RSS FeedFlight Wine Bar (777 6th St NW) Opens Tomorrow In Penn Quarter/Chinatown
Flight (website – Twitter – Facebook), a new 60 seat wine bar in Chinatown/Penn Quarter at 777 6th St NW, opens its doors tomorrow at 4 pm and we were delighted to preview the space at an event earlier this week. Located just below H Street on the east side of 6th Street NW, our initial takeaway is that the overall experience is off to a wonderful start and we anticipate that Flight will become a favorite go to spot in the neighborhood.
Upon entering the venue a hallway turns right and opens up to the space which has three seating areas plus the bar. The seating areas include a main floor, a slightly stepped up zone near the windows, and bench seating up against one of the walls. The bar has a distinctive, signature wood piece behind it that acts as both shelving and decoration emanating from behind the bar and spreading outward across the ceiling like a fountain of wood. The bar itself forms a semicircle and while prominent doesn’t overpower the space. The overall space evokes a mix of European, modern, and industrial sensibilities softened by the lighting/backlighting, emphatic use of light colored wood, and architectural element placement.
The wine list includes 70 selections with 30 by the glass (and yes, they have a Coravin to allow tasting the more expensive options) organized by type with additional notes on body and style, and not by region which is welcoming and less intimidating to wine newbies. A rotating wine flight of the week will offer three wine tastes in one go. The menu includes meat, fish, and vegetarian options with Executive Chef Bradley Curtis, formerly of DGS Delicatessen, Zaytinya and Graffiato, at the culinary helm.
Flight Food Menu [PDF] – Flight Wine & Beer Menu [PDF]
We’ll check back with Flight in a week or two to see how they’re doing. The window signage is hard to see at first so we suggest looking for the red awning and the 6th Street entrance immediately to the right of the Corner Bakery. The photo gallery and full press release follow the break.
Flight Wine Bar
777 6th St NW
(202) 865-6445
SWATI BOSE AND KABIR AMIR TO OPEN
FLIGHT IN PENN QUARTER ON JANUARY 18
60-seat wine bar will offer over 70 selections of wines with 30 by the glass options and Mediterranean-influenced cuisine from Chef Bradley Curtis
WASHINGTON, January 16, 2014 – Flight, a wine bar owned and operated by husband and wife team, Swati Bose and Kabir Amir, will open at 777 6th Street, NW, Washington, DC on January 18, 2014. Bose, general manager and beverage director, together with Amir, has selected an approachable wine list featuring over 70 selections with 30 by the glass options. The extensive list of wines offers familiar varietals from boutique producers as well as labels from lesser-known regions around the world. The 60-seat wine bar will also serve shareable plates influenced by Executive Chef Bradley Curtis’ New England upbringing and love for Mediterranean flavors. Edit Lab at Streetsense, designers of Daikaya and Red Hen, among others, designed the space.
Flight’s wine list, organized by body and style versus region, offers mini tastes at 2.5 oz. pours, 5 ounce full-glass pours and by the bottle offerings. A restaurant-grade Coravin wine system allows for guests to taste more expensive bottles by the glass. While familiar wine regions are well-represented on the list, Bose and Amir have personally selected varietals from up and coming areas with long traditions of winemaking, like Greece, Hungary, Lebanon, Serbia, Slovenia and Virginia, to name a few. Tasting notes accompany each selection, along with interesting facts about the wine, varietal, winemaker or region.
A rotating flight of the week, priced at $18, will offer three tastes of a specific region, style or varietal of wine. The opening flight will feature a red, white and sparkling wine from the Jura region in France. A Moschito, made with crushed mint leaves and grappa, will be the first rendition of a weekly wine cocktail, which will be available for $9. Additional beverage options include domestic and international craft beers, aperitifs, digestifs, cider and spirits. Harney & Sons tea, La Colombe Coffee, and sodas from Q and Belvoir Fruit Farms are available under the ‘zero proof’ section of the menu. Happy hour at Flight will soon be offered Monday through Friday from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., and on the weekends from 10:00 p.m. to close.
Executive Chef Bradley Curtis, formerly of DGS Delicatessen, Zaytinya and Graffiato has designed a menu of wine-friendly dishes. Highlights from Curtis’ opening menu include dishes like Lobster Bisque ($14) with Maine lobster, kombu, rockweed and spiked with sake; a “Fish” and Chip Basket ($11) with anchovies, fried clams, arbol chile tartar sauce and fermented potatoes, similar in taste to a salt and vinegar potato chip, and Beef with Moxie ($10) Moxie-braised short rib, with prunes, carrots and white pearl onions. Moxie is a gentian-based bitter soda popular in New England, which Curtis has shipped in from Maine.
Vegetarian options are varied and include Squash Dolmades with pepitas, raisins and orange yogurt; Stuffed Acorn Squash with white beans, swiss chard, roasted cherry tomatoes, cotija, and chili-lime dressing; Kale Salad with raw and blanched kale, pickled cranberries, Idiazibal, and bacon candied pecans. Desserts feature a dish inspired by a 100-year old recipe from Curtis’ grandmother, Tomato Soup Cake, made with a spicy rum raisin compote, toasted pecans and cream cheese frosting.
Low hanging clay lights, light ash wood accents, and a curving bar featuring backlit wine shelves create an intimate ambience reminiscent of a European neighborhood bar. The warm materials among the space reflect the winemaking process, from the clay of soils to the glass of bottles to the corks.
Flight is committed to sustainability and will use bio-based products, a grease filtration company, composting, and excess food donations at the end of service. In keeping with the theme of wine and sustainability, the flooring is made of cork, ensuring minimal heat loss and insulation. Flight is also an official cork recycling drop-off site for ReCork by Amorim. All wine corks will be recycled into shoes, flooring tiles, building insulation or automotive gaskets, instead of a landfill.
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RT @pqliving: Take a sip of the details on Flight Wine Bar opening tomorrow In Penn Quarter/Chinatown @FlightWineBarDC http://t.co/JCWyiJkH…
Flight Wine Bar (777 6th St NW) Opens Tomorrow In Penn Quarter/Chinatown: Penn Quarter Living http://t.co/uAgnmPscmi via @pqliving
Cool! Thanks for the report. How did the noise level seem? I’m presuming it’s loud as that seems to be the trend nowadays, but it would be nice to have a place to go to where you could have a conversation. 
the noise level was about average. it wasn’t as loud as Graffiato (which I think is too loud) but I wouldn’t call it library quiet either. most of the interior surfaces are hard but there is plenty of acoustic diffusion.
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The bar reminds me of the photos of this crazy Spar supermarket in Budapest that have been all over the design blogosphere in the last few weeks.