In years past, the Line DC hotel in Adams Morgan was home to marquee restaurants from top chefs such as Woodberry Kitchen’s Spike Gjerde and Maketto’s Erik Bruner-Yang. But following a rough stretch that culminated in a foreclosure sale last year, the hotel is hoping to become a dining destination again with a new food & beverage partner. DC chefs Danny Lee and Scott Drewno of Fried Rice Collective—the restaurant group behind Anju, Chiko, and I Egg You—will oversee the hotel’s culinary operations and eventually open a new ground-floor restaurant.
The Line hotel opened nearly a decade ago as a major dining hotspot. Barack and Michelle Obama were among the earliest diners at Gjerde’s hyper-local restaurant A Rake’s Progress in 2018. Then came Bruner-Yang’s East-meets-West dining room Brothers and Sisters and standing-only Spoken English, which eventually morphed into all-day, Japanese-inspired comfort food spot Cafe Spoken. But all of those dining venues closed shortly following the pandemic. The hotel’s current dining venue, No Goodbyes, is mostly notable for its cocktail program overseen by bar talent Lukas Smith.
In January 2025, it was rumored that Elon Musk wanted to buy the hotel. But the only bid in a foreclosure auction was from the hotel’s own lender, Acore Capital. The hotel is still managed by Soho House & Co.
As of now, details are scarce about the new restaurant from Fried Rice Collective, or when it might open. In the meantime, the focus is on “operational leadership and collaboration with the existing team,” according to a press release. Stay tuned for more.
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.
