Stephen Starr Opens the Ritzy Reimagined Occidental By the White Home

Earlier this week, prolific restaurateur Stephen Starr unveiled his trendy tackle the storied 14,000-square-foot Occidental, a restaurant that initially opened in 1906 and has held quick to its historical past of chic eating for D.C.’s elite in its many iterations over the previous 119 years.

Starr says he wished to recreate the intrigue that swirls across the historic venue two blocks from the White Home, the place “Washington’s cultural worlds may come collectively.” The restaurant famously hosted a Russian official and ABC Information correspondent in 1962 for a lunch that reportedly ended the Cuban Missile Disaster (the occasion is commemorated in its menu merchandise, the Pork Chop That Saved the World). In its earlier renditions, it was embellished with 2,500 pictures of celebrities and statesmen who frequented the hotspot.

The political local weather has shifted because the East Coast magnate began to renovate the Willard Resort restaurant over a 12 months and a half in the past. Along with the altering political local weather within the metropolis as a result of Trump administration’s reign — which has included shedding 1000’s of space federal staff — Starr himself has discovered himself embroiled in a unionization push at Starr Restaurant Group’s French bistro Pastis, St. Anselm in Union Market district, and Le Diplomate on 14th Road, the longest-reigning Starr restaurant within the space.

There have been protests alleging office violations on the eating places making an attempt to unionize and picketers have been even exterior The Occidental opening on Wednesday. Starr maintains in statements that “Unite Right here Native 25 has unlawfully focused” his eating places and has been “harassing our staff and submitting frivolous and unfaithful claims.” St. Anselm voted to unionize by a skinny margin on February 21, whereas a majority of Pastis staff voted towards unionizing on February 28.

Birch Thomas/The Occidental

Birch Thomas/The Occidental

Amongst dishes like grapefruit salad, pigs in a blanket, ham steak topped with seared pineapple ($31), and lamb chops with mint jelly ($56), Occidental’s cooking is self-consciously old fashioned with trendy diversifications. Chilean sea bass ($62) is cooked in a miso marinade and Chinese language hen salad ($20) pairs mango with crispy wontons and peanut dressing. A aspect that could possibly be a whole meal for a household of 4, an enormous hash brown ($18) with creamy cubed potatoes on the underside and grated crispy slices follows a current development of over-the-top consolation meals. There’s additionally the apparent opulence throughout the menu, with loads of dishes that incorporate caviar, in depth cuts of steak, and even a pheasant dish topped off with seared foie gras ($68) impressed by New Orleans’ Antoine’s Restaurant.

Birch Thomas/The Occidental

The cocktail menu ($21 to $25) showcases six iterations of the straightforward martini that has had a resurgence previously few years (even showing in edible type). There’s an in-vogue soiled vodka martini with manzanilla brine named after The Occidental; a gin and Chartreuse blended with the citrus bitters present in traditional martinis; and even a coconut and cardamom iteration to evoke a tropical drink. Martinis are poured in icy glasses desk aspect with a mini shaker. A Manhattan, Pimm’s Cup, and gin Rickey (a nod to D.C. bar historical past) choices spherical out the normal drinks on the menu, with loads of extra adventurous blended drinks (kumquat with a mixture of tequilas and a lemon, sage, and blackberry-infused vodka creation) and an intensive wine menu that pulls from the West Coast, Europe, Lebanon, and even Armenia.

Utterly up to date from the photo-covered partitions of the previous model of The Occidental, the interiors up to date by Virginia-native Ken Fulk (identified for New York’s Noda and Carbone Miami) additionally mix nostalgic and trendy parts. Massive brass doorways lead right into a first-floor eating room lined in darkish green-toned velvet, with oil-painted portraits of previous U.S. presidents peering down into the darkish cubicles . The upstairs eating room options Tiffany-blue cubicles and purple velvet chairs unfold throughout an open room that enables diners unobstructed views of awestruck vacationers, politicos, and nationwide TV anchors. A blinding mural with bare musicians and partygoers donning wigs and blindfolds reinforces the opulence of the area. An artwork deco-style downstairs bar is roofed in glass and marble, whereas the secluded cocktail bar upstairs permits diners to linger in a darkish nook after an opulent dinner.

Whether or not a Starr-backed nostalgic tackle energy eating will survive in right now’s model of D.C. stays to be seen. Starr is banking on it — and is already contemplating bringing the Washington unique to New York Metropolis sooner or later.

Birch Thomas/The Occidental