A James Beard Award-Winning Indian Spot Is the Latest Score for the Union Market District

Asheville, N.C.’s Chai Pani will bring its thali platters to D.C. next year.

Over the past year, the industrial-styled Union Market district has welcomed the likes of two Stephen Starr spots (El Presidente, Pastis), a Tulum-styled rooftop lounge (Treehouse), and a global plates place covered in art (Palette 22). In the last month alone, arrivals include legendary NYC piano bar (Sid Gold’s Request Room), bouncy ramen and boozy boba hangout (Mecha Noodle House), and salad stall (Kenny’s Kale). And fast-growing chains like Boston-based Greco Truly Greek and Jinya Ramen are en route to the same 4th Street block this summer. The consumer market appears to be there: some 3.5 million people visit the Northeast neighborhood each year, according to its developer Edens, and about 70 residents move in per month.

Here’s a look inside 8 anticipated attractions.

Chai Pani

What: Edens exclusively tells Eater that chef-restaurateur Meherwan Irani’s super-popular Indian standby in Asheville, N.C., named Outstanding Restaurant at the 2022 James Beard Awards, is coming to the foot of the new Gables Union Market apartment complex next year. Chai Pani, which literally means “tea and water,” consistently draws huge lines outside of its 15-year-old home base (and Atlanta offshoot) for chaat and other flavorful Indian street snacks. It’s gearing up to open a much-bigger flagship in Asheville, too.

Where: 1325 5th Street NE

When: Winter 2025

Bar Bestie

Jane Jane and Bar Betsie owners Drew Porterfield, Ralph Brabham, and JP Sabatier.

A first look at the Bar Bestie logo.

What: Industry vets and buds Jean Paul (J.P.) Sabatier, Drew Porterfield, and Ralph Brabham, the team behind Logan Circle’s pint-sized drinking den Jane Jane, just announced a second venture across town. Like 3-year-old Jane Jane, which has quickly risen as one of the city’s best cocktail bars, Bar Betsie honors another partner’s matriarch. Bar Bestie, named for Sabatier’s mom who had a penchant for hospitality, strives to be “soulful, unpretentious gathering place where everyone comes to play,” per a statement. A design by Edit Lab at Streetsense calls for hip neon accents reflected off mirrored walls, wood paneling, intimate booths, banquette seating, and 14-seat bar and outdoor patio slinging light snacks, beers, wines, and cocktails.

Where: 1328 4th Street NE

When: Winter 2024

Apapacho

Blue corn tortillas will balance lots of slow-cooked meats at Apapacho.

What: The newly announced taqueria from culinary couple Alam Méndez and Elisa Reyna slides into the sleek space left behind by Las Gemelas, which ended its 3-year run in February. (Destination Unknown Restaurants simultaneously closed its modern Mexican sibling Destino in the same Northeast food hall.) Apapacho’s headlining roster of tacos will star slow-cooked meats like al pastor, carne asada, and barbacoa, plus a vegetarian option (oyster mushrooms) to start. The married duo most recently worked at D.C.’s Maiz 64, earning high praise for Méndez’s top-tier tortillas engineered with native Mexican corn and Reyna’s pastry skills.

Where: 1280 4th Street NE

When: July

Shia

What: This unique dining destination, which functions as a novel nonprofit through chef Edward Lee’s LEE Initiative, doubles as a case study in providing independent restaurateurs with real-time research on ways to improve sustainability, innovation, and labor practices. The all-female culinary team is comprised of chefs Amy Brandwein (Centrolina, Piccolina), Taylor Davis (Nami Steakhouse), AuCo Lai (Star Hill Provisions), Liliana Myers (Safta), and Lisa Donovan (NYT food writer). Originally tabbed as M. Francis, the 48-seat venture with a projected five-year lifespan appears to have changed its named to Shia, per a recent ABRA filing.

Where: 1250-1252 4th Street NE

When: Summer 2024

Minetta Tavern

https://www.instagram.com/p/C7pY5KPPxtz/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading

What: Keith McNally, NYC’s mega-restaurateur behind celeb magnets like the Odeon, Balthazar, and Pastis, brings his fancy burger bar to D.C. “[Union Market] reminds me a lot of Manhattan’s Meatpacking District 20 years ago,” said McNally, upon inking a letter of intent in 2021. The 1930s-era Greenwich Village relic, revived by McNally in 2009, consistently serves one of the city’s best ($38) burgers in the caricatured shadow of long-gone literary figures. Based on the D.C. edition’s whopping 13K Instagram followers — despite no posts — Minetta Tavern is shaping up to be a big one. Per a June photo carousel of an very-under-progress interior, the famously sarcastic owner joked it was “opening tonight.” The construction update did, however, shed a light inside a white subway-tiled space under way — a sharp contrast to the original’s dimly lit wooden look (though the pressed tin ceilings appear identical). The look and feel of the two-story corner counterpart in D.C. will be “the same, if not better,” McNally added, which includes a “sensational” private dining room and a “secret roof bar.”

Where: 1287 4th Street NE

When: Fall 2024

F1 Arcade

British import F1 Arcade makes a D.C. debut next summer.

What: British-born F1 Arcade transforms a 17,500-square-foot warehouse into a high-octane entertainment complex that showcases the glitz and glamour of Formula 1 racing. Equipped with 80 full-motion race simulators made in collaboration with F1’s motorsport design teams, a big bar staying open late will sling Champagne cocktails (think: a Hendrick’s Gin-infused Pole Position), local beers, and non-alcoholic options under an aptly named “Designated Driver” section. Fancied-up bar food will include items like wagyu beef burger, cauliflower wings slathered with Korean gochujang sauce, and sea bass ceviche. F1 Arcade’s first U.S. edition recently opened in Boston’s Seaport District this year.

Where: 440 Penn Street NE

When: Fall 2024

Non Se

What: Chef Matt Baker (Michelin-starred Gravitas, Michele’s, Baker’s Daughter) adds a chic Mediterranean eatery to his repertoire, complete with an antipasti bar, small plates, cheeses and cured meats, and expansive focus on European wines.

Where: 300 Morse Street NE

When: Winter 2025

Yellow

Albi’s chef/owner Michael Rafidi will open a huge new project in a Northeast warehouse.

What: As Eater first reported, Michelin-starred Albi’s Michael Rafidi — who just added a James Beard accolade for America’s best chef — is gearing up to open the biggest edition yet of his all-day Levantine cafe Yellow. After wowing Navy Yard with za’atar-dusted pastries for four years, all while adding a Georgetown offshoot with fiery pies, Rafidi will plant a 4,000-square-foot flagship, test kitchen, and wood-fired grill on the ground floor of an old meatpacking warehouse. “Everything is going to start at that [Yellow] location as far as development,” Rafidi told Eater in 2022. “At night we’re going to have some fun with kick ass kebabs and natural wines.” Right above Yellow’s new supersized headquarters, he plans to eventually open a lively, “habibi funk” rooftop oasis called La’ Shukran. The 80-seat party pad, accessed through a semi-secret alleyway, will feature a dining room, bar, big patio, and late-night DJs spinning Middle Eastern music.

Where: 417-419 Morse Street NE

When: TBA