Dreaming of a white Christmas? Or maybe just a normal one? Some local bars and restaurants (and even a farmers market) are making the most of this strange holiday season with festive new concepts, as chefs and restaurateurs continue to lookfor waysto keep business going. Here are five pop ups that would probably make the cut for Santa’s nice list.
Keep in mind: D.C. has new regulations going into effect Dec. 14 that affect restaurant hours in the wake of rising COVID-19 case numbers.
It all started last year, according to Death Punch owner Darren Norris. “There was an Elf on the Shelf in my house, and I kept praying to the Elf that we would get Miracle, and it just happened,” Norris says. He’s kidding, of course. Death Punch, the top floor of Norris’ three-story multi-restaurant complex in Adams Morgan, opened this summer. He and his wife, Candice Wise-Norris, found themselves in conversations with the folks behind the nationwide Christmas cocktail bar pop up shortly thereafter. (The pandemic severely limited the options for host bars for Miracle.) “It just, no pun intended, snowballed from there,” he says.
Much like the version of Miracle that ran for five years on Seventh Street NW, Death Punch’s version is a festive overhaul of the Japanese biker-themed bar, with an array of kitsch and classic Christmas decor. “Every night, I would go home from work and start buying stuff on Amazon,” says Wise-Norris, who stock up on tinsel, lights, trees, candy canes, nutcrackers, and more. Norris built an art installation that hangs from the 20-foot ceiling. And it might be a bar, but the pair say families are welcome to make reservations earlier in the day.
The drinks list, 13 drinks and three shots, is standardized among Miracle pop ups, and Norris says they’ve got a hefty list of ingredients. Many of the drinks use infusions and simple syrups with 20 ingredients or more, he says. Festive drinkware—like a mug shaped like Santa’s pants—will be available for purchase, and five cocktails will be pouched and available for take out and delivery. On the food side, the full menu from Death Punch’s downstairs neighbor, Shibuya Eatery, will be available, Norris says. “I’ve got kids, and I’ve always loved that moment when they wake up and come down and see the tree and all the presents,” Norris says. “And I’m kinda excited to see people come up the stairs and see what’s happening up here.”
Where: 2321 18th St. NW
When: noon-10 p.m., Tuesday-Sunday
The North Pole meets the South Pacific for a third year in a row at U Street tiki bar Archipelago, though it’s obviously looking a little different this year. “I’ve got like 5,000 square feet of decorations, but no one can come inside,” says Owen Thomson, the tiki bar’s owner.
Only patio seating is available this year, so he’s decked out the 600-square-foot patio instead. They can seat about 30 people on the patio at a time. Still, how many will turn out is anyone’s guess, he says. “I’m not sure that people in D.C.—I’m saying this having grown up in D.C.—are going to sit outside when it’s 35 degrees,” Thomson says. “When it’s 58 degrees out, and I’m in a sweatshirt thinking it’s pretty nice out, they’re like, ‘Can you turn the heaters on?’”
For those unwilling to brave the temps, Archipelago is planning to offer three different to-go boxes of premixed cocktails, Thomson says. “We knew everyone was going to be stuck in their houses, and we wanted to make sure that everyone could do it at home, from their couches,” he says. Drink options for the boxes ($60, $110, and $500) deliver plenty of rum-based concoctions. Festive drinkware will also be available for purchase (think Santas on surfboards and in hot tubs). “We’re just trying to keep the good vibes flowing however we can,” Thomson says.
Where: 1201 U St. NW
When: 4 p.m.-10 p.m., Tuesday-Sunday
The land of polenta, gianduja, and nebbiolo grapes beckoned to executive chef Mike Friedman, whose latest pop-up dinner menu at Red Hen takes diners into northern Italy’s Piedmont region. “It’s really born out of the idea that there are so many ski lodges there, and what does one want to do after a long day of skiing?” Friedman says. “Eat and drink.”
He drew inspiration from a trip he’d taken to the area. “On the other side of the mountains, you have Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and France,” Friedman says. “It was almost like a collision of culture.” But, since Red Hen hasn’t reopened for indoor dining yet, he had to develop a menu designed for delivery. “We had to take flavor profiles of Piedmont and translate them to something that would travel well,” he says. He points to the grilled pork sausage with fried fingerling potatoes and mustard crema ($14) as an example. “That screams Swiss and screams Austria to me,” he says, whereas ravioli and tortellini won’t travel well. Cavatelli with roasted butternut squash ($20), though, is a pasta that made the menu.
The pop up also features regional wines. “It’s been really fun, not only from the food perspective, but the wine perspective, too,” Friedman says. Red Hen has been selling lots of “really fun, delicious wines from the region,” like barbarescos and barolos, he says. He’s planning to keep the pop up menu until January, when he’ll launch a new adventure into a different Italian region.
Where: 1822 First St. NW
When: 5 p.m.-8 p.m., Sunday-Thursday; 5 p.m.-9p.m., Friday-Saturday
Sababa is rolling out its Middle Eastern-influenced Chinese menu for a Christmas pop up for the second year in a row. “It was so much fun. The place was packed,” says chef Ryan Miller of last year’s pop up. “I wanted to bring it back.” (It’s not going to be exactly packed this year, so it helps that Chinese food travels well, he says.) This year, they’re hosting the pop up at Sababa on Dec. 25—according to the chef, it’s the first time in decades that restaurateur Ashok Bajaj is opening one of his restaurants on Christmas Day.
The lineup includes riffs on classic Americanized Chinese food, including beef and broccoli that’s grilled on Sababa’s wood fired grill ($22) and duck confit-stuffed dumplings with pomegranate soy sauce ($14). “I love the dumplings,” Miller says. “Who doesn’t order dumplings when they order Chinese food?” He’s still working on the menu, refining a numbing chili oil and playing with such possibilities as miso matzoh ball soup.
The pop up is available for dining in—Miller says the trifold menu “looks like a cheesy takeout menu that you would have on your door handle when you get home or in your mailbox”—as well as takeout. “I’m expecting most of this to be put into cute boxes,” Miller admits.
Where: 3311 Connecticut Ave. NW
When: 5 p.m.-9 p.m., Dec. 25
The Park View farmers market, which launched at the beginning of 2020 at Hook Hall, had been on hold since mid-March, choosing to wait it out and allowing time to determine how they could operate safely, says market manager Rebecca Bailey. “We thought a holiday market would be a perfect way to re-engage with people in the community,” Bailey says. “People have really been feeling isolated this year, and they really want that sense of connection with their community—especially around the holidays.”
The Saturday pop up inside Hook Hall will feature 10 to 12 local vendors on each date (some of them rotate). Chinese Street Market will offer frozen dumplings, such as corn, chicken, and shiitake, or pork and pumpkin, and noodle kits, like dandan ($14), and PorkStork will bring fresh locally raised pork. “All of her hogs live in the woods, free range,” Bailey says. There will also be baked goods (like Christmas stollen, studded with brandied fruits and filled with marzipan, from RavenHook Bakehouse), sweets (like the vegan cookies by SweeT’s), pickles and other ferments from No. 1 Sons, and more, as well as artists and makers.
The market is designed to be grab-and-go, but shoppers who want to eat hot food onsite are welcome to use Hook Hall’s outdoor setup, Bailey says. (Hook Hall’s The Galley will also be selling beer and breakfast sandwiches.) The holiday market will be monitoring attendance and will hold to a strict 15 percent capacity limit, or about 100 people total. “We’re really going to make a safe shopping experience,” Bailey says. “[COVID-19] has really hit people hard and we want to be that bright light.”
Where: 3400 Georgia Ave. NW
When: 10 a.m.-2p.m., Dec. 12 & Dec. 19
