East End

L’Ardente Doing Lunch and Brunch for Restaurant Week from Aug. 28–Sept. 3

By Prince Of Petworth


200 Massachusetts Avenue, NW

From an email:

“L’Ardente participates in Restaurant Week from Aug. 28–Sept. 3, serving a three-course menu for $25 per person during lunch and brunch only. Reservations can be made via Resy or through the restaurant’s website and are strongly recommended as we book up quickly. Note that lunch will be offered during the weekdays of Restaurant Week (Aug. 28–Sept. 1 from 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m.) and brunch on that Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 2–3 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.). Here are a few other interesting details about L’Ardente’s Restaurant Week menu: (more…)

“Love on the Run—Love, Makoto’s fast-casual component—is now open!”

By Prince Of Petworth

From a press release:

“Internationally renowned Japanese chef and restaurateur Makoto Okuwa, who earlier this year opened three full-service Love, Makoto concepts, has opened the much-anticipated Phase 2 of his food hall. Joining the already popular restaurants Dear Sushi and Beloved BBQ—plus the buzzy bar Hiya Izakaya—the fast-casual component of the food hall will at first sell salads, fried-chicken sandwiches, sushi rolls and ramen in addition to a robust coffee and tea program. Down the line, a Japanese bakery opening earlier and featuring mochi donuts and soft serve will help locals and tourists awake to something sweet. Other savories like dumplings and Japanese curries will also join the lineup. (more…)

Love, Makoto Opens Today! (and this is only phase one, phase two opening this summer)

By Prince Of Petworth


photo by Mike Fuentes Photography

From a press release:

“The sushi omakase, Japanese grill omakase and izakaya—three separate full-service concepts—will be joined by a fast-casual food hall later this year

Internationally renowned Japanese chef and restaurateur Makoto Okuwa, who kicked off his American culinary career as a sushi chef at DC’s beloved Sushi Taro, returns to Washington with the opening of Love, Makoto, a culinary love letter addressed to the city that welcomed him so long ago. Okuwa has partnered with Chef David Deshaies and Restaurateur Eric Eden—the homegrown restaurant team behind Unconventional Diner and L’Ardente—to bring about an ambitious Japanese culinary collection unlike any other. Located at 200 Massachusetts Ave. NW, the 20,000-square-foot space is adjacent to L’Ardente, with the sister restaurants sharing the entire first floor of the Capitol Crossing development in DC’s newly minted East End neighborhood.

“I’m so excited to return to Washington, D.C., to show this city where I have been since we parted, and how those journeys have informed my perspective as a chef,” says Okuwa. “With so many ways to experience Love, Makoto, we hope our diners return again and again—always finding something new to love.”

CONCEPTS

The Japanese culinary collection will open in two phases. (more…)