Tom Colicchio Has A Restaurant Coming To DC
Tom Colicchio may be known to most as the head judge and co-host of Bravo's "Top Chef," but before the Emmy winner's rise to fame, he opened Craft in 2001, a fine-dining restaurant in New York City. Colicchio has since opened five other upmarket establishments: Temple Court and Vallata in New York, Small Batch in Long Island, Los Angeles Craft, and Las Vegas establishments Heritage Steak and Craftsteak (via Crafted Hospitality). He's also a philanthropist who worked with former First Lady Michelle Obama on the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, and produced the documentary "A Place at the Table," which deals with hunger issues in the U.S. He's even hopped into the NFT game.
Furthermore, he owns a casual sandwich restaurant called 'wichcraft in NYC. The concept appears to have been intended as a franchise, and there were once two other locations in Las Vegas and San Francisco. Writer Bill Addison of SF Gate reported that Colicchio attended the Bay Area opening and was making sandwiches himself. However, when the Addison returned several weeks later, the sandwich he received was disappointing in comparison to the one he had first witnessed the celebrity chef make. However, things must have picked up for a time, as the eatery lasted for nine years before closing.
According to Eater, the James Beard Award Winner is now setting his sights on Washington D.C. with a new full-service restaurant.
First full-service restaurant for Tom Colicchio in D.C.
WTop News reports that not much is known about Tom Colicchio's upcoming D.C. restaurant, besides it being a full-service concept. The eatery will occupy a 10,000-square-foot space that once housed 701 Restaurant, which closed four years ago and has remained vacant since. Eater reports that 701 Restaurant operated on the Market Square site for over 30 years until its closure in 2018.
EQ Office, which owns the space at property space, said that "more than 30 Fortune 500 companies" are located in the area, and while this is Colicchio's first full-service offering in Washington D.C., he also owns a casual dining space at the Children's National Research and Innovation Center in D.C. called Root and Sprig (pre WTop News).
Eater reported that INC Architecture has been contracted for the interior design of Colicchio's new restaurant. The New York studio was responsible for The Line DC Hotel. Colicchio's restaurant is expected to open in 2023.