When Mika and Ian Carlin joined The University of Virginia Law School’s wine society, it “was a great little diversion” from their studies, says Ian — not something they thought would reshape the direction of their postgraduate lives.

The group met regularly for wine-related activities — sometimes speakers would come to explain the virtues of Virginia’s vines, while other times the club would simply throw a casual happy hour.

“Down in Charlottesville, we have so many great options to explore wines and the community outside of the walls of the law school,” said Ian — though he admits their new venture “just kind of took it to another level.”

Irregardless, a wine bistro along H Street’s dining and drinking strip that opened last week, is the now-married couple’s love letter, of sorts, to Virginian viniculture.

“We love the neighborhood, it’s an incredible, historic neighborhood and I think people are doing really great things with the restaurants here,” said Mika. The couple have lived along the H Street corridor since 2019, the same year that Ian graduated from law school (Mika graduated a year later, splitting her time between D.C. and Charlottesville).

While the Carlins are co-owners and co-sommeliers of the new restaurant, the kitchen will be helmed by executive chef Ben Browning, most recently of Reveler’s Hour, Obelisk, and Mintwood Place. Prior to law school, Ian worked at restaurants in Los Angeles and Portland, Maine. Then, after a few years in corporate law, he worked as a sommelier at Masserias and a server at Oyster Oyster. Mika, meanwhile, briefly worked in the legal field after graduation before working as the beverage director at several local spots, including Fancy Radish.

“None of us have worked together before; I knew of their restaurants, I had been to their restaurants, but we had always been two ships passing in the night,” Browning said. But after an introduction from a mutual friend who knew of the Carlins’ wine bistro plans, “over the course of a few months, I really realized that we were all on the same page,” he added.

For now at least, Irregardless will have two pre-fixe menus, one for vegetarians and another for omnivores (read: equal opportunity flora and fauna eaters). But even carnivores are likely to enjoy the buttery layers of the heirloom tomato galette or the smoky, herbal braised leeks on the vegetarian menu.

Browning’s dishes are complex and flavorful, despite his emphasis on simplicity when it comes to preparation.

“I really think of taking ingredients, not overcomplicating them but consistently executing them… to end up with a product that shines and really exemplifies the ingredients that you’re using, as opposed to adding so much that it kind of gets muddy or you lose your direction with the dish,” Browning said. “I really want to get to the soul of the food, the core of the food and have it speak for itself.”

They’ll likely add nightly specials and a la carte options in a month or two, Browning said. This might include a combination of pulling things off the pre-fixe menu or whipping up completely different dishes, depending on what’s in season at local farms.

“Their offerings are changing as much as I want our menu to be also changing,” said Browning, adding that he wants to develop his specials throughout the year based on what the farmers they’ve partnered with have on offer.

Diners can choose from a rotating bottle and by-the-glass menu, which will also change seasonally. The seasonal pre-fixe menus will be accompanied by two optional wine pairings for $60, designed by the co-sommeliers. One of the pairing menus will include only wines and spirits from Virginia.

While Virginia wines will certainly be the star of the show, the Carlins’ regional enthusiasm won’t mean that bottles from other popular wine regions will be excluded from their shelves. That’s to ensure that Virginia wines are put on an “equal footing” with their counterparts across the globe.

“Virginia wine deserves a place on wine lists across the city, and we’re going to showcase that to everyone,” said Ian. “It’s not because they’re from Virginia that they should be on a wine list; they should be on a wine list because they’re really good wines.”

Irregardless intends to keep prices “on the more affordable side of tasting menus,” Mika said.

“We don’t want people to feel like they’re paying a ton of money, we want people to feel like they’re getting a good value and a good experience for the price,” she said.

Browning added he doesn’t want it to be the kind of restaurant where people have to leave and pick up a pizza on the way home, still hungry.

Irregardless is located at 502 H Street NE. The bistro is open from 5:30 p.m.-10 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. Parties of five guests or more require a $25 deposit per person.