Reverie, tenured chef Johnny Spero’s treasured tasting room hidden in a cobblestone alleyway since 2018, will serve its closing course on Sunday, October 4.
Reverie’s seven-year lifespan might be summed up as nothing wanting resilient. It arrived throughout Georgetown’s sluggish eating period, managed to make it work by the pandemic, and went on to earn a Michelin star — solely to shut because of a hearth, then renovate, reinvent, and reopen (3201 Cherry Hill Lane). Spero’s modernist meals stretching 16-courses lengthy draw culinary influences and boundary-pushing methods from Nordic nations, Japan, and Spero’s native Maryland.
Spero, who simply posted a sentimental tribute on Instagram to announce the closure, solely instructed Eater the information first on Wednesday. “We’re selecting the place the story ends,” says Spero, in a press release. “This was by no means meant to final ceaselessly, nevertheless it was meant to imply one thing, and it did.”
It’s been fairly the journey. Reverie acquired its first Michelin star in spring 2022, solely to shut three months later because of that fireside. Reverie took an 18-month hiatus to utterly rebuild, all whereas sustaining its one-starred standing, and made a triumphant comeback in early 2024.
Reverie 2.0’s revised look took a dramatic flip, swapping slick white-and-blue subway tiles for a totally recalibrated palate filled with pitch-black finishes and a fancier white-tableclothed method, with half as many seats (36).
The closure comes only a yr after Spero’s different D.C. restaurant closed throughout city. Bar Spero – his sprawling tribute to Spain’s Basque nation – lasted simply two years in downtown’s Capitol Crossing advanced. (“It turned actually financially unstable to maintain doorways open,” Spero instructed Eater on the time.) The beautiful, 120-seat house stays empty.
Spero declined to touch upon the reason for Reverie’s final demise. Whereas its Georgetown neighborhood is undoubtedly experiencing a renaissance of types, with well-received arrivals from Osteria Mozza, Yellow, and River Membership, Reverie’s secluded location and expensive, prix fixe-only mannequin seemingly didn’t assist enterprise. In July, Spero pressed pause on its seafood-centric, $255-per-person dinner menu in lieu of a vegetable-heavy tasting format that includes summer time fruits, celeriac, tempura maitake, and a more-affordable price ticket ($190). Reservations for Reverie’s remaining weeks of service go stay on Friday, August 1 at midday.
Reverie’s closure will depart Spero with out a restaurant to name his personal, and it’s unclear what’s subsequent for the well-traveled chef. His prolonged culinary resume contains stints in Copenhagen (Noma), Spain (Mugaritz), and iconic D.C. locations like Komi, Columbia Room, and Minibar by José Andrés, the place Spero led the kitchen a decade in the past. When Reverie was destroyed by flames and went darkish, Andrés welcomed lots of Spero’s workers to return cook dinner at his now-two-Michelin-starred Minibar.
The D.C. space is presently residence to 26 starred eating places, and Reverie is now the second to exit its eating scene this yr. This spring, Adams Morgan’s Tail Up Goat introduced plans to shut in December after a decade.
Like Tail Up Goat, Reverie desires its remaining months to be a celebratory affair; Spero plans to deliver again longtime hits (hopefully his famed smash burger) and has different surprises in retailer. A drawn-out closure date additionally provides staff time to search out new work and take a closing season of service throughout the end line.
Spero is presently working with the owner to assist discover a future restaurant tenant. “I hope the subsequent one who walks down this alley brings their very own imaginative and prescient to life, simply as we did,” he says.
