In the spring, Todd English Enterprises will open a restaurant called Cha (Chinese for tea) in the Thompson’s Hotel Group’s Donovan House hotel on Logan Circle. Designed by the New York-based Studio Gaia, the modern, 3,500-square-foot, 140-seat venue will feature a bar/lounge area (split by a dark mahogany communal table and table-length chandelier) and a main dining room with a private, curtained off, eight-seat banquette. Also on site: a 58-seat private dining room.
The menu, developed by English and executive chef Sam Hazen (who held the same post at Tao restaurants in New York and Las Vegas), is a mix of traditional and modern Asian cuisine (think pork spare ribs and foie gras wontons) with an extensive selection of artisan loose teas and tea-based cocktails.
Cha will be English's second venue in town, alongside K Street's Olives.