The chandeliers and heavy draped booths give The Bellwether a Moroccan feel. I expected to see Humphrey Bogart in the next booth, planning the French resistance on the back of a napkin.
The Bellwether’s historic space was once the power plant for the old City Hospital (which explains the name of this post). Today the tony restaurant offers warm, refined dining in the building previously occupied by Element.
Parking is easy and an elevator whisks you to upper floors, that house one of the city’s newest hot spots. The kitchen and event space is on the second floor while the third level features the bar and dining areas.
The Bellwether is the brainchild of Jonathan Schoen, Brian Schmitz, Chef Thomas Futrell and bar manager Travis Hebrank. Yes, the quartet of gourmands, that brought us Polite Society a few years ago is at it again.
You’ll want to indulge in the textures and tastes at Bellwether in the form of small plates. Explore Chef Futrell’s kitchen sorcery with dishes, ranging from octopus to lamb meatballs over Aztec blue grits, short rib ragout, and pastas, including English pea ravioli and saffron fettuccine.
The space in the Lafayette Square neighborhood was originally the power plant for City Hospital. More recently it housed Element restaurant. Now the re-imaged space has gained new life with the arrival of The Bellwether.
You’ll quickly recover from any holiday food fatigue with these small plates—each impeccably crafted and flawlessly served. Notice they offer a Delicata squash salad, an idea I used for a Thanksgiving meal. Though mine didn’t have all the ingredients shown on the menu above, it was still quite good.
Perfect for Holiday Dining
Short Ribs Ragatoni
French Onion Toasted Ravioli with caramelized onions, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and Emmental cheese fondue.
Delicata Squash Salad with pepita pesto, Gorgonzola cheese, brown butter sage vinaigrette, Jonathan apple, Marconi almonds.
Lamb Meatballs with Aztec blue grits, lamb fat lavash (the cracker at top);, calabrian pepper jam (Calabria is a region on the “toe” of Italy known for its fine food.)
Togarashi Fries with chili pepper, green onions, nuac cham dipping sauce, guchujang ketchup (Togarashi is a Japanese spice blend of chile pepper, hemp seed, poppy seed, black sesame, ginger, orange peel and nori. Guchujang is a staple of Korean cooking.)
Over head lighting gives the place a whiff of Casablanca.
Bellwether. 1419 Carrol Avenue, Lafayette Square neighborhood. Open: Mon-Thu 4:30p-10p; Fri-Sat 4:30p-11p; Sun 4:30p-9p.
