Cashion's Turns 20

When the doors to Cashion’s Eat Place first swung open in 1995, a gallon of gas cost $1.09, stamps were 32 cents, and Calvin & Hobbes came to an end. Twenty years later, the Adams Morgan institution continues to innovate while not losing track of its roots. 

The restaurant’s founding partners, Ann Cashion and John Fulchino, returned for an anniversary dinner Wednesday. Ann joined chef and co-owner John Manolatos in the kitchen to cook a six-course dinner with a side of nostalgia—John worked as Ann’s sous chef for 12 years before purchasing the restaurant alongside Justin Abad, who worked at Cashion’s as a server in college. Many dishes were memorable, but the real treat was watching the band get back together. We snapped John Manolatos, Ann, John Fulchino and Justin after the meal.

The dinner doubled as an opportunity to show off Cashion’s fresh coat of paint—quite literally. This month the restaurant shut down for a two-day renovation, which most notably included the addition of a mural by famed street artist Gaia. “He managed to do this in just 36 hours,” Justin says as he named the “changing face of Adams Morgan” as the inspiration. There’s one more throwback opportunity to be had at Cashion’s this spring—on June 7 the restaurant will host its second installment of a “Decades of Cocktails” series, this time serving up cocktails that helped make the 1960s groovy. Pop in from 10pm-midnight to try them, along with bites.