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Poca Madre, chef Victor Albisu s modern Mexican restaurant. Photography by Greg Powers, courtesy of Poca Madre.
Restaurants are commercial entities, but they’re also intensely personal. Some, you become so close to that it feels like family. Thus, during this year of so many sad closures, everyone’s list of the places they miss the most will be different. Here’s mine.
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Washingtonian offices were about a ten minute walk to this bakery/sandwich/salad spot, which was founded by Mark Furstenberg in 1997. The bread master sold it long ago, but the blueprint remained and it was always jam-packed. And there was something so uplifting about getting a freshly fried fish sandwich or a prosciutto flatbread for a desk lunch, instead of a boring Cobb. Not surprisingly, as downtown has cleared out, it’s closed for “the foreseeable future.”
Chef Kevin Tien at the Wharf. Photograph courtesy of Moon Rabbit
Just shy of two months after opening, Moon Rabbit from chef Kevin Tien is going into hibernation. The modern French-Vietnamese restaurant at the Wharf’s Intercontinental Hotel is joining a growing number of businesses that are temporarily closing as temperatures drop, Covid numbers rise, and DC shuts down indoor dining until at least January 15.
“It was a tough decision. I don’t think anyone expected to open a restaurant for 45 days and then close down,” says Tien, who hopes to reopen the dining room on January 15, or whenever Mayor Muriel Bowser permits. “You feel like you’re getting into a rhythm and groove, and then out of your control, a brick wall comes up. Every business is hitting a brick wall right now.”