Inventor-themed gastropub Trademark is bringing craft cocktails and a British-inspired menu to Alexandria next week.
The restaurant, located in The Westin Alexandria, will have a soft opening on Nov. 1 with 20 percent off its full menu until Nov. 5. From its grand opening on Election Day through Nov. 13, it will also offer $5 cocktails—-half off the regular price.
Trademark, which takes its name from the neighboring U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, aims to feel like a “a modern day inventor’s lounge.” The space will be outfitted with bookcases and photos of famous American inventors like the Wright brothers, Thomas Edison, and Eli Whitney.
Alexandria native andTodd Thrasherprotégée Chris Bassett, who most recently worked at PX and Virtue Feed & Grain, will oversee the drink menu. Trademark will have all the obligatory components of cocktail cred: seasonal ingredients, house-infused liquors, and “innovative takes on classic cocktails.” Bassett will offer a rotating selection of about 10 cocktails for $10 each. “They’re really by the book,” Bassett says. “A few twists here an there.”
His opening menu includes the “Trademark Old Fashioned,” an homage to Virginia native Thomas Jefferson with Jefferson’s Reserve Whiskey and pomegranate juice (the former president grew pomegranates at Monticello) as well as grapefruit bitters. Keeping up with the local theme is the “Commonwealth Cocktail,” a Virginia riff on the dark and stormy made with local Wasmund’s Single Malt Whiskey, Canton Ginger Cognac, Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur, and lemon juice.
Bassett will eventually hold cocktail classes (or “mixology labs” as they’re being branded) for drinkers to learn what spirits goes with what, how to make bitters, and other tricks of the trade.
Chef Matthew Miller, a native of York, England, will instill the American menu with some British flare. Dishes will include pork ‘n beans, a crab and rockfish-filled Chesapeake pot pie, fish and chips, fried pickle spears, soft warm pretzel bites with various dipping sauces, and sweet and smoky “bacon candy.”
Trademark, 2080 Jamieson Ave., Alexandria; (703) 253-8640; trademarkdrinkandeat.com