There is an “insanely soft opening” underway at Citizens & Culture in downtown Silver Spring, according to a message received from the restaurant on Instagram.
An opening date is yet to be determined, but the restaurant has posted several teaser videos on its Instagram account. The restaurant’s website is not yet live.
We reported in March that Citizens & Culture would feature live music and ‘DMV’ cuisine, according to MoCo360.
The 15,000-square-foot restaurant will seat approximately 500 people and features a retractable roof, an outdoor patio, and garden walls. A variety of local ingredients will be utilized on the menu in order to create flavors inspired by Ethiopian, Chinese, Thai, and West Indian cuisines, which are abundant in this region, according to the report.
The restaurant is the second downtown Silver Spring establishment from Tsega Hailemariam, who opened Kaldi’s Social House in 2013. A second Kaldi’s location is located in the Clarendon neighborhood of Arlington, Va.
Hailemariam initially intended to open a sports bar in the space previously occupied by Pacci’s Pizzeria at 8113 Georgia Ave. With the aid of chef consultant Jessica Shields, the concept evolved into a more casual fine dining eatery within the two-story building, he told MoCo360.
Chef Ryan Hackney, a Beat Bobby Flay alum who has previously worked at Macon Bistro & Larder, Charlie Palmer Steak, and most recently Valor Brewpub, has departed from the restaurant, according to a representative. Hackney 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.
Citizens & Culture has been named one of Eater’s “Most Anticipated Spring Restaurant Openings to Track Around D.C.“
Rendering Courtesy of Tsega Hailemariam