New Kedai Makan Open on Capitol Hill
• Kedai Makan, the popular walk-up restaurant serving Malaysian street food, has moved into its new home on Capitol Hill (conveniently located just around the corner from its original space). Along with seating, Kedai Makan now has an expanded menu including wok-fried, house-made noodles and variations of nasi goreng (fried rice). There’s also a full bar pouring beer, wine, and cocktails such as a bitter melon martini, as well as shots of liquor infused in-house with Chinese medicinal herbs.
As for Kedai Makan’s old space, that will soon be home to Monica Dimas’s Tortas Condesa, the menu of which will focus on hearty, (over)stuffed sandwiches filled with meats like lamb and pork belly, all likely drenched in flavorful sauces. Currently, Dimas, who already serves her excellent Mexican street fare at Neon Taco, located inside of Broadway bar Nacho Borracho, says that Tortas Condesa should be open on October 1.
Beer Is Flowing at Queen Anne Beerhall
• If the two dozen taps pouring light, easy-drinking lagers and other beers from the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, and Slovakia don’t make the motive of Queen Anne Beerhall clear, the large wooden sign above the bar declaring pivo tece proudem—Czech for “beer is flowing in streams”—should do it. The massive, 7,000 square-foot beer hall is a tribute to Slovakian owners Lubo and Jana Katrusin’s homeland, but that inspiration also extends to the menu of grilled sausages like kielbasa, bratwurst, and weisswurst, and entrées like wiener schnitzel.
Ernest Loves Agnes Is Open Today
• Ernest Loves Agnes is a neighborhood Italian “kitchen, bar, and pizzeria,” from Dave Meinert, Jason Lajeunesse, and Joey Burgess, the partners behind Capitol Hill’s Big Mario’s, Comet Tavern, Grim’s Provisions & Spirits, and Lost Lake Cafe. The menu here is more chef-driven (with the requisite seasonal and locally sourced ingredients), and includes handmade pizzas (available whole or by the slice) such as a kale pie with Mama Lil’s peppers and maitake mushrooms and pastas such as tagliatelle with roasted-lamb-shoulder-and-prosciutto ragu. The bar will pour an extensive list of Italian wines, imported beers, and cocktails. There’s also weekend brunch.
Zach Chambers Named Executive Chef at Chop Shop
• Just over two months after opening Chop Shop Cafe and Bar on Capitol Hill, owner Ericka Burke (Volunteer Park Cafe) has named a new executive chef: Zach Chambers. Chambers, who was previously the chef at Anchovies & Olives, more recently established Atta Boy, a sandwich shop operating out of nearby Bar Sue. For now, Chambers will continue to run Atta Boy and divide his time between both places. According to a press release, he’ll be a regular presence in the restaurant’s open kitchen sometime “later this fall.”
