I’ve been peering in the windows of what would become Mintwood Place for what seems the better part of a year now, watching the shell transformed from two gutted retail storefronts to the restaurant that opened this week along Columbia Road in Adams Morgan. Recently I paused to peek in on the finished product—lots of reclaimed wood, including a mushroom wood-paneled bar that looks into an open kitchen, ironwork accents like a gate from New Orleans, light fixtures made from inverted fishbowls with rubber tubing, yellow-hued lighting, and cushioned alcoves built into the window space—and left with a reservation for dinner a soft opening that took place last week.
Under the guidance of Cedric Maupillier, a native of Provence and disciple of Michel Richard, Mintwood Place is serving French and American accented fare in a setting that is somewhere between bistro and brasserie. The menu is a mix of tradition and in its mains and measured creativity and playfulness amongst the 14 starters, the home of many unique twists. The beverage menu holds a small number of thoughtfully concocted specialty cocktails and wines starting at a decent $30 a bottle.
Mintwood Place is unquestionably an exciting addition to its block of Columbia Road, and nicely merges the traditional American fare of nearby Cashion’s Eat Place and French offerings at Napoleon. Throw in the newly opened Marrakech Lounge, the long-standing Grill from Ipanema, Perry’s famed drag brunch and you have what is becoming a both a civilized dining destination in the neighborhood and a nice counterbalance to the bacchanalian 18th Street core of Adams Morgan.
