Fried Rice Collective founders Scott Drewno, Danny Lee, and Drew Kim will open their first restaurant on Barracks Row (423 8th St. SE) this year. The space close to the Eastern Market metro station was previously occupied by DC-3. 

The name of the restaurant, Chiko, combines the words Chinese and Korean, but Lee says it’s not really fusion food. The group remains tight-lipped on any specifics about the cuisine. 

Drewno comes to the newly formed restaurant group from The Source where he helmed the kitchen for more than a decade. The District knows Lee from both locations of his family Korean restaurant, Mandu.And Kim was an owner of Matchbox Food Group. 

Lee says they plan to open in 2017.