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Arlington’s Tallula and adjoining gastropub EatBar will close on Oct. 26 after the restaurants failed to reach an agreement with the landlord about lease renewal. Good news for fans: Tallula chef Rob Rubba will head up a new yet-unnamed restaurant from Neighborhood Restaurant Group. Owner Michael Babin is currently scouting potential locations in both Virginia and D.C.
Rubba, an alum of now-closed Azur and Philadelphia’s Le Bec Fin, will serve a “globally influenced menu” at the new restaurant. What exactly that means, the team isn’t saying yet. But the forthcoming place will have a completely different menu from Tallula, and the location could influence the concept and the menu.
Since opening in 2004, Tallula has turned out chefs like Red Apron Butcher‘s Nate Anda, Pinea‘s Barry Koslow, and Beuchert Saloon‘s Andrew Markert. And EatBar, which opened in 2007, is where Anda began experimenting with the whole-animal butchery and charcuterie that would eventually lead to Red Apron and The Partisan. Anda will return to the kitchen in the coming weeks as a guest chef alongside guest mixologists like Buffalo & Bergen‘s Gina Chersevani. The restaurant will serve old and new staples before it says goodbye.
Photo by Greg Powers