Husband-and-wife team Sebastian Zutant and Lauren Winter know how to please a crowd. The duo helped open popular Italian spots Red Hen and All-Purpose—he as a (now former) partner/beverage director, she with design powerhouse Edit Lab. For their new venture in Brookland, the pair considered a more offbeat theme.
Thus Primrose, a French natural wine bar and bistro, was born. The concept is just modern and edgy enough to appeal to the team of industry vets who run the place—and just mainstream enough to entice everyone else.
The airy, whimsical space takes inspiration from the current bistro scene in Paris, where Zutant and Winter discovered places that combined classic food with edgy wine programs. Patrons will find the same at Primrose. Chef Nathan Beauchamp and Greg Algie of Tiger Fork, Calico, and Fainting Goat partnered on the restaurant (Winter designed their other ventures). Beauchamp, formerly head toque at Bistro Bis, created a small yet robust menu of charcuterie, snacks, and entrees. Guests in the 80-seat dining room and bar can tuck into coq au vin, braised bouef bourguignon, seafood stew, and steak frites—or less traditionally Gallic, a French dip sandwich with shaved beef, horseradish sauce, and a side of pureed French onion soup for dunking. The onion soup is one of several meatless dishes among the petit plats (small plates), brewed with kombu, mushrooms, and deeply-caramelized onions for a “beefy” richness.
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