735 8th Street SE – formerly Zest Bistro – will become the new Sushi Hachi this summer
New Sushi Place on Barracks Row Gets ANC Committee’s Nod on Liquor License
by Larry Janezich
Thursday night ANC6B’s Alcohol Beverage Control committee, chaired by Chandler Jayaraman, voted unanimously to recommend that the full ANC grant a new class C restaurant liquor license to Sushi Hachi.
The 88 seat restaurant – plus 8 seats on a sidewalk patio – will take over the space formerly occupied by Zest Bistro 735 8th Street, S.E. Owner Steve Yoon hopes to open in July, depending on the city’s permitting process.
Yoon, who also owns and has run Sushi Rock at on Clarendon Avenue in Arlington for the past six years, told the ANC committee that Sushi Hachi will feature 8 – 9 different popular fishes on its daily sushi menu. The kitchen will also produce a seasonal menu that will change every few months. In addition to the usual edamame, seaweed salad, and miso soup, the menu will feature special items like tuna tartare and yellowfin tuna ceviche, Thai style.
Before becoming a restaurateur, Yoon, worked in the kitchen at the DC Grand Hyatt Hotel. He says he is striving for a different look for Sushi Hachi than that at Sushi Rock (see here: http://sushirockva.com/) and will focus on achieving a clean and simple look utilizing wood and granite.
The committee’s agreement on the liquor license followed a prolonged discussion on how the restaurant would manage its trash. ANC 6B has been vigorous in using liquor license applications to exact best operating practices from restaurants on Capitol Hill’s commercial corridors, negotiating the line between regulations a restaurant can live with and those which they find too burdensome. The neighbors of Barracks Row are both very active and well organized in support of the ANC’s efforts.
Update: ANC6B has encouraged new restaurants with significant build-out or those undergoing major renovation to provide for indoor trash storage. Neither of those apply to Sushi Hachi. A number of trash management measures were discussed during the hearing, including inside storage of grease and daily trash pickups. The details of what the ANC and the Yoon agree to will be available in the voluntary Settlement Agreement which must be signed before the full ANC approves the liquor license application.
Zest Bistro closed on October 5, 2015 and the owners concentrated their efforts on Agua in The Yards featuring contemporary Mexican cuisine.
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 