About DC Restaurant Openings
A guide to the newest places to eat and drink.
Ox & Olive. 3201 Cherry Hill Lane, NW.
It’s a big year for steakhouses in DC. José Andrés turned his Waldorf Astoria restaurant into Bazaar Meat, and swanky debuts are on their way from out-of-towners such as the Ruxton, RPM Steak, and American Cut. But perhaps one of the cheffiest of these meat destinations is Ox & Olive from Jônt and Bresca chef Ryan Ratino, set to open in Georgetown on May 7.
Ratino is known for fine-dining at his Michelin-starred establishments on 14th Street (Jônt is ranked No. 2 on Washingtonian‘s 100 Very Best Restaurants list). And while he will add some playful twists on the classics that appeal to the foodie set, Ratino is not looking to create a steakhouse menu full of unrecognizable tweezer food.
“Our fine dining ethos will come into play when it comes to the sourcing and the details, but we’re going to keep it very straightforward,” says Ratino, who was raised on meat and potatoes in the Midwest. “We’re going to make sure that it looks and feels like a steakhouse.”
Ratino says the restaurant will source beef from 12 to 14 different farms across Australia and America—including his hometown in Ohio—and will showcase different breeds and cross-breeds every night. Staple steaks like strip loins, tenderloins, and short ribs will all hover around $50. But servers will also present silver trays with pedigreed, large-format cuts that change on a nightly basis. Ratino explains that they may only able to source four loins of beef a week from some farms. “Those cuts will come bone on and be really precisely aged based on the fat content and the breed of the cow. We’ll age the steer anywhere from 28 to 45 days,” Ratino says.
Diners can pair their steaks with Ox & Olive’s version of A1 Sauce—O1—made with prunes, dates, black garlic, and caramelized onion. On the side: potato-crusted onion rings with sour cream ranch, whipped potatoes with cultured butter (or loaded with beef jam and comte cheese), and caramelized maitake mushrooms with peppercorn Madeira sauce.
Starters range from steak tartare “eclairs” with a beef fat-and-mustard emulsion to foie gras terrine served with lightly macerated strawberries and a light-and-crispy yeasted waffle. There are also classics like a shrimp cocktail, but in this case, the Carolina white shrimp will be individually garnished with cocktail sauce, grated horseradish, lemon zest, and dill. A smash burger on a milk bread roll is only available at the bar.
For dessert, Ox & Olive nods to Wendy’s frosty and fries with its milk chocolate soft-serve and shoestring fries. Meanwhile, a molded carrot cake with cream cheese mousse looks like something clipped from a Bugs Bunny cartoon.
A $95 set menu will be available at a chef’s table right in front of the kitchen for groups of four to eight. The meal includes a barrage of starters and sides, and diners choose their own steak or seafood dishes, individually or for the table.
Instead of wine pairings by the glass, the restaurant will offer bottle pairings of different tiers for groups at the chef’s table. In general, the wine list will focus on crowd-pleasing “recognizable labels,” says Bar Director Will Patton. “We’re not writing a list that’s trying to flex about all this esoteric stuff.”
Patton, also a partner in Press Club cocktail bar, will oversee the martini-centric cocktail menu too. Five are what Patton calls “expressions of the evolution of a traditional martini”—from a martinez to a martini to a Manhattan (its “spiritual ancestor”). The house Ox & Olive martini is made from gin fat-washed in thyme-infused olive oil, dry vermouth, and lemon bitters. A dirty vodka martini incorporates a housemade olive brine made with sherry, rice vinegar, castelvetrano olives, and thyme. Twists include a chocolate martini, appletini, and porn star martini.
The alley space, previously home to Reverie, has been completely reconfigured with a 16-seat bar and cocktail lounge in the front. The dark-and-moody dining room has a gothic-chic design full of pewter and silver accents, candelabras, and fur throws. There’s also a small private dining room and a year-round patio for after-dinner drinks and cigars.
Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind DC’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.
