The area’s restaurant scene continues to attract national attention and accolades for its quality and diversity.
Citizens & Culture, which Kaldi’s Social House owner Tsega Hailemariam is set to open this spring, is one of Eater’s most anticipated restaurant openings in the D.C. area:
Downtown Silver Spring’s sleek new 15,000-square-foot restaurant and music venue comes from Tsega Haile, who also owns Silver Spring and Clarendon coffee shop Kaldi’s Social House. Multi-level Citizens & Culture is outfitted with large flat-screen TVs, working fireplaces, and a lofted stage up top equipped with a state-of-the-art sound system for DJs and bands. A ground-floor patio leads to an expansive, vaulted ceiling main dining room with a full-length bar and menu from chief chef consultant Jessica Shields and executive chef Ryan Hackney.
Chef Hackney, a Beat Bobby Flay alum whose résumé includes stints at D.C.’s Macon Bistro & Larder, Charlie Palmer Steak, and most recently Valor Brewpub, recently made headlines for revealing part of Citizens & Culture’s menu in the most unlikely of places: a birthday party for society scammer Anna “Delvey” Sorokin.
Hailemariam acquired the former Pacci’s Pizzeria space at 8113 Georgia Ave. in 2019.
Renderings courtesy Tsega Hailemariam