Anyone who’s ever been in or still feels nostalgic for the old Fasika’s, which burned down in November 2005, will not recognize its latest incarnation: Grand Central. The new bar/restaurant on Adams Morgan’s main vein, completely rebuilt, could open a week from Friday if everything comes together. A sneak peek proves the new joint has nothing to do with Ethiopia and almost everything in common with the grand old lady of train stations, minus her much-photographed clock. A replica cost 30 grand, so that idea was scratched, according to my neighbor and GC’s interior designer, John Hutson. He also overhauled nearby Mama Ayesha’s and Trattoria Lilliana in Van Ness, which met its demise last spring.
Hutson’s latest venture has some cool effects, namely the arches. They’re actually half-arches that meet a wall of mirrors, giving the illusion of a full arch, and painted to look like they’re covered with the signature tile inside the bar’s namesake. The walls, he tells me, are “oxblood,” which is a nice color, even if its name isn’t the best harbinger for the party-til-you-puke set.
As for the food, who knows? I’m told it’ll be mainly burgers, but one of the owners, Brian Vasile (late of Tom Tom and quoted in this week’s Show & Tell for something altogether different), was impressed last night by his new cook’s “surf & turf” pasta and coconut shrimp.
What? No oysters? I mean, what could be better sandwiched between Pizza Mart and Jumbo Slice?