Brooklyn Is Opening on U Street With a Pizza Kitchen Below a Nightclub | Eater DC

"I expect Brooklyn, which opens Monday, February 11 at 1212 U Street NW, to be a restaurant-meets-club that aims to give diners a place to cut loose without choosing between a sit-down meal and a late-night party. To test the concept it has already hosted an invite-only party and Super Bowl festivities. The two-level space (formerly Nonna’s Kitchen and Alphonse) contains a 75-seat first-floor restaurant with sleek banquettes, cocktails in etched high-ball glasses, and a DJ positioned next to the kitchen where personal pizzas will come out of the existing Marra Forni oven; upstairs there are 10 tables for bottle service, plush emerald-green couches, and a gold-painted DJ booth. The menu is still being finalized but will include truffle fries and D.C. classics like chicken slathered in mumbo sauce and a Maryland crab cake. Marketing leans feminine — with slogans such as “she’s coming soon” and lots of greenery and white flowers softening the brick walls — and some original details remain, like roll-up garage doors and an antique silver ceiling. Mathis tapped the mixology team from the W’s POV rooftop lounge for the drinks program, plans to start daily dinner service at 5 p.m. (with brunch to follow), and hopes the spot will reflect the new U Street vibe he likens to Brooklyn: a diverse, bring-everyone-together energy." - Tierney Plumb