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Restaurant

Restaurant

 

Againn

1099 New York Avenue
Washington, D.C.
Tel: 202-639-9830
Designer: CORE



Gastropubs are known for serving up classy fare in traditional pub environs, but a new incarnation of the trend in Washington, D.C., adapts the typology to a modern setting. Againn (a Gaelic word roughly meaning “with us”) sits behind the glassy walls of the Thomas Phifer–designed office building at 11th Street and New York Avenue. According to Peter Hapstak, principal at D.C.-based designer CORE, “The real challenge was to blend this incredibly minimal modern building with this timeless tradition.” The sleek lines of the exterior’s lapped-glass skin give way to more classic interior details like eight-foot-high wainscoting in Mackintosh-nouveau millwork. With 5,560 square feet, a continuous 19-seat zinc-coated bar, another freestanding raw bar, and two private dining rooms, the restaurant has plenty of grandeur, but its color scheme is restrained, sticking mainly to neutrals. Crackle-glazed white subway tiles contrast with ebonized oak and walnut, and custom-made black enamel fox heads sit framed in shadow boxes in the entryway. For the illuminated grid of shelves behind the bar, backlighting flattens the display and makes the bottles’ colored glass glow brightly. A similar effect is at work in the private, eight-person Scotch room, where transparent “Scotch lockers” display private bottles and the names of locker renters. Together, they form a mosaic of guests’ desires. Is the “Scotch locker” a tradition? Said Hapstak, “It is now.”


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