At first glance, The Eastern looks more highbrow than your average neighborhood bar. It’s sleek and modern with forest green walls and brown-cushioned seating lining a window looking out to the street. Wine bottles are tucked in nearly every nook and cranny, stacked up behind the bar and lining the walls. Guests can cozy up against the window on little stools, hang at the bar that seats around 10, or share high top tables in the middle of the space.
But a neighborhood bar is just how Robert Morin, general manager of the newly-opened Capitol Hill spot, describes it. There are no reservations (though the bar will turn people away if there are no open seats), and despite the fancy digs, the team behind it wants the space to be welcoming to vino newbies and experts alike.
At The Eastern—which comes from Matt Weiss and Mike Schuster, the team behind fellow Capitol Hill whiskey bar Barrel—that goal shines through in its expansive menu. It includes suggestions of bottles to try depending on the type of wine you like: Champagne, riesling, chardonnay, and more.
Morin says that’s because the Eastern was devised with the same focus Barrel puts into whiskey, but for wine. “I really like the idea of understanding a menu when I go to places. A lot of places make it so you have to ask a lot of questions,” Morin says. “I wanted to have a wine list that’s accessible to everyone.”
But, don’t think that means you can’t ask a lot of questions. The Eastern has four sommeliers on staff and Morin says everyone else working the bar knows wine inside and out. “We have a knowledgeable staff,” Morin says. “They can get as geeky as they like.”
The list itself is curated with labels from Uruguay to Madison, Virginia. Morin says they work with local importers and distributors, but wants each bottle to be different, with wines from all over the world. “I don’t want you to be able to buy these wines at Trader Joe’s,” he says.
Glasses of wine range from $9 to $26, or you can opt for a local draft or a cocktail with prices at $10-$13.
Morin also expects the menu to rotate with the seasons. “I want to see this list be completely living and breathing,” he says. He adds that he hopes the bar can celebrate individual wine producers with select, limited pours of lesser-known wines as they come in.
Beyond wine, the food menu is made up mainly of small nibbles: cheese plates, pita and dips, and various fish and salad plates. Morin recommends the scallops which he calls “absolute home runs” as well as the lamb albondigas, little meatballs, with “a pesto sauce that gets it right.”
And Morin says the bar plans to get out into the community to let people know they’re there. He’s even spoken with the people behind the Smithsonian Folklife Festival about playing a role in next year’s festival.
But until then, Morin says the bar is focusing on ensuring everything that happens within its four walls is perfect, especially as it relates to the Capitol Hill neighborhood where Morin has lived for five years.
“Capitol Hill is a cool, diverse neighborhood,” he says. And they want to build a menu the neighborhood will enjoy.
“We’ll continue to get better. And a big part of that is listening,” he says. “I don’t want the menu to ever get stale. As the seasons change, people’s tastes change.”
The Eastern is located at 360 7th St. SE. Open daily from 4 p.m. on with happy hour from 4 p.m.-7 p.m.
