Booker Parchment is a collector of old stories. The first-time restaurant and bar owner behind Park View’s newest hangout, Mr. Braxton, combs antique shops so frequently and gets “so much joy” out of learning the history behind each piece that his friends have urged him to open a shop.
He picked a restaurant named after his youngest son instead. But Parchment’s revamp of Walter’s Sports Bar on Georgia Avenue, which opens Thursday, is its own time capsule of thrifted finds. A 400-year old window decorates the front wall. A 1940s chamber stove serves as a coffee station in the back. A cape buffalo skull (whose owner “died of natural causes,” Parchment notes) hangs near the bar. A turntable and vintage records are accessible for the bartender to throw on Marvin Gaye, The Doobie Brothers, Billy Joel, and Tina Turner.
Parchment, an entrepreneur from Jamaica, has lived in D.C. for more than a decade and invested in local restaurants in the past. To make the jump to debut his own, he tapped Alex Cantos, former chef of Brick Lane, and mixologist Andra “AJ” Johnson to dream up the menu. Because Parchment will also continue as vice president of a talent management firm, finding a seasoned team was especially important, he says.
As part of the renovations, they expanded Walter’s half-kitchen for the capacity to churn out full dinners. Dishes are, as Parchment describes, “traditional American bistro with international flair” and heavy on meats, salads, seafood, and pasta. Cantos will serve racks of lamb, a thick-cut watermelon salad tossed in agave, lime, and mint, six kinds of mussels, and hemp-encrusted salmon with tomato curry and root vegetables. He recommends creme brûlée and seasonal berries to round out any meal.
As far as cocktails go, Mr. Braxton will be one of the first bars in the area to play with CBD oil. The craze of cannabidiol—the non-psychoactive component in hemp and cannabis—has set bars and coffee shops around the country scrambling to incorporate its calming properties. Around the District, it’s already in doughnuts, coffee, and tea. Though the bartenders will stick to standard bar fare in the opening weeks, Mr. Braxton eventually plans to offer a mocktail and an option to add CBD to any of their cocktail bases.
“You can get CBD at Walgreens—it’s everywhere,” Parchment says. “We’re not going to put ‘CBD cocktails!’ in neon lights, but we’ll roll them out. It’s a relaxer. It mellows you out.”
In addition to mimosas, Bloody Marys, and local beer, Johnson created signature cocktails such as a habanero and strawberry margarita, the vodka and champagne spritzer, with a raspberry liquor bottom, and The Braxton, a Manhattan-inspired riff made sweeter by chocolate bitters, fino sherry, vermouth, and orange zest. In addition to regular happy hour, Parchment plans to do a midday special for stay-at-home parents.
On the forthcoming 30-seat back patio, artist Eric B. Ricks painted a trippy, floor-to-ceiling mural for an Alice in Wonderland vibe, complete with butterflies and black and white swirls. Live entertainment, DJ nights, and weekend brunch are in the works.
Parchment hopes the restaurant will be a communal place people want to linger in multiple nights of the week.
“I’ve always had a love affair with local restaurants,” Parchment says. “When I first moved to D.C., I just had separated from a long relationship. They’re a place to find some companionship and not just be stuck in your apartment alone. My preference is always to sit at the bar, even at dinner, because I just love meeting old friends and starting new relationships in the neighborhood.”
Mr. Braxton is located at 3632 Georgia Avenue NW. Open Tuesday-Thursday 5 p.m.-1 a.m., Friday 5 p.m.-3 a.m., Saturday 11 a.m.-3 a.m., and Sunday 11 a.m.-1 a.m.
