A new communal cocktail bar opens inside the Union Market district’s Latin market La Cosecha on Sunday, February 8, with backing from a big Hollywood name. Elegancia is co-founded by actor, activist, and entrepreneur Wilmer Valderrama – best known for his role as Fez on hit TV sitcom That ’70s Show – and Daniella Senior, the female force behind decade-old Cuban cafe Colada Shop that has six locations across D.C. and Virginia. Elegancia, sliding into the food hall’s central setup that formerly housed holiday pop-up Coquito Bar (1280 4th Street NE), teases “expressive cocktails bold bites,” with a logo that spotlights native South American animals like iguanas and hummingbirds.
“Elegancia is everything I love about our culture,” says the NCIS star, whose father is Venezuelan and mother is Colombian. “[I’m] excited to return to another one of my passions: hosting a unique experience.” Valderrama, whose first-ever job was a bus boy, has a West Coast hospitality resume that includes ties to Geisha House, Dolce, the Lodge, sports bar chain Big Wangs, and high-end bowling bar Ten Pin Alley.
Cheffed-up burgers for Anacostia
Elias Tadesse, the award-winning Ethiopian chef behind Shaw’s Mélange and Doro Soul Food, just debuted DaBo Burger inside Southeast D.C.’s new Atlas Bridge District Brewery & Tap Room flagship locale. Named for the Amharic word for “bread,” DaBo draws from his fine dining background with house-made milk buns finished with pearl sugar. The four opening burgers take tips from a pain au lait, Tadesse’s favorite snack from his culinary school cafe, and there’s milkshakes in the mix, too. The first 25 guests in line on Thursday, January 15, get free hand-cut beef tallow fries with purchase of a burger (600 Howard Road SE).
DMV-wide beauty shop Nailsaloon teamed up with Just Ice Tea, the canned company from Top Chef alum and Plnt Burger founder Spike Mendelsohn, to give back to the East African area its organic ingredients are farmed from. Now through the end of January, all five area salons (Logan Circle, Walter Reed, Capitol Hill, Chevy Chase, and National Landing) offer customers a free Just Ice Tea and will match their optional donations at checkout to help to build a much-needed Mozambique health clinic.
Dupont’s ‘five-star dive’ is coming to Old Town
Commodore, D.C.’s treasured destination for Southern comfort foods and trivia since 2016, expands across state lines for the first time in March. The incoming Virginia outpost in Old Town, Alexandria slides into the space that formerly housed Myron Mixon’s Pitmaster Barbecue (220 N. Lee Street). The Commodore moved from its original Logan Circle digs to Dupont Circle in 2021, and Rob Van de Graaff teamed up with industry vet Steve Kim to retool the venture in 2024.
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