Through a beautifully set dining room and around the corner from an expansive bar, you’ll find Michelin-awarded chef Johnny Spero fanning the flames of an open fire grill adorned with lettuces, leeks, Maine lobster tail, and baby squid. It’s the centerpiece of his long-awaited Basque-style restaurant, Bar Spero, and the beast that Spero now gets to tame on a regular basis.
“Cooking over an open fire truly takes 100 percent of your attention and intuition to cook something perfectly — whether it’s a delicate piece of fish or an entire massive cut of beef,” the chef says.
Bar Spero opened in September, a little over a month after a fire severely damaged Reverie, the former minibar chef’s first solo venture — and one that garnered him a Michelin star. Spero hopes to completely rebuild the Georgetown space as he continues to build and grow Bar Spero.
During his time as executive chef at José Andrés’ temple to molecular gastronomy, Spero grew his appreciation for different types of Spanish cuisine. He traveled to San Sebastian, Spain, to learn from the team at Mugaritz, widely considered one of the best restaurants in the world. Between the cooking at Mugaritz and the Sunday nights spent eating after 14-hour work days, Spero fell in love with the emotion and flavors of the Basque country.
Bar Spero reimagines those San Sebastian nights in downtown D.C., though the chef is quick to clarify that he’s not trying to replicate those haunts, but rather take them as his inspiration.
“We don’t cook Spanish food, we are inspired by the emotions and feelings of Basque country and how that was seen through my lens,” the chef says.
Located in the Capitol Crossing complex between Union Station and Chinatown, Bar Spero boasts a sleek dining room accented with a variety of blue shades, including a turquoise banquette and a silver and blue metal room divider that serves almost as much as a piece of art. A long blond wood bar covered in variegated hexagonal tile gets further warmth from tan leather bar stools and nearby booths.
Spero’s newest spot seeks to be a destination for lively conversation, thoughtful food, and a drink program to match. Cocktails like the siete seis, with blanco tequila, Basque region rose, and raspberry, and a Calvados sidecar work in harmony with the smoky dishes. There’s an extensive wine list with bottles from all over Spain the world, as well as a large vermouth selection for those who want to drink like the Basque.
On the food menu, fresh raw seafood alongside grilled meat and vegetable dishes dominate, just as they do on the bar menus along the coast of northern Spain. There’s also a daily card of rotating dishes depending on what’s available to Spero that day: this week it included oysters, an uni omelet and a sunchoke dish with Virginia peanut praline and miso.
Spero gives great praise to his purveyors, whom he says he strives to maintain close connections with to ensure that the quality of food coming out of Bar Spero is at its best.
“If they aren’t able to get something because of weather or just no fish biting, we are probably the most flexible. We don’t expect the world to provide everything we need and get it immediately because we sent an email requesting something,” Spero adds.
One notable partner of Bar Spero is Manifest Bread, a local bakery that began in the home of Rick and Tyes Cook and is now expanding to its first brick-and-mortar in Riverdale Park. Their sourdough, known to loyal followers as some of the best in town and usually only available via pre-order, now holds a prominent spot on the Bar Spero menu. You can have it on its own, served with La Tur butter, or as a vehicle for different cured hams and accompaniments.
The grilled section has smaller plates such as scallops with smoked trout roe, potato mousse, and salted lemon; and vegetable-forward options like embered leeks with a mussel cream and lardo. The entrees, in a section titled ¡Let’s Go!, include monkfish, lobster, poussin (a young chicken), ribeye, and turbot, a personal favorite of Spero’s. Grilled over cherry wood, served whole and glazed in cod stock and dashi sauce, he says it’s the closest thing on the menu to a classic Spanish dish Bar Spero will ever serve.
The restaurant is already seeing praise from across the city and country — Esquire just listed it as one of the best new restaurants in America. As Bar Spero continues to evolve, the chef says he hopes that the restaurant helps will offer a new, top tier experience for diners — both locals and visitors alike.
Bar Spero is located at 250 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Open for dinner Tuesday-Saturday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
