Elena James
American restaurant · Chevy Chase ·
Classic American & Italian dishes, pizza, cocktails, brunch
Classic American & Italian dishes, pizza, cocktails, brunch
"This all-day Chevy Chase, Maryland, spot has served pastries and coffees every morning since opening last year, but just rolled out brunch service in May. Chef Colin McClimans tells Eater that he focused on small plates ($8-14) so diners could jump between toasts loaded with ranch fried chicken or smoked lamb, lemon ricotta soufflé pancakes, eggs Benedict with pork belly, and even light pastas, like gnocchi with little neck clams and a bucatini carbonara. Diners can also order any 4 menu items for $39 and get unlimited espresso martinis, April spritzes, and seasonal mimosas for $24 a person." - Emily Venezky
"Famous for the more high-end Nina May by Logan Circle and Opal on the D.C. side of Chevy Chase, executive chef Colin McClimans and longtime mixologist Danilo Simic brought Chevy Chase an all-day neighborhood restaurant in December. Five years in the making, Elena James serves breakfast and lunch options for takeout or dine-in, snacks, hefty entrees, and kid-friendly fare like dino-shaped chicken nuggets. Mains include a green salad topped with crunchy La Choy chow main noodles (like McClimans’ grandmother used to make); pizzas covered in caramelized onions, truffles, and spiced lamb with tzatziki (reflecting simple pizza Fridays of his youth); and the all-time classic patty melt topped off with melty Gruyere and held together by thick slices of Texas toast. Balanced cocktails include a spicy margarita with habanero orange liqueur, Old Fashioned, smoked Negroni and a coffee-infused drink with cinnamon." - Tierney Plumb, Emily Venezky
"A realized all‑day neighborhood restaurant from restaurateurs Colin McClimans and Danilo Simic that offers breakfast and lunch takeout (beginning mid‑December), snacks, and hearty entrees plus a kid’s menu with homemade Dino‑shaped chicken nuggets. Mains include a green salad topped with crunchy La Choy chow mein noodles (a nod to McClimans’ grandmother), pizzas with toppings like caramelized onions, truffles, and spiced lamb with tzatziki, and a classic patty melt labeled “the American” topped with melty Gruyere on thick Texas toast. Cocktail offerings balance classics and twists such as a spicy margarita with habanero orange liqueur, an Old Fashioned, a smoked Negroni, and the Coffee Delight (a coffee‑infused drink with cinnamon and orange essence)." - Emily Venezky
"The newly opened Elena James in Chevy Chase is going the luxe route with a truffle experience and a 6-course menu. Each course features truffles in various renditions, starting with an amuse of truffled arancini, followed by winter parsnip and pear soup with black truffle toasted hazelnuts. Additional courses include a classic French omelette, wild forest mushroom ravioli with truffle butter, and to finish, pine nut olive oil cake with truffled ice cream, toasted white chocolate and candied pine nuts. It begins at $150 per person with an additional $100 per person for fresh truffle, shaved tableside. The team’s D.C. siblings also have NYE plans. Opal offers a 4-course menu of butternut squash agnolotti, beef Wellington and bananas foster for $100 per person. And Nina May’s family-style spread ($100) includes scallop carpaccio with winter citrus, dry aged prime rib, and basque cheesecake. Make reservations here." - Vinciane Ngomsi
"Opens in Chevy Chase on Friday, December 6 — five years after restaurateurs Colin McClimans and Danilo Simic came up with the idea to do a quintessential neighborhood spot. The concept fully realizes an all-day restaurant with breakfast and lunch options that can be ordered for takeout come mid-December, as well as snacks, hefty entrees for a classy dinner, and kid’s-menu favorites like homemade dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets. McClimans told Eater, “We wanted to do something that had a high level of hospitality in food and in service and in beverage, but we felt, from being in fine dining, that that didn’t necessarily have to come with white tablecloths and with the setting that comes with fine dining.” He and Simic say they learned how to adapt to to-go orders during the pandemic while developing their other venues, and they intentionally designed the new place to be inclusive of families: “Danilo and I both have kids, so we talked a lot about what those experiences are like and what you really need from those restaurants in order to make it a less stressful process for the parents,” McClimans explained. Menu highlights draw on McClimans’s childhood in Chevy Chase: dinner rolls with honey butter inspired by the ones his father served; a green salad topped with crunchy La Choy chow mein noodles “like his grandmother used to make”; pizzas covered in caramelized onions, truffles, and spiced lamb with tzatziki (reflecting simple pizza Fridays of his youth); and an all-time classic patty melt labeled “the American,” topped with melty Gruyere on thick slices of Texas toast. An array of five different pastas — from pesto-drenched ricotta gnocchi to braised short rib bolognese lasagna — extends early ideas from their other restaurants. Cocktails balance classics (spicy margarita with habanero orange liqueur, Old Fashioned, smoked Negroni) with staff-forward originals: Simic says the Coffee Delight, “a coffee-infused drink with cinnamon, orange essence, and cinnamon,” quickly became a staff favorite and replaces the repetitive espresso martini seen across town. The owners held on to a 5,000-square-foot space below the Ritz-Carlton Residences at Chevy Chase Lake for two years and hired Grupo7 Architecture + Interiors to combine two retail storefronts to create a day-to-night vibe; that resulted in two entrances (one to a quick-service space with small tables and the other to a main dining room with a long bar, floor-to-ceiling windows, and an open kitchen). The larger goal is a welcoming neighborhood restaurant where 20-somethings grabbing birthday drinks, families with young children, and solo diners who just want burgers, wings, and a beer at the bar can equally enjoy. McClimans added that they “really look at where the need for a restaurant and where it makes sense for that community... here’s a neighborhood that doesn’t have one of these staple kind of neighborhood restaurants.”" - Emily Venezky
