My office is next door to the Red Apron Butcher and The Partisan Restaurant in Penn Quarter, Washington DC.  In the past 1.5 years I’ve walked by the shared front door of these establishments five times every week day and at least one day a week I’ve thought to myself 1) I hear that they have good beer there and 2) the words “Hot Dogs” has the largest font in their front window - that’s kinda punk rock, in bougie NW DC, one block from Fiola, to highlight your hot dogs for sale.  

    I don’t go out much anymore but there was a time in my life when nothing could keep me at home.  In the mid-1980s the Penn Quarter/Chinatown neighborhood was a constant destination for me.  We had DC Space, Bad Brains at the original 9:30 Club, friendly door guys at The Vault and Fifth Column dance clubs - the neighborhood was a punk rock playground.  DC, like me, has changed a lot in the last 30 years.  Now DC has a lot of Starbucks, residences, and restaurants, like The Red Apron Butcher/The Partisan Restaurant at 709 D St NW.  Red Apron/The Partisan is a part of The Neighborhood Restaurant Group portfolio that opened in 2014.  I’ve known about the quality of the craft beer program at The Neighborhood Restaurant Group for many years (Churchkey, Rustico, Blue Jacket, etc).  What I was naive about, until recently, is the quality of their craft meat program, Red Apron Butcher, which I discovered when my coworker asked me to meet her at The Partisan for drinks.   

     We arrived at a packed The Partisan bar at 5:15 on a Thursday night.  The view of the restaurant space from the street is deceiving - when you enter the building the Red Apron Butcher meat counter and retail space kind of hides the entrance to a gigantic, gothic Partisan bar that reminds me of The Vault and Fifth Column clubs of the ‘80s - dark and a little edgy.  The Partisan draft beer list includes a “who’s who” of breweries in DMV and RVA - it’s like a Snallygaster offering list without Cantillon.  I love beer bars where I can drink my way around DC and Virginia beers - from breweries like Aslin, Ocelot, Blue Jacket, The Veil - without having to fight traffic.  I knew that the beer list would be well curated however The Red Apron charcuterie list is the real heavy hitter at The Partisan. I had never considered that contemporary cured meats could be elevated to a craft category - I thought you had to go to Italy, or Spain, to get anything other than like Boar’s Head brand charcuterie.  

     No wonder the “Hot Dogs” font is the largest in the front window - Red Apron Butcher isn’t kidding around.  I am still dreaming of the perfect texture and cut of the sliced and spiced Mortadella Prato, the perfect temperature of the fat on the Sirloin Ham that melted appropriately, the delicious Sopresatta with hints of ginger and nutmeg that we selected from the list of like 20 unique offerings – I can’t wait to go back and eat more meat.  After my visit to Red Apron I did some research about the butcher that crafted the meats on my charcuterie board – Nathan Anda – and discovered that, like a craft beer brewers journey, the journey to creating amazing craft meats is long and requires a lot of research and time to learn how to use the tools and ingredients available to make the best end product.  Red Apron charcuterie, and the house made hot dogs, etc. begin with sustainably raised and humanely treated animals.  The butcher counter also offers cuts of meat, like flank steak, porterhouse, ground beef.  The menu at The Partisan highlights the available craft meats – Italian subs, Steak Frites, and of course the “Haute Dog”.  There are 3 brick and mortar locations – The Partisan, Union Market and Merrifield, VA.   

     We had a glorious happy hour at The Partisan - Chef Nathan Anda’s ability to use tools, time and ingredients to craft meat magic, paired with tasty, fresh, local beers (they also have a creative craft cocktails menu) in a punk rock bar (they play records – mostly alternative from the 90s when I was there) has created a new reason for me to make Penn Quarter/Chinatown a constant destination.  I’m glad I finally ventured in and I’ll be back – good beer, good meat, good times let’s eat….