The inside of Kata. {Photograph} by Kate Wichlinski.
Kata. 600 F St., NW.
A brand new clubstaurant has arrived in Penn Quarter: Kata, an Asian-fusion restaurant and cocktail bar that goals to double as a “sensory escape” from Washingtonians’ busy lives.
The vibey spot, which opens Friday, Could 2, is situated on the bottom flooring of HQ Home, a members-only social membership began in Kenya. Whereas the opposite flooring embody a luxe invite-only membership known as the Penthouse and cocktail lounge the Nohmad, Kata serves clever sushi plates and large-format seafood dishes below LED lights, alongside smoky cocktails and DJ units till the early morning.
“As quickly as you enter the door, you’re like, ‘The place did I simply go? Am I in Washington, DC?’ There’s so many alternative folks right here from completely different locations. At Kata, there are components which may make you are feeling such as you’re in Miami, Dubai, or Europe,” says co-founder Mike Burns. He and his brother and enterprise accomplice John Burns personal a collective of hospitality, advertising and marketing, and consulting manufacturers throughout North America and Africa.
The identify Kata is a nod to each HQ Home’s terracotta ceilings and a technical time period in Japanese martial arts. Given Kata’s location on the sting of Chinatown in what was previously often known as the Oriental Constructing Affiliation, John says they wished to nod to the Asian roots of the property and neighborhood.
The meals menu at Kata is spearheaded by Tim Ma, the chef behind Navy Yard cafe Any Day Now and Arlington’s Chinese language-American Fortunate Hazard (quickly to open a full-service location with a mahjong bar close by in Penn Quarter). Choices embody pesto risotto with Thai basil, rosettes of thick-cut salmon sashimi, a “Kata Pearl” roll full of uncooked scallops and topped with gold foil, and sea bass marinated in garlic and miso.
In the principle eating room, you’ll be capable to watch cooks put together these dishes by means of one-way glass. Visitors may also count on shock tableside preparations for choose tapas.
The restaurant’s cocktail menu is equally extravagant, that includes the vodka-and-Champagne based mostly “Kata Royale” with citrus extract, the “Mount Yuzu” margarita with yuzu juice, and chef Ma’s signature “Final Dragon” with clamato juice, soy sauce, wasabi, and a cucumber and shrimp skewer.
DJ units and stay music might be a cornerstone of the venue, however you may additionally catch a fire-breathing act on the bar—plus different surprises.
“There’s so much we’re not sharing,” Mike says. “We wish that ‘wow’ issue, and for folks to be shocked. It actually provides to the expertise.”
