Sipping tempranillo and snacking on Pt. Reyes Blue cheese wedges with blackberries at a pre-opening party for Cork, a new wine bar opening in the apex of the growing retail and commercial mecca between U Street and Logan Circle, I thought, I could see myself here a lot.
Cork, which opens to the public January 29, is the kind of comfortable yet sophisticated neighborhood bar you wish was in your neighborhood. It purports itself to be a low-key place to try new wines and share good food with friends -- kind of like the dinner party you definitely want to attend.
You could tell that the fantastic old building at 1720 14th Street NW had good bones, even when it was grunged out as its last incarnation as Sparky’s Cafe, but it took the vision and elbow grease of Logan Circle residents Diane Gross and Khalid Pitts to bring out its best. The pair have been working on every detail of their winebar concept over the last three years (I’ve followed their progress for the last two), and it shows.
Now the space sports high white high tin ceilings, freshly painted mocha walls, a warm wood bar, and newly-shellacked brick walls running the length of one side. Retro industrial-looking lights hang strategically from the ceiling, warming the space with a soft evening glow, reflecting off the neatly stacked glasses ranging in size from grappa to gigantic red wine balloons in the gunmetal gray shelves behind the bar.
The below-grade level hosts the wine cellar, spare and modern, and the back features a few tables and a window into the kitchen where we watched Ron Tanaka, former sous chef of CityZen, turn out some pretty terrific duck confit served on teeny polenta rounds and some kind of crazy grilled ham and cheese bites we couldn’t stop eating.
Dessert will stand-out too, if the tidbits of grapefruit cakes and cheesecake balls supplied by Paisley Fig, a team of two homegrown baking gals, are any indication.
We’re looking forward to trying the 100 bottles of wine they will be stocking, and more of Tanaka’s treats. We’ve tasted his potato gratin, and we want MORE.
Photo by Dan Katz
