Hawk & Dove Set To Open Thursday, January 17

What You See As You Enter

The Elevated First Floor Bar to the Left

First Floor Seating to the Right Looking Out Toward Pennsylvania Avenue

Upstairs Bar Looking Toward Pennsylvania Avenue

Upstairs Seating Area Looking toward Rear of Building, Bar on Right

Chef Magnanelli

Hawk & Dove Open Kitchen. Above, The Original Exterior Sign Circa 1967

The Hawk & Dove Set to Open Thursday, January 17

by Larry Janezich (with thanks to Maggie Hall)

The Hawk & Dove expects to open on Thursday, January 17, according to manager Jack McAuliffe.  The restaurant was originally scheduled to open in February, but moved its debut up, in part, to take advantage of Inauguration traffic.  McAuliffe, until recently the general manager at Boxcar, another Xavier Cerveras enterprise, said, “we want to bring a totally different experience to the block – try to do something new with a fun feel.”

One of the innovations McAuliffe brought to the new Hawk & Dove is an original cocktail menu, some of which feature specialty infusions made in-house.  Eight original specialty cocktails are featured as either “Dove Tails” or “Hawk Tails.”  Among the former is “The Mexicana,” built around hibiscus and lime infused tequila; among the latter, “The Godfather,” based on espresso infused scotch.  The restaurant’s two bars will serve 18 beers on tap, including two from local breweries; Heavy Seas’ Loose Cannon IPA, and Chocolate City’s Cornerstone Copper Ale.

Chef Jeremy Magnanelli says the menu aspires to modern American pub fare “a log-cabiny feel incorporated into the food,” with flatbread and pizza from their open flame oven, visible to patrons in the restaurant’s open kitchen.  Menu options include Guinness battered brie, and the intriguing three cheese polenta served in a cast iron bowl topped with bacon and an egg and served with a splash of truffle oil.  Entrees will include Sicilian eggplant ragu with polenta, salmon, steaks, and roasted chicken.

Magnanelli says the Hawk & Dove will rely on locally or regionally produced products, including bacon from Benton’s Farm, pork from Duroc pigs locally produced, steaks from Creekstone Ranch, poultry from Freebird Ranch and produce from Lady Moon farm.  The chef comes from Cerveras’s Senart’s Oyster Bar and has a background in Italian, classical French, and American cooking.  Before Senart’s, he worked at Marcel’s, The Inn at Little Washington, and Bluepoint in North Carolina.

The Hawk & Dove will be open at 4:30pm initially (including Inaugural Day) but will start serving lunch on Friday, January 25th.  According to McAuliffe, live blue grass music upstairs could be a part of future weekend brunches, but “that’s a ways off.”