New Kids On The Block: Northeast D.C.

City Winery

City Winery, a New York-based cultural and culinary destination that combines cooking classes, live music, a winery and private event space in one venue, will take over the four-story, 41K SF building at 1350 Okie St. NE.

Founder Michael Dorf envisioned a space that would fully “indulge the senses.” It engages sight — with ambiance and a window into the winemaking operation; taste, with curated and paired food and wine; smell, with these items’ enticing aroma; and touch and hearing with hands-on classes taught by experts. City Winery is expected to bring some famous musicians to Northeast when it opens late this year.

Alamo Drafthouse

Austin, Texas-based Alamo Drafthouse Cinema will open its first D.C. location in 2019 in MRP Realty's 13-acre planned Bryant Street project in Northeast. The development includes 1,550 residences and 245K SF of retail. The theater’s 44K SF facility will house dinner, drinks, movies and events under one roof with nine screens and 946 reclining seats.

The chain with attitude, with employees instructed to unapologetically kick out noisy or disruptive patrons, caters to true cinephiles. Its theaters are advertisement-free. The company was voted No. 1 in America by Entertainment Weekly and according to Wired is the “coolest in the world.”

Peregrine Espresso

Peregrine Espresso will open a coffee bean-roasting facility in Northeast near the U.S. National Arboretum called Small Planes Coffee.

Peregrine Espresso, a sustainability-minded, community-focused enterprise, opened its first food and beverage operation in 2008 in Eastern Market, followed by Union Market and MidCity locations.

With an emphasis on great coffee and education, it employs competition-caliber baristas paid competitive wages and offers brewing and espresso fundamentals classes to the public.

Its newest venture is not a café, but will initially exclusively provide Peregrine’s three existing locations with beans before transitioning to wholesale sales. It will allow Peregrine Espresso to become independent from current sole supplier Counter Culture Coffee.