Last September, D.C.’s newest food hall, The Roost, opened its 12,500-square-foot space in the Hill East neighborhood. The sprawling venture from Neighborhood Restaurant Group – the hospitality powerhouse behind Iron Gate, Birch & Barley, Hazel, and other restaurants in the region — slowly rolled out its something-for-everyone roster, including several high-profile side projects from buzzy chefs: Hi/Fi Taco by Red Apron Butcher’s chef-butcher Nate Anda, Slice Joint pizzeria from Rachael Marie, an alum of New York City’s famed Roberta’s, and Leni, a café courtesy of chef Brittany Anderson, who earned a James Beard Award nomination for her Richmond restaurants.
Just before Christmas, Yoko and Kota debuted in the all-star lineup. It’s the latest from award-winning chef-restaurateur Erik Bruner-Yang, who made a name for himself with scene-defining ramen shop Toki Underground before going on to open several restaurants, including Taiwanese-Cambodian café-boutique Maketto on H Street and Navy Yard’s chameleon-esque ABC Pony, which started as an Italian-Asian mash-up and is now a burger pop-up. At Yoko and Kota, the focus is noodles and dumplings.
Part of his vision for the eatery came from the part of his childhood he spent living on the western edge of Tokyo at Yokota Air Base, a joint operation between American and Japanese forces (it also inspired the food stall’s moniker).
“There was this real mix of cultures,” says Bruner-Yang. “It’s the first time in my life that I started getting a sense of what it meant to be Asian-American.”
He also looked at what was missing at the other concepts in The Roost and noticed there weren’t many vegan or gluten-free options. “And I knew we could do those and it would be super fucking delicious,” Bruner-Yang says. With those parameters in mind, he gave the reins to chef Mario Almeida, who helmed Bruner-Yang’s now-shuttered Spoken English at The Line hotel in Adams Morgan.
The opening menu is tight and static, featuring just four types of dumplings, a trio of vegan and gluten-free noodle bowls (diners can add meat), and a single Chinese barbecue dish, though Bruner-Yang plans to start changing up the offerings down the road.
Dumplings are made at Maketto and ferried over to The Roost. Amped up with Chinese five-spice, fluffy Peking duck buns are served with hoisin sauce and cucumber slaw, while pork wontons arrive in a puddle of chili oil and black vinegar, and crystal shrimp dumplings come complemented by Vietnamese nuoc cham sauce. Mushroom curry buns play on Singapore rice noodles, dressing the fungi inside with a similar dry curry powder.
For noodles, there’s a spice-spiked dandan-ish option packed with the flavors of peanuts, cilantro, and Thai basil. The Chinese-style black bean stir fry is sweetened with coconut milk, creating a comforting gravy. And the tomato and sesame bowl hides pickled Fresno chilies and crispy shallots in the gentle folds of the noodles.
The meatiest option is the lone barbecue dish: smoked red pork served with steamed broccoli tossed in dandan sauce. There’s just one drink: Tuk Tuk rice lager, originally developed as collaboration with DC Brau for Maketto a couple of years ago.
Don’t expect to see Bruner-Yang, or Almeida for that matter, in the kitchen. The chef supplies the recipes, training, and quality control, and the culinary team at the Roost handles the execution (diners can choose to eat at the food hall, get takeout, or opt for delivery). For Bruner-Yang, who splits his time between his restaurants and his Power of 10 Initiative, which raises funding to pay restaurants to keep their staffs employed by making meals for communities in need, the desire to be front and center all the time has receded.
“I’ve worked my ass off for 10 years,” he says. “Now it’s about focusing on the small things in front of me and being happy with it. And I am.”
Yoko & Kota is located in The Roost food hall at 1401 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. Hours are Monday-Thursday 4 p.m.-8 p.m., Friday 4 p.m.-10 p.m., Saturday noon-10 p.m., Sunday noon-8 p.m.
This headline has been updated to reflect The Roost’s location in Hill East.
