What does the 14th Street revolution need? More places you can casually lounge. Fortunately Birch and Barley with its upstairs bar, Churchkey, moved into the space formerly known as Hamburger Mary’s and Dakota Cowgirl (Fanning). Mary and Dakota were both burger joints where you could order a plethora of fried things and drink cheap. When they left, a vibe left the neighborhood too. At about the same time, the leather bar above them also left.
What replaced both is a combination of neighborhood gems that raised the ante on their predecessors. Upstairs is a bustling bar with so many beer choices they needed a beer director—50 on tap and a truckload of choices in bottles. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a place that required a beer director. The beer menu was intimidating, fortunately a beer connoisseur sitting in front of us helped navigate us to a white German beer of which I never heard the name, but thoroughly enjoyed. It was almost like champagne. I highly recommend a few tastes. Click here to check out their current menu. It is hard to believe this transformed bright and busy space was once a sticky hot mess filled with assless-chapped furry daddies. Ok, so that was a stereotype. I didn’t see any assless-chapped daddies there when I played trivia in Churkey’s former iteration, Titan… but there were plenty of assless-chapped daddies on the sidewalk on this particular occasion, in town for a leather convention and were not informed this upscale straight bar replaced their former watering hole. Only in our nation’s capital… It provided an added level of humor to an already sidesplitting night with my dinner companions: Jen, Monica, Ty, Dre and Mary El.
But we were not there to enjoy the happy hour, only upstairs to wait for our table. When the beeper buzzed, we were directed to the front window of the restaurant, which seemed more like a glass garage door and made a chilly winter night a pseudo sidewalk al fresco dining experience. As I had a view outside, those facing me got to view a killer interior design punctuated by a number of floating lights that could have been inspired by Harry Potter’s great hall. Gorgeous and simple.
Our spunky waitress explained the two dining options. The first, which they were clearly pushing, was their tasting menu with beer pairings. It didn’t get past me that the menus were all placed tasting menu side up with the Restaurant week menu on the back. The only thing that appealed to me on that menu was the Gnocchi al Forno with tomato coriander sauce and house cured pancetta, although the figgy pudding was certainly intriguing, as I’d only ever seen it before in a Christmas carol. Who knew figgy pudding was an actual dish?
Chef Kyle Bailey, though, really put out decent options for the three-course price fixed restaurant week menu. For my first course, I chose the crispy polenta in a mushroom ragu with artichoke hearts and taleggio fonduta. The mushrooms were fantastic and diverse. I also tasted the vialone nano risotto which came out crimson, flavored by beets and sprinkled with goat cheese – a creatively re-thought interpretation of flavors most serve as a salad. The port-glazed fig flatbread was also quite good, but should have been described with onions. I like onions, but Jen doesn’t and had to send it back.
For my main course, I was between the Brat Burger and Braised Pork Cheeks. I would have loved to try a different dish given half the table ordered the pork cheeks, but I couldn’t resist the description with their stone ground white grits, parsnips and pearl onions. The cheeks were by far the tenderest meat I’ve ever eaten and all the flavors were delectable. Certainly a memorable dish for its creativity, but not something I need to rush out and try to recreate at home.
For desert, I chose the Meyer Lemon Cream with meringue, huckleberry sorbet and basil, which was good but totally forgettable, as were the other options the table ordered including the chocolate glazed donut with coffee ice cream. Dre ordered the Tete De Moine Cow’s Milk Cheese with apple butter and walnuts despite the waitress’s warnings it wasn’t the optimum choice. It tasted like eating shaved butter.
Overall, I give Birch and Bailey serious props for their creativity and diversity on their menu. For that, I can forgive the slight failures on the table. The space was gorgeous, albeit small, but inspired lingering. Coupled with their upstairs neighbor and the good service, I was quite happy with my evening.
http://www.birchandbarley.com/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/profile/birch-and-barley-and-churchkey,1159105/critic-review.html
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