Hot on the heels of winning the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef, Michael Rafidi isn’t slowing down at all.
The man behind Michelin-starred Albi and and the more casual Yellow debuted on Thursday his latest project—La’ Shukran (a phrase with many meanings, including “No, thank you” and “You’re welcome”). In the Union Market neighborhood of Washington, D.C., the new spot is serving up late-night bites, arak cocktails, natural wine, and what the restaurant is calling “Levantine funk.”
Smoky escargot with arak butter
Hawkeye Johnson
La’Shukran is “a celebration of both the harmonies and the tensions found within heritage and cuisine, but also a loud, fun place to have a good time without being too serious,” Rafidi told Eater D.C. earlier this week.
For the food, Rafidi has crafted a menu that includes his takes on Levantine classics. You’ll find his version of a seafood platter featuring the flavors of that region: oysters and pomegranate, prawn and harissa Louie, and yellowfin tuna with calamansi. Lamb tartare with red shatta comes hidden under seeded lavash, and a signature small plate is smoky escargot with arak butter. Larger dishes encompass grilled head-on prawns with black harissa tzatziki and kebab steak au poivre (an aged New York strip grilled over coals with sumac onions and an herb salad).
While it may be difficult to outshine Rafidi’s cooking, the drinks program takes center stage here. Radovan Jankovic is in charge of the cocktails, while William Simmons has been handed the reins to the wine list. There’s an impressive selection of arak, a traditional Levantine spirit with flavors of anise and licorice. Along with neat pours, you can enjoy the quaff in cocktails like the Summaq (with mezcal, orange amaro, sumac, and pomegranate molasses) or the Zanjabeel (with blended Scotch, ginger, vanilla, pineapple, and za’atar). The wines lean natural, as mentioned, but range from pet-nats to indigenous Lebanese labels, Eater noted.
The dining room
Hawkeye Johnson
The funky vibe that Rafidi is aiming for is helped along by the design of the space. The 53-seat dining room (plus 13 chairs at the bar) features fringed lamps hanging from the ceiling and a hot-pink Moroccan rug on the floor. DJs will curate the playlist at night, but otherwise expect a mix of tunes from Egypt, Sudan, and Lebanon, Eater wrote.
The La’ Shukran party is just getting started.
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