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CureCo. founder Neil Bodenheimer behind the bar at Dauphine's, a New Orleans-inspired restaurant opening in DC. Photography by Jen Chase
Dauphine’s, the New Orleans-inspired restaurant from the team behind Salt Line, opens Friday, May 7 in downtown DC with some big names from the Big Easy at the helm. Executive chef Kristen Essig joins Salt Line talent Kyle Bailey in the kitchen; prior to moving to Washington she spent two the past two decades cooking at spots like Emeril’s and running her own Southern restaurant, Coquette. Behind the bar program is partner and native New Orleanian Neal Bodenheimer, the owner of three award-magnet cocktails bars in his hometown: Cure, Cane & Table, and Vals. The challenge for both: how do you take a food and drink culture as rich, storied, and entrenched in place as the one in New Orleans and translate it to a brand new 145-seat restaurant in downtown DC?