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Restaurateur Aaron Gordon of TangySweet, Red Velvet Cupcakery, and Rabbit Grill opens his first full-service spot, Drafting Table, in Logan Circle tonight at 5 p.m. Gordon’s motto for the gastropub: “It’s more fun to eat in a bar than it is to drink in a restaurant.”
Chef Ciji Wagner, who worked at both Rabbit and Red Velvet, is cooking up an eclectic menu that includes Mediterranean meatloaf, falafel, fish and chips, and duck confit with grilled radiccio, caramelized shallots, grapes, and red wine jus. For dessert, look for chocolate pudding and Snickers pie. Drafting Table will also have 16 beers on draft and 20 by the bottle.
Gordon’s childhood friend Andrew Christenberry, a furniture maker and artist, is a partner in the restaurant and helped design the 62-seat space. The dining room is outfitted with reclaimed architectural drawing tables and stools. Above them hang old bus stop lamps with the numbers “1,” “5,” “2,” and “9”—the restaurant’s address. (Gordon coincidentally found only those numbers, although the “9” is an upside down “6.” Along the walls are photos of famous figures writing or “drafting,” including Tennessee Williams, Ernest Hemingway, Marlon Brando, and Frank Lloyd Wright.
As you may remember, Gordon held a contest in the Washington Post to name the restaurant. Woody Creek was the winner. Gordon also another 20 names of his own in the running, including his childhood nickname “Fat Shorty” and another based on his middle name, “Zeke’s.” At the time, Gordon had been searching for drafting tables for the restaurant, and ultimately he says the name Drafting Table better fit the design and concept. Tough luck, Woody Creek.
Drafting Table, 1529 14th St. NW; (202) 621-7475; draftingtabledc.com
Photo by Jessica Sidman