Washingtonian: 5 Big Changes to Expect Now That Restaurants Are Reopening Their Dining Rooms →

Washingtonian: 5 Big Changes to Expect Now That Restaurants Are Reopening Their Dining Rooms

As restaurants grapple with an uncertain number of diners and limited capacity, even casual spots are offering prepaid, prix-fixe menus. Take modern Korean restaurant Anju, which opens its Dupont Circle patio on Wednesday with four tables and 12 properly distanced seats. (Customers can sit inside only during inclement weather.) Chef/co-owner Danny Lee and his team created a four-course dinner menu for $60, served in two-hour time slots. (A la carte is still offered for takeout and delivery.)

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Washington City Paper: Anju Partners With Annandale Bakery to Bring Korean Pastries to the District →

D.C. has seen an influx of Asian cuisines in recent years with Lao, Filipino, Malaysian, and Burmese spots opening across the city. But somewhat paradoxically, one of the region’s largest Asian communities’ cuisines has yet to make major headway within city limits. Most of the area’s Korean cooking still requires a trip out to the suburbs, but Chef Danny Lee of Mandu, CHIKO, and Anju has been on a steady mission to introduce new aspects of Korean food to Washingtonians. He did that with bar snacks at his latest venture, Anju. Now he and his Anju team are turning their attention to Korean pastry by launching a collaboration with Annandale-based bakery O Bread.

Washington City Paper: Local Practitioners Demonstrate How Hospitality and Buddhism Go Hand-in-Hand →

Washington City Paper: Local Practitioners Demonstrate How Hospitality and Buddhism Go Hand-in-Hand

Anju Executive Chef Angel Barreto started practicing Buddhism two years ago after he got out of a long relationship and was looking for greater balance in his life. “My parents were Christian and that worked for them,” he says. “Christianity never really worked for me. So, I went to a lot of local Buddhist temples in the area.” 

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The Washington Post: How to get into 5 of D.C.’s buzziest restaurants — and where to go if you strike out →

The Washington Post: How to get into 5 of D.C.’s buzziest restaurants — and where to go if you strike out

After heaps of critical acclaim — including a three-star rating from The Washington Post’s Tom Sietsema and the top spot in Washingtonian’s annual list of the 100 best restaurants— diners sometimes start lining up early on weekends to get into Anju in Adams Morgan.

“It’s a little crazy all the time now,” general manager Eric Chodkowski says. “The reservations have been filling up 30 days in advance.”

But to stay true to the casual, Korean pub-inspired theme, reservations are for the dining room upstairs while everything downstairs in the bar area is first come, first served. That includes a 10-seat bar, six window seats, four chef’s counter seats, and two communal tables.

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