Chinatown’s Fusiony New Supper Membership Hits All of the Senses

A historic Chinatown landmark will get a futuristic new life as Kata this month (600 F Avenue NW). The shock addition to D.C.’s eating scene, opening Friday, March 14, is a partnership between hospitality powerhouses Mike and John Burns (Burns Brothers), vet restaurateur Tim Ma (Fortunate Hazard, Any Day Now), and industrial actual property dealer LaMean Koroma. The longtime locals say they sought to fill a void with the creation of Kata.

The nook construction was in-built 1906 for the Oriental Constructing Affiliation, an Asian neighborhood middle that’s nonetheless marketed on its limestone facade. Behind the doorways is a prolonged portal to one thing completely surprising and new.

“There are such a lot of Michelin-starred locations right here, however what’s lacking from a nightlife standpoint? The necessity for extra of a dinner-party vibe,” says John Burns, who co-runs personal membership membership HQ Home within the steadiness of the multi-story constructing.

Step inside Kata to come across a reinvented floor flooring filled with shiny, LED-lit traces capturing up and across the ceiling, mesmerizing mirrored accents, textured partitions, rows of crimson-colored cubicles laid out like a catwalk, and blacked-out velvet curtains that appear to blur the idea of area and time.

Kate Wichlinski/Kata

Tim Kubasik/Kata

“Regardless of the place you’re sitting, you’re gonna get a one-of-a-kind expertise. Every part will hit on all of the feelings, from odor to the touch,” says Burns. See: lavender water poured over your arms earlier than eating. Reserve a seat right here.

Capital One Enviornment is instantly throughout the road, the place a large modernization mission to the tune of $800 million is underneath approach.

From a glass-enclosed exhibition kitchen within the again, Kata’s chef Brian Dunbar executes a dinner menu filled with artistically plated tapas for 2, sushi and sashimi, ramen, dumplings, soups, and salads.

“I like to include plenty of totally different backgrounds into my meals,” says Dunbar, whose resume consists of Ram’s Head Tavern in Savage, Maryland. “That is positively our particular tackle Asian fusion.” As an illustration, Italy and Asia be part of forces in a single creamy risotto dish infused with Thai basil pesto and topped with grilled prawns and bathe of toasted sesame seeds.

Tim Kubasik/Kata

The trippy new venue is unrecognizable from its former life as Gasoline Pizza, the fast-casual chain that pulled out of the D.C. market a number of years again. Jimmie Drummond, the person behind the slim area’s luxe overhaul, is a rising power within the D.C. restaurant world. The high-end residential inside designer by commerce can also be behind the striking-blue look of Elmina, movie star chef Eric Adjepong’s sizzling new West African restaurant on 14th Avenue NW.

Kata, which plans to host home DJs till 2 a.m. on weekends, spared no expense on high-end Yamaha, JBL, and Rockville audio system to offer highly effective, crystal-clear audio. Leisure additionally comes within the type of hearth dancers acting on any given evening atop the bar. Flames are a theatrical theme all through: There’s flambeed filet, showy sushi torched tableside off rolling carts, and a smoky Outdated Normal starring Suntory Japanese whisky.

Opening cocktails additionally embody a well timed “Cherry Blossom” made with ruby-red Empress Rose Elderflower Gin, cherry puree, and rosé Champagne, whereas a savory “Final Dragon” showcases a shrimp skewer swimming in Belvedere vodka.

Tim Kubasik/Kata

Kate Wichlinski/Kata

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Kate Wichlinski/Kata

The title “Kata” — which nods to the construction’s authentic terracotta environment — additionally interprets to a particular type of motion in martial arts. It’s additionally one of many few phrases that shares the identical that means in Chinese language and Japanese, notes accomplice Mike Burns.

“We needed to remain true to the genesis of what this constructing actually represents, of bringing individuals collectively,” he says. Quick ahead to 2025, the nation’s capital might use extra of that mantra proper about now.

“In making an attempt occasions like these, particularly with what’s occurring within the authorities, individuals must have an escape from their every day actuality,” says John Burns. “What are the good unifiers? Music and meals.”

Kata plans to implement a gown code described as “elevated informal” — which suggests this isn’t the form of spot for jersey-wearing sports activities followers flooding out and in of the 20,000-seat enviornment. For VIP varieties, Kata normal a non-public again entrance alongside Sixth Avenue NW.

As a result of the lobby is small, Kata debuts with an upstairs lounge space to attend. Saunter as much as the second flooring to come across “Nomad at Sundown”— a “wanderlust, nomadic expertise” full of greenery and its personal bar manned by employees in flight attendant-themed outfits. By day, “Nomad at Dawn” will serve espresso and teas from world wide on roving carts.

Hold going as much as discover a flashy penthouse degree solely open on Saturday nights, the place waiters will sport tuxedos and white gloves to pour completely top-shelf spirits.

“For a very long time, Chinatown was really a enjoyable place to return,” says John Burns. “It’s coming again, and we needed to double down and be on the forefront of that.”

Kate Wichlinski/Kata

Kata’s upper-level extensions share area with Burns Brothers’ 2-year-old membership membership HQ Home, which occurs to be opening a second location throughout the globe in Tatu Metropolis — an modern metropolis within the coronary heart of Kenya. Mike Burns is there to get it off the bottom. “We didn’t know we’d be doing two building tasks on two continents on the identical time,” he informed Eater from Kata by way of Zoom final week.