Monday saw the opening of a the new ShopHouse in Georgetown. The first of the fast-casual restaurants opened in Dupont Circle nearly two years ago, with a second following in West Hollywood, Calif. The menu at 28th and M Streets NW is the same as Dupont Circle, though the original spot has Laoation and other beer for sale. Georgetown is soft drink only, at least for the moment. DCist visited the new location at a preview event last week.
Developed by Chipotle, the concept largely follows the model of its parent, replacing Southeast Asian inspired components for Tex-Mex ones. Diners customize their rice or noodle bowl down a cafeteria-style assembly line, choosing a protein, vegetable, sauce, garnish, and one crunchy finish. Sustainable and fresh ingredients are at the core of budding chain’s philosophy. In keeping with the food stalls in cities like Bangkok and Singapore that inspire the food, flavors are bold – a flavor profile that has worked for cosmopolitan Washington and Los Angeles. Whether the spicy and savory notes have the national appeal that a burrito does remains to be seen, hence a slow start in initial test markets.
Chipotle is headquartered in Colorado with some key staff in New York, yet Washington was the choice for Shophouse’s initial launch and now expansion. “In New York the buildout for restaurants is super, super expensive and we couldn’t do it,” explains director of concept development Tim Wildin. “D.C. has an awesome food scene so we wanted to be part of that. It’s also super close for us. We come down every week.”
The idea for the restaurant was Wildin’s, something he pushed while working in Chipotle’s marketing department. He sold Chipotle’s CEO on the Southeast Asian flavors and got the go ahead to develop the new brand. While he worked with chef Nate Appleman on much of the menu, the green and spicy red curries are ones he grew up eating while spending childhood summers back in his native Thailand. “It’s super traditional food and that’s the concept,” he said. “Use traditional ingredients and serve it the way you would find over there.”
Eschewing focus group and corporate boardrooms are part of the ShopHouse spirit, which Wildin describes as “scrappy, low budget.” Store general manager Mike Thompson started as a crew member at the Dupont location and had a hand in developing the eggplant with Thai basil recipe.
Along with supporting local libraries, Chipotle made national news last week for facing a shortage of the “naturally-raised” beef they need at their nearly 1,500 and growing locations. “For steak and for barbacoa at Chipotle, we only use a couple of different cuts of meat and those are only a couple parts of the animal,” says Wildin. “So the farmers have no market for the other parts sometimes so they have to sell them at commodity prices. So why would they grow them to our protocol which is really strict when they have no other market?
“With ShopHouse, we developed lots of things like the steak laab and the pork and chicken meatballs to use cuts of meat that are complimentary to Chipotle. The goal is—and I know that we’re only three restaurants right now but one day if world domination ever happens—this would be a sustainable model. And it would also create more of a market for these farmers.”
Before that world domination happens, they’ll have to see if they’ve got what it takes to expand to 14th Street first.
