For the third spring in a row, the team at the Pop-Up Bar is filling its Shaw space with blooms to create the Cherry Blossom PUB. Where previous iterations of the PUB starred the Mario brothers and Godzilla, this one claims to be a little more grown up, with a French fairytale garden room.
Oh, and there’s a whole room that’s been transformed into a bowl of ramen, with sculptures of noodles and chopsticks. It’s a meta setting to serve Ramen by UZU, normally only found at Hiro Mitsui’s Union Market food stall. Mitsui will be selling his vegan miso ramen at the PUB.
The garden room is inspired by Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette moodboard the Palace of Versailles—specifically the Fontaine de L’Encelade, a fountain on the grounds that’s encircled by trellises. The PUB’s wooden trellises will be covered in peonies, roses, and, of course, cherry blossoms.
As for the cocktails, expect the Japanese theme that’s often featured at the Cherry Blossom PUB. There’s the Honeydew, Honey See, which includes sake, vermouth, a fermented sake syrup called shio koji, cucumber, honeydew, and absinthe. Sour fans can sip on the Once and Floral, made with gin, peach, matcha, lemon, orange flower water, and egg white.

Curiously, a release for this PUB only promises two distinct themes. What of the third bar in the trio of storefronts on 7th Street NW? It’ll come in March, PUB head of bar concepts Paul Taylor told Washingtonian. “It’s something different, but there will be some parallels between them,” he told the site. One thing that is for sure is the PUB’s spring party on March 20—it’s the only time you can use a timed ticket to avoid the (probable) line outside the bar. The $20 ticket fee will go to the National Cherry Blossom Festival.
The Cherry Blossom PUB is located at 1843 7th St. NW, and runs Feb. 28-April 21. Hours Sunday-Thursday 5 p.m.-12:30 a.m., Friday-Saturday 5 p.m.-1:30 a.m.
Lori McCue