Inside Kevin Kelley’s Newest Kitchen + Kocktails D.C. Location

Black-owned Kitchen + Kocktails by Kevin Kelley now has a brand new location in Washington, D.C. With sister places in Dallas and Chicago, the upscale restaurant, which serves Southern consolation meals, opened in “Chocolate Metropolis” on June 16, 2023. 

Capable of accommodate as much as 200 diners, the Instagrammable location has been an instantaneous success, making certain Kelley that his determination to open within the District’s downtown space was a sound selection. 

“We’re extraordinarily blissful to be within the nation’s capital,” Kelley shares. “The District of Columbia was a straightforward selection as a result of our workforce fell in love with the town and the individuals inside. We consider our menu is completely different from many cities, and we knew individuals right here would gravitate to our meals, flavors and enjoyable.”

A lawyer by occupation, Kelley opened the primary Kitchen + Kocktails in 2020 in his hometown of Dallas. Kelley was impressed to create his restaurant model whereas dwelling overseas in Europe. Although he loved life in Barcelona and Paris, he discovered himself lacking the American meals he ate rising up. He set out on a mission to create one of the best Southern consolation meals restaurant that America and the world at massive have ever seen.

“I used to be motivated to deliver selection to consolation meals, which led to completely different flavors for our hen, pork chops and different proteins, equivalent to Nashville Sizzling, Asian Cognac, Smothered, Sizzling Honey and extra.” It is one of many causes that units his institutions aside from different eateries serving Southern fare, the restauranteur says.

Together with the meals being seasoned to perfection with one of the best flavors from the South, the menu provides distinctive and thrilling cocktails. “I like cocktails, so we labored particularly laborious to create drinks that may be flavorful and enjoyable with artistic glassware,” Kelley exclaims. “From our TRUE Flame that catches on hearth tableside, our frozen piña colada that is available in an precise pineapple and our strawberry jalapeño margarita that can make you are feeling as if it’s flavored instantly from Mexico, we take note of the bar,” Kelley says.

The restaurant’s signature dishes embody Southern fried hen and catfish; shrimp and grits with a fried lobster tail on the facet; and Jamaican jerk lamb chops. Nevertheless, Kelley says the employees and ambiance are additionally an enormous a part of what makes the eatery particular. Prioritizing service, the muse of Kitchen + Kocktails by Kevin Kelley is constructing groups of people that like to serve. 

“Our restaurant encourages you to have enjoyable, like taking pictures. We have now floral partitions in all of our eating places, enjoyable signage and lots of different choices to make sure your experiences are photographed in an Instagrammable nature.”

The restaurant upholds a gown code to take care of an upscale setting, and reservations might be made at kitchenkocktailsusa.com. Kelley seems ahead to opening extra places throughout the nation within the close to future.