Mess Hall is not easy to get to by Metro. You get off the train at Rhode Island Avenue and cross the tracks on a graffiti-covered pedestrian bridge, then walk along the Metropolitan Branch Trail, jog left at the brewery, traverse an alley not yet fully converted from its erstwhile industrial life, and end up at a former warehouse with MESS HALL painted in large, friendly letters on its brick wall. The line down the block is the tip-off.
I had been aware of Mess Hall for some time. It’s a communal space for the development of small food businesses. It provides access to an affordable commercial kitchen for startups, ghost kitchens, the development of restaurant concepts, a base for food trucks, and an event space for food and beverage related pop-ups, takeovers, markets, festivals, and parties. Like this one.
This last version of New Kitchens on the Block was the ninth opportunity to try the wares of a slew of emerging eateries all at once. There were samples of food served along with signature cocktails or beer from each. All the food was tasty. While some of the stations were equally balanced with food and drinks, others seemed to put less thought into the liquid portion than the solid.
The spring weather was nice enough for folks to spill out into the alley to eat, drink, and schmooze, which was a good thing, as the inside space was a smidge small for the crowd.
Here are my admittedly subjective impressions of the food, in no particular order:
San Pancho by David Perez and Carolina McCandless of Cielo Rojo: We’ve had delicious food at Cielo Rojo, a hole-in-the-wall in Takoma Park, when we could get in, so I was delighted to learn that it will be moving to a larger space down the block. San Pancho will replace it in the old space. At NKOTB, two kinds of burrito were on offer: chicken with 30-ingredient mole sauce (impressive), or vegan with house-made tofu chorizo (meh), paired with mezcal and jamaica agua fresca-based margaritas (yum!).
The line for San Pancho was much longer than for the two stations flanking it. Both of those happened to feature raw fish. Did this reflect the taste preferences of the audience? Never mind, more fish for me!
One of those fish stations was Two Nine Omakase, offering cured salmon with poi vinaigrette, and a fruity cocktail with District Made vodka. How do you incorporate poi into vinaigrette? Maybe it’s better not to ask! Anyway, it was delicious.
Urai was the third station of this trio, offering scallop crudo garnished with borage flowers. “Borage for courage,” counseled the old herbals, and I nominate Urai for some of the tastiest, as well as prettiest, food. Their cocktail was right on point as well: fruity, and garnished with more edible flowers.
Mallard (ham hock), Alfreda (pepperoni balls), Mahal (pork belly) and Elena James (corned beef prime rib with blue cheese!) all offered meaty bites. Also, a Korean BBQ Concept by Kevin Tien. And now I have to admit that my notes failed me. If he revealed the name of his new place at NKOTB, I didn’t catch it. Sorry!
But I can reveal the name of Matt Baker’s new venture: it’s Non Se, and he was passing out plates of Chilled Mussel and Shrimp Salad accompanied by Gin and “Chef’d Up” Tonic. At that point, I had reached my alcohol limit, so I can’t render my opinion of the drink, but it did use District Made gin, so it had to be good. The seafood salad, with a piquillo vinaigrette, was a delicious dish to wrap up my tour of the District’s edgiest new eateries.
I’m already looking forward to the next iteration of NKOTB, and to exploring the services of Mess Hall.
