35 as a contribution to helping a small locally-owned business get started. I think that topic comes up on this blog every once in a while. And maybe you’ll get a nice meal out of the deal, too.
Yes, that is the point, and I definitely support StartUp Kitchen’s concept, but $76+ for two people to “participate” is a bit steep. We’d probably go if it was $50.
Maybe $25 per person, but definitely not $35 (which is really $70 when you think about it, because who’s going alone?). This is little more than street/peasant food, with very inexpensive ingredients, yet they’re charging a premium. (Which is actually in keeping with Domku’s business plan, come to think of it…)
To all the negative posts about being to pricey, all I got to say is Hats Off to Kera Carpenter, Domku owner, for having the vision and DOING something creative in support of local entrepreneurs! If it wasn’t for citizens like her – taking risks and going for it – you can just take your money and go eat at Wal-Mart or if you really want to hit the town try Costco, they have wonderful foot long hot dogs. . . YOU GO KERA! I’ll be there!
Wait a minute. There is a LOT of distance and possibility between $35/person and eating at Costco. For instance, Domku itself sits comfortably between those extremes.
Of course we’re cheering for this endeavor and congratulating Carpenter on her vision, but a huge factor in a successful business is suiting your product and prices to the audience you’d like to attract. For the product as described, this price turns off the intended audience.
My husband and i visited Domku MANY times when we first moved to Petworth 2 years ago. We had VERY high hopes for the place – especially since the neighborhood was/is lacking nicer restaurants. The owner and the service of Domku is awful. As much as I hate to admit it- we’ve decided not to support them. We’d rather support some of the newer restaurants in Petworth whose owners don’t want to take their customers for granted.
I think it’s great that the owner is supporting local businesses but how about being nicer to customers. Before she expands into other areas- she may want to consider succeeding in her own business plan. I’ve met multiple neighbors who used to support her but now they don’t because the service is awful. And, she doesn’t blink at the fact that she’s the only restaurant that takes an hour to bring you food. It doesn’t make any sense. Even the new Hitching Post didn’t do that on their opening week!
Domku is closed on Mondays so it’s not like Kera is losing out on any business by letting the startup use her space. $35 for dosas is crazy. If you want to support a new local business head to Top Spanish on Georgia instead.
I agree $20 would be more reasonable. $35 is a bit too steep, and I love dosas! Sorry, I do hope we can have a dosa restaurant nearby with reasonably priced, yummy dosas!
i’ve never seen a ton of people at fusion, not that far away, but i hope this could work.