Fans of Timber Pizza, rejoice. The masterminds behind Petworth’s wood fired pizza joint are branching out into new forms of dough with a bagel-centric, self-described “Jew-ish” deli.
Call Your Mother is slated to open Thursday in Park View (3301 Georgia Ave. NW) with oven-smoked sandwiches, homemade shmears, and other deli classics, plus a ticketed 20-seat supper club. To create the deli’s star feature, Timber chef Daniela Moreira and co-founder Andrew Dana ate upwards of a thousand bagels.
Despite already perfecting the art of pizza dough—Timber has scooped up praise from Bon Appetit, earned a spot on Michelin’s Bib Gourmand list, and received neighborhood admiration for their wood fired pies—Dana and Moreira tested recipes for nine months before settling on a final product.
Their bagel is like the “New York and Montreal styles had a baby,” Dana says, with the light, airy middle of a New York bagel, Montreal’s touch of sweetness, and a wood-fired crust. Sneak peeks have been available for months (and will continue) at Timber’s weekend brunch and at FRESHFARM Markets in Dupont Circle and Silver Spring, where a batch of 500 bagels sometimes sells out in an hour.
Call Your Mother’s permanent spot will serve breakfast, lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch, putting spins on deli favorites with Jew-ish inspiration (Dana is half Jewish). Though the team didn’t want to feel completely tethered to the classics, the menu has a healthy dose of pastrami dishes from Epic Curing (in empanadas and grilled cheese), steak and cheese sandwiches on homemade challah, latke fries, white fish croquettes, and tuna salad. Desserts include a “crushable,” as Dana puts it, version of a black and white cookie and babka with thick slabs of chocolate.
Order bagels, ranging from plain and sesame to Za’atar and blueberry, as signature breakfast sandwiches or smeared with homemade spreads. A candied smoked salmon cream cheese made with Ivy City Smokehouse fish is paired with crispy shallots and Little Wild Things Farm’s microgreens, and a classic bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich goes rogue with spicy honey.
For themed, family-style dinner four nights a week, 20 advance seats will be available online ($45, plus an optional $15-20 for drinks). Sign up to eat fried chicken, Peking duck, and New York-style pizza dinners with meatballs, garlic knots, and checkered tablecloths.
Family recipes are another menu staple. The team asked diners to submit their own traditional deli recipes earlier this year; one yet-to-be-announced winner will be featured on the menu. They also contributed their own: Moreira, who grew up in Argentina, will serve her family’s recipe for Matzah ball sopa (soup), and Dana will do a brisket dinner that riffs off a recipe from his grandma Shirley.
Dana and Moreira are working with Timber partner Chris Brady and Jeff Zients, president of the Cranemere Group, to make the deli a reality. The team turned the space—formerly home to Alfie’s and Mothership—and outside patio into a cotton candy palette of blues and pinks. Framed photos of Drake at every age adorn the walls.
“He’s our favorite half-Jewish rapper,” Dana says. “His persona embodies what we’re doing here. We play and make what we like. We had lunch and dinner covered with pizza. We wanted a way to eat carbs for breakfast.”
Call Your Mother Menu by wamu885 on Scribd
Call Your Mother is located at 3301 Georgia Ave NW. Open Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturday-Sunday 8 a.m.-3 p.m.
This post has been updated.