When Penn Quarter’s Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar reopened in June, CEO Barry Gutin says that business in the neighborhood was slow.
“What we found is that there were very few people downtown and that couldn’t fill the seats that we had,” he says.
After reaching out to the Penn Quarter Neighborhood Association, he connected with the Downtown D.C. Business Improvement District to develop a new streatery, which will open later this week.
Located on a stretch of 8th Street between H and K Streets NW, the self-described “multi-restaurant, pop-up dining room,” per a press release from the BID, features a range of options from downtown restaurants, expanding their dining capacity for five consecutive weekends.
“Since the restaurants in downtown D.C. are not clustered like they are in Adams Morgan or parts of Georgetown, we had to artificially create that critical mass of dining experiences in one place so that people wanted to travel downtown.” Gutin says.
From September 25 until Oct 25, the streatery, dubbed “Downtown D.C. Dine Out on 8th Street,” will operate on Fridays from 5 p.m.-10 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from noon-10 p.m.
Participating restaurants include Cuba Libre, Cranes, Olivia, and Modena, along with a rotating cast of local food trucks, like Puddin’. (Gutin says the Mediterranean-inspired eatery Olivia and the Italian-influenced Modena, both from Knightsbridge Restaurant Group’s Ashok Bajaj, will take turns.)
Each restaurant’s dining room will have its own tent with 50 to 76 seats. Depending on the establishment, customers can choose from tasting menus, and limited or full a la carte offerings. Four food trucks will also share two tents, each with 20-25 seats per truck.
Gutin says each restaurant will “create their own experience.” Cuba Libre will have a “chef action station,” where they’ll prepare dishes like pan tostado, a rustic bread cooked over charcoal and served with three spreads, including a herb-whipped goat cheese, house-made mango butter, and olive oil flavored with pork chicharrones, pan drippings, and parsley, and garlic, in addition to other offerings.
Spanish and Japanese eatery Cranes will also prepare paella in large pans on the street. “So, you’re gonna get the smell, the site, the sounds of that,” Gutin says, adding that “there’s an element of theater to this.”
The coronavirus pandemic hit downtown’s economy hard. According to a recent report from the BID, the area’s daytime population in July, including local residents and commuters, dropped 90% from levels in February. The same month, the BID estimates, economic activity downtown was 12% of what it was in 2019.
This extended streatery comes three months after the launch of a pilot in Adams Morgan, in which the D.C. Department of Transportation blocked off traffic on a stretch of 18th Street to allow outdoor dining during the region’s ban on indoor dining. The following month, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of Community Affairs told community groups that while restaurants could continue to block off parts of the street, the car-free pedestrian zone would not return. Elsewhere, Montgomery County closed off select Bethesda streets to cars to allow outdoor dining in June. On Sunday night, D.C.’s Office of Nightlife and Culture announced it would distribute $4 million in grants to restaurants to set up for winter outdoor dining.
With the downtown streatery, which has picked up sponsorships from Bacardi and PepsiCo, Gutin hopes to bring more foot traffic to the area, generating revenue for the restaurants and creating jobs. But he warns that the streatery should “not be seen as a festival.”
In accordance with health and safety protocols, social distancing will be enforced and customers must wear masks when not eating or drinking. Tables are also limited to six people or less, along with other measures.
The restaurants will offer table service and require reservations. Customers should make reservations through restaurants directly, either in advance or in person, but will not be allowed to linger outside, in an effort to avoid crowding.
Gutin hopes the streatery proves popular and can continue beyond October, but for the time being, he is focused on getting its initial operation up and running. “We have to start someplace,” he says. “We want to make sure that we are funded properly and that we get people out there.”
8th & I st phase9 by wamu885 on Scribd
