In November, before COVID-19, Joancarlo Parkhurst hosted a pop up of his forthcoming restaurant La Famosa at Right Proper Brewing Company in Brookland. The area’s Puerto Rican community came out in full force, he says.
“I think D.C. is super interesting and pretty culturally sophisticated,” he says. “But there’s very limited representation when it comes to Puerto Rican culture.”
People at the pop up told him it felt like home — the highest of compliments — though he wondered if those not familiar with Puerto Rican cuisine would understand and enjoy it.
Ten months later, after less than a week of business for La Famosa’s permanent restaurant in Navy Yard, the answer seems to be yes. The kitchen is temporarily reducing hours, trimming the menu, and taking away lunch service to allow more prep time. Coffee and pastries will be available throughout the day; takeout is available for walk-ins only. (Full service will return soon.)
The restaurant in the ground level of the Bower condo building is named for the canned fruit juice company that Parkhurst’s great-grandfather opened in Puerto Rico in the 1920s. Parkhurst, who moved to New York from Puerto Rico when he was 5 years old, would go back to the island every spring and summer break.
“I was very fortunate in a sense that I got a dual upbringing there,” he says, recalling his grandmother. “I just remember as a child always being in the kitchen and her creating not only all these baked things” — she sold wedding cakes and other elaborate desserts — “but also food, food, food.” Those roots and memories inform the menu.
“Puerto Ricans have a deep love and affinity for fried foods,” explains Parkhurst. Expect bacalaito (salted cod fritters, $8), bolitas de queso (fried cheese balls, $7.50), and pastelillos (fried turnovers, $6-$10).
Plantains make several appearances, too: tostones (fried plantains, $4 as a side), canoas (plantains stuffed with salt cod, $16, or beef or vegetarian picadillo, $15 or $17, respectively), and the jibarito, a chicken or steak sandwich in which fried plantains replace the bread ($14). Breakfast includes bocadillos (grilled ham and swiss, $5.50) and mañaneros (ham, egg, and cheese, $6.50), plus house-made mallorcas, pastelitos de guayaba, mantecaditos, and different cookies to go with coffee.
Almost everything is made in-house save for the pan de agua, bread crucial for the tripleta ($13), a rich sandwich with steak, pernil, ham, onions, cheese, tomatoes, shoestring potatoes, and mayoketchup. Don’t sleep on the seafood options, including the dorado, a fried mahi sandwich with a vinegar slaw ($15) and the ensalada de mariscos, a mix of octopus, shrimp, and scallops served with tostones ($12). Larger plates include a carne guisada (slow-cooked beef, $15) and, on the higher end, the chillo frito: whole snapper served with coconut rice and slaw ($28). And yes, there’s also mofongo ($12-$16).
Although there’s an agricultural resurgence in Puerto Rico — pushing back against Operation Bootstrap, which industrialized the island — Parkhurst notices the difference in making traditional recipes with the bounty of ingredients that he can find stateside.
“It’s eye-opening and at times a little troublesome — like, am I being true to what it is? — but I think so,” he said in February. These days, of course, the pandemic means there are some distribution and sourcing issues: “I literally have to hunt down gandules [pigeon peas] right now.”
Even before the pandemic, a contactless QR code-ordering system was in the works: Dine-in customers seat themselves, then scan the code on their smartphones to place an order. While waiting for your food, scan the dining room to see if you can spot the duo of guitar-playing coquí (frogs native to Puerto Rico) figurines given to the owners by an employee, and gaze wistfully at the rum and pitorro lining the pink-tiled bar wall. Take note that the bar seats have backs, a comforting thought for when we can drink and eat at the bar … someday.
For drinks, expect several beers ($5-$9) and wines ($6.50-$11), with a heavily rum-based cocktail selection.
“One of my favorite producers in Puerto Rico is Ron del Barrilito,” says Parkhurst, but you’ll see a representation of different Caribbean rums — “as esoteric as possible” — as well as rum from D.C.’s Cotton & Reed. Drinks include a guava smash ($12), rum negroni ($11), and, of course, a piña colada ($10); a few of the cocktails will be available to go as well. And during the holidays, look out for coquito.
Non-alcoholic options include a selection of batidos (fruit shakes): “If you were in Puerto Rico and you went to La Placita in Santurce, a lot of the fruit vendors there would do quick fruit shakes,” he says. “I’m really interested to see how they go over because it’s not sweet, like an Orange Julius, but at the same time it’s not health food.”
Coffee comes from Annapolis-based Ceremony Coffee; Parkhurst hopes to also eventually bring in small batches of beans from Puerto Rico.
To pair with the restaurant’s warm and breezy Caribbean vibe, the music is heavily Latin, though it leans contemporary. (“You’re not gonna walk in and hear Héctor Lavoe 24 hours a day.”) La Famosa is meant to be an inviting place, says Parkhurst, that has a certain level of nostalgia for those from the island — if you know, you know, but if you don’t, you’ll still feel welcomed.
“A lot of our imagery does evoke some mashups of the Puerto Rican flag,” he adds. “I’m not there to preach to the people or educate the people about the condition and situation of the island, but it’s definitely something that’s present in my mind.”
La Famosa is located at 1300 4th St. SE. Hours are 7 a.m.-9 p.m. daily; breakfast available 7 a.m.-11 a.m. and dinner 5 p.m.-9 p.m.; coffee and pastries available throughout the day. Lunch, online ordering, and delivery coming soon.
