This spring, Dupont Circle will become home to the third outpost of a luxe hotel chain with locaitons in New York City and Beverly Hills— and two new restaurants that come with it.
SIXTY Hotels is set to open its new 80-room Dupont Circle location in mid-April of this year. Hotelier and SIXTY founder Jason Pomeranc has joined forces with Scale Hospitality, which runs more than 10 eateries in Toronto, to establish two concepts in the new space: Mediterranean restaurant Casamara and cocktail bar Reynold’s.
Inspired by coastal Europe, Casamara will feature 2,000-square-feet worth of indoor seating, as well as an even larger rooftop dining room. Notable dishes will include sardine toast with avocado aioli, maple-brined Iberico pork chops, and octopus casarecce accented with nduja.
“It’s, to a certain extent, escapist food, food that you may eat on vacation when you’re traveling the Mediterranean,” says Pomeranc about Casamara’s menu. “But, we bring it back around home, and we add local ingredients and twists to it.”
With its own separate entrance on 18th Street, Reynold’s will be a more playful, dressed-down gastropub, offering an entire section of “mini” bites like lobster rolls and grilled cheese sandwiches, as well as experimental sips like a bubblegum martini with pineapple vodka, banana liqueur and crème de menthe.
“We’re really focusing in on thoughtful interpretations of classic American dishes,” says Scale CEO Hanif Harji about Reynold’s. “We’re making it bite-sized and manageable. You can create a meal for yourself or even a snack while you’re drinking.”
According to Harji, ambiance will be as critical to the Sixty DC restaurants as culinary offerings. He considers “design, sound, and music” to be integral to a successful DC restaurant. Harji says that learning this market is one of the aspects of opening that he’s most eagerly anticipating.
“We’re looking forward to being able to personally introduce the space, host a bunch of the locals, and just get to know the community,” he says.
SIXTY DC. 1337 Connecticut Ave., NW.
