About Restaurant Openings Around DC
A guide to the newest places to eat and drink.
Arrels at the Arlo Hotel. 333 G St., NW.
At Cranes in Penn Quarter, chef Pepe Moncayo fuses Spanish and Japanese cuisines on his tapas and omakase menus. But at his new restaurant, the Barcelona native is focusing in on his Spanish roots. Arrels—meaning “roots” in Catalan—opened this week with modern interpretations of classic dishes at the new Arlo hotel near Judiciary Square.
“What I want to do is to visit those early days of my career,” says Moncayo, who worked in Michelin-starred restaurants in Spain before opening restaurants in Singapore and then DC. “I’m a modern chef, and it’s not my intention to do very rustic, old-school menus, rather something modern but backing from tradition.”
The menu opens with classic tapas, including patatas bravas, garlicky shrimp, and jamon Iberico croquetas. A tuna salad is reinterpreted with lightly grilled tuna belly, or other seasonal fish, with a green olive sauce and croutons.
Moncayo also wants to introduce some lesser-seen Catalan specialties, such as beef meatballs with cuttlefish. He puts his cheffy touch on the dish by lightly grilling Japanese cuttlefish, rather than stewing it, so “it’s still raw and super crunchy and beautiful.” It’s served with squid ink tapioca chips.
Much of Moncayo’s cooking at Arrels revolves around a charcoal grill and oven, whether it’s grilled fish, steaks, or rice and paella dishes. Moncayo adds some finesse to his mom’s artichoke-and-rabbit paella by cooking the rabbit sous-vide then finishes it on the grill for some smokiness. You’ll also find fideau de setas—short noodle paella with seasonal mushrooms—as well as a arroz caldoso, a porridge-like rice dish served with crab and chickpeas.
For dessert: churros, of course—served with espelette pepper and chocolate sauce plus a sherry-vanilla chantilly. You’ll also find tocino de cielo, a dairy-free Spanish egg custard served with compressed apples and a cinnamon-apple sorbet.
Given its hotel location, Arrels will be open for breakfast with dishes like sourdough toast with grated garlic and tomato, topped with a Spanish omelet and jamón ibérico. “That to me is the breakfast,” Moncayo says.
The 120-seat dining room is styled like a modern Spanish farmhouse with a courtyard. Moncayo drew inspiration from his mentor, the late Spanish chef Santi Santamaria, whose three-Michelin-star restaurant El Racó de Can Fabes was built on farmland his family had lived on for more than 200 years. “That’s the whole design of the restaurant: the connection of tradition and modernity, but without being pretentious,” Moncayo says. The hotel is built atop a historical apartment building whose arched brick ceilings have been replicated in the dining room.
Moncayo is also Culinary Director for the entire Arlo hotel and also created a healthy grab-and-go bodega with coffee, pastries, and Spanish-style sandwiches (think jamon and cheese or tuna with piquillo peppers and olives). A large rooftop bar called Art will open in December with a Japanese menu from Moncayo, including hand rolls and yakitori.
This story has been updated from a pervious version published in June.
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene. Before joining Washingtonian in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.
