Lulu’s Winegarden, the revamped successor to U Street area’s longstanding wine bar Vinoteca, is a compilation of everything owners Paul and Brittany Carlson love best. Their 9-month-old daughter, Lucilla, who is the bar’s namesake; the patios and plants of Paul’s hometown in Guatemala and Brittany’s in Arizona, and California, which informed the restaurant’s balmy décor; and wine, of course—an expertise Paul has been sharing with the neighborhood since Vinoteca opened 12 years ago.
Lulu’s starts full service on Friday as a completely new concept under the same ownership; Cable Smith, the chef from the Carlsons’ Michelin Bib Gourmand-listed Latin restaurant Royal, comes on as a partner. The couple closed Vinoteca last fall after more than a decade and overhauled the concept and design themselves. They wanted to shake any fuss that can accompany fine dining these days, they say—no reservations, no tasting menus—and instead pivot to a communal-style wine bar and two outside garden spaces meant to make diners feel as though they’re on the couple’s patio at a casual dinner party, even indoors.
The Carlsons’ touches fill the restaurant, from a Southwestern terracotta palette and a patchwork of lights laced around the open ceiling, to potted plants they brought from home and a dried flower wall designed by the same market vendor who made an arch for their wedding in Guatemala. Rows of long tables, with placeholders for wine buckets on ice in every middle, are made for squeezing. (The other night, Brittany counted 28 people spread over two tables.) Diners can order at the bar, sit where they like, and use an app called GoTab to pay or summon more wine for the table.
“I think one of the things that we really want is fun,” says Paul Carlson. “Having done this for so long, all three of us having the experience of seeing so many different things that have been successful and failed and gotten to know the industry and the community and the city. We just wanted a place where we kind of got rid of rules. But our focus and expertise here has always been wine.”
Since Cable joined Royal in 2017 after cooking in Austin, the Carlsons’ sister restaurant has been hitting high notes for Michelin trackers and the local RAMMYs. Rather than the Columbian arepas and empanadas inspired by Paul’s mother and the cocktail slate popular at the Royal, the chef brings the southern flair of his New Mexican roots to an all-day menu he hopes will change people’s preconceived notions about wine pairings.
“The idea of food that you eat with wine has been the same forever. You eat cheese and charcuterie and that’s it,” says Smith. “And that’s really dumb, cause people’s palettes can handle a lot more. It’s fresh, bright, crunchy things you can nosh on and split with people. Classy, dinner party stuff.”
The bar swaps full sit-down dinners with proteins and sides for more casual fare. Dips and spreads are a star feature. Smith’s white queso dip is spiced by roasting green chiles, a citrus smoked whitefish has dots of ruby roe, and feta is whipped into New Mexican chile harissa for a creamy spreadable heat. Fried tostadas from Ula Tortilla in Virginia and thick-cut grilled bread serve as vessels for cleaning the bowl. The tostada is also a bittersweet stand-alone dish with crab, avocado, grapefruit, and yuzu Old Bay aioli.
Smith is also big on sandwiches and topped toasts. One standout is the pastrami pork belly, smoked out back, shaved thin, smothered in BBQ aioli, crisped shallots, and red fermented kraut, then stuffed between two slabs of Texas toast. For a French onion toast, Smith piles caramelized onion dip, salt and vinegar chips, and grilled onion ash onto sourdough. Smith’s fiancée asked him to make a fancy corn dog; the result is a chicken sausage (which flies off the kitchen shelves at the Royal) breaded and oozing Swiss cheese cubes. Ham drippings go into a dijonnaise sauce on the side.
Light options include the bar’s eye-popping version of roasted beets layers pink goat cheese and beet puree, avocado, and pistachios. Brunch, which debuts in a few weeks, will add eggs to burgers and toasts.
Paul Carlson, who is also the wine director, wanted to simplify the list and encourage exploration. He did both by setting a fixed price point: All bottles are $49 (a handful are also available by the glass for $12). Paul calls himself “geeky” about wines, but says he hopes just one price will tempt patrons to order outside their usual norm without having to factor in cost. Though not a single wine from Vinoteca appears on Lulu’s menu, more than 40 varieties hail from widespread regions of France, Spain, Argentina, and California. To reflect the interior patio feel, Paul choose many of the wines from warm weather regions, which he says tend to have a higher alcohol content or a brighter fruitiness.
Brittany Carlson notes her excitement about a section of Mexican wines not often available in D.C., which the couple discovered on trips there together. A sauvignon blanc and a Baja blend both come from the Valle de Guadeloupe in Baja California. The couple also plans to add canned wine and half bottles to the menu soon.
To round out the drinks, Royal’s Alonzo Freeman designed six cocktails ($12-$13), such as a Caribbean milk punch with dark rum and clarified milk and the “Lulu’s Old Fashioned” that subs red wine for simple syrup. All cocktails can be made zero-proof. Hoppy drafts from the D.C. area and cans of Tecate are also on the menu.
The front patio will be open to all—including dogs—in March, with the reveal of the back courtyard later this spring. The back will have an outdoor grill, bocce court, and TV for debates and sports.
The Carlsons’ transformation from Vinoteca to Lulu’s is also a reflection of their new routines with their daughter. After being in the industry for so long, they wanted to find a better balance for life outside of work and decided to give all staff two days off every week. Brittany remembers coming to Vinoteca with friends years ago and seeing Paul in a leather jacket “looking all cool,” she says. Fast forward, and Lulu is crawling around in the same spots. At less than a year old, she already has an Old Fashioned, a burger, and a bar named after her. How’s that for an evolving space?
“We want this to be a gathering place,” says Brittany. “We want you to feel like you’re at a backyard wine party, having dinner with your friends, and everybody’s sitting around the table popping bottles.”
Lulu’s is located at 1940 11th Street NW. Soft opening through Thursday 5 p.m.-11 p.m. Starting Friday, hours are Wednesday-Thursday 5 p.m.-11 p.m., Friday 5 p.m.-1 a.m. Friday, Saturday noon-1 a.m. Saturday, and Sunday noon-9 p.m.
