Inside Lucky Danger’s Daring New Chinese Party Pad in D.C. | Eater DC
"Moving in "thereverse direction of Panda Express," acclaimed chef and restaurateur Tim Ma jokes, a Mount Vernon Triangle ghost kitchen that first served delivery staples like fried rice and pork wontons during the pandemic and later set up long-term takeout digs in Pentagon City Mall is returning to D.C. in an almost-unrecognizable full-service form at 709 D Street NW, opening on Wednesday, May 21, with three distinct bars, mahjong lessons, and hours 4 to 11 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday (lunch and possibly even weekend dim sum coming soon). The concept is built around what Ma calls "updated Chinese food," drinks inspired by Chinese herbal medicine, and programming intended to make the space “a Chinese community center.” The menu transforms classic dishes with global flavors and techniques—examples include allium pancakes with whipped tofu and caviar; blue crab lo mein with leek fondue; duck fried chaufa (Peruvian fried rice) with fish sauce caramel; family-style Chinese prime rib, Beijing duck, and wild boar char siu balanced with a napa cabbage slaw—and also brings back favorites from the takeout spot such as the iconic crab Rangoon dusted with Old Bay, spicy mapo tofu beefed up with rice cakes and shiitake mushrooms, and whole crispy flounder paired with a fresh papaya salad. D.C. native executive chef Robbie Reyes returns to run the kitchen after stints at the David Burke–led Breckenridge Distillery Restaurant in Colorado, David Chang’s Momofuku in New York and D.C., and a short time in Peru; he’d been running the Pentagon City classic Chinese American menu for a year and developed the new Penn Quarter menu with Ma through nostalgic research trips to New York’s Chinatown. The dining room inhabits the Partisan’s former brick-walled space, dressed with a playful icon and red-and-green wallpaper depicting flowers, pottery, and dragons that take cues from ancient Chinese art; Chinese characters on the back wall repeat a saying from Ma’s uncle’s restaurant, the Shandong Inn, which loosely translates to “let the cocktails and champagne fly, let the good times roll.” There are four distinct spaces: a bright entryway bar doing classic cocktails with Asian-inflected touches (for example, a margarita with Sichuan peppercorn and a tomato-salt rim), a cozy dining room with soft leather booths, the moody, red-lantern–lit “Lucky Club” where bar director Sunny Vanavichai stages more complex drinks—an umami bitters and sesame-infused whiskey served with a Pei Pa Kao candy “reminiscent of molasses-like traditional Chinese cough medicine,” a baijiu paired with brie, pear cordial, and a bitter aperitif, and a Twisting Tiger Punch that mellows smoky mezcal with Oolong tea, mango lassi, ginger, and five spice—and a hidden mahjong parlor that nods to Rush Hour 2. Ma frames that back room plainly: "This is our mahjong bar in the back of the Chinese restaurant," he explains. "I am Don Cheadle." The parlor has four automatic mahjong tables (rentable for $45 an hour), weekly lessons taught by Ma, his dad, and family friends, and will be drinks-only (over-proof whiskeys and whiskey cocktails), though the full food menu is available elsewhere in the building. Ma says the menu’s eclectic palate is "just a reflection of how people eat these days," influenced by diverse kitchen staffs, and he’s using the Penn Quarter flagship (and the Navy Yard site that served as a test kitchen) as a springboard for new concepts—Kata, Sushi Sato, Taco Cat, additional Any Day Now and casual takeout versions in Baltimore and Virginia—while taking a step back for younger cooks who are "closer to modern cuisine." As he puts it: "Nobody’s going to Sushi Sato to see me. They’re going for sushi. And I think that’s the way it should be," he says. "That’s the new evolution." - Emily Venezky
