Viridian Closes After Two Years

Neighbors and food lovers alike are buzzing with the sad news that 14th Street's Viridian has closed. A sign outside the door announces the closure and thanks patrons for their support.

What's too bad is that just last week, I added the restaurant to my list of places I'm currently eating. I wrote: "After one too many changes early on (chef shuffling, shifting menu focus) and inconsistent service, I had sort of written Viridian off. I'm glad to say I've had some delicious meals there recently, as well as some nicely crafted cocktails. Chef Michael Hartzer, formerly of Citronelle and Ray's the Classics, took over in early 2007, and I'm glad he stuck around. An attractive new partition in the back makes the dining room less vacuous and creates a nice private dining nook."

Oh well. I'll be listening out for where Hartzer heads next and hoping the space (one of the closest restaurants to Metrocurean headquarters) doesn't stay empty for long.

Comments

Anonymous said…
My partner and I noticed this yesterday morning while we were walking the dog. We were quite bummed. We always enjoyed our meals there, and went for both brunch and dinner with at least vague regularity (enough that we knew the waitstaff we liked, though probably not often enough that they knew us in return!)

Viridian filled a nice gap in the neighborhood -- fancy enough to take the in-laws for a celebratory dinner, but still a reasonable way to do dinner before seeing a show at Studio.

We'll definitely miss it (especially in a few weeks when we have our next Studio subscription tickets; we'd already planned to eat at Viridian!)
1/02/2008 5:27 PM
EdTheRed said…
I figured it was over a few weeks ago when I got a Viridian flyer in the mail...I believe it might even have included a coupon. My wife and I both figured that wasn't exactly a sign of good things to come.

It will be missed, though. Hopefully something decent will fill the space soon - it really is a great location.
1/02/2008 5:59 PM
Anonymous said…
oh how sad
1/03/2008 1:02 AM
City Girl DC said…
That's too bad. I never got a chance to eat there.
1/03/2008 10:11 AM
Anonymous said…
I agree that the food became consistently better in 2007 but Viridian always struck me more as fitting better with the downtown business crowd than the Logan neighborhood. The recent addition of Viridian's lounge made it a little bit more conducive to popping in for a quick bite. I wish the staff well and look forward to a more casual, neighborhood restaurant to move in. Maybe a gastropub or a nice wine-centric restaurant like Proof. A Jose Andres outpost would be great but I'm also just hungry for some fried dates (mmmmm).
1/03/2008 11:02 AM
Alex H. said…
That's a bummer - My gf and I just had our New Year's Eve dinner there on Monday. It was delicious and I was hoping to go there for brunch at some point...sad.
1/03/2008 11:20 AM
Dave Kumar said…
Oh crap -- I recently bought a gift certificate from Viridian, which I ended up keeping for myself after buying a different gift. I wonder if they will offer me a refund, or whether that money is lost ....
1/03/2008 3:45 PM
Dennis! said…
That's a shame... I loved that place!
1/03/2008 9:28 PM
lacochran said…
Shocking! Thanks for sharing the news.
1/04/2008 5:49 PM
Jon said…
Another closing to report on 14th is Dakota Cowgirl.

I walked past there last evening and the place was dark and a sign read "Thanks for eight great years."

I wasn't really a fan of this place, but what's happening to our neighborhood on 14th? Hmm...
1/05/2008 12:59 PM
Anonymous said…
- I had the best pink pork loin there ever.
- Also, the hot pepper infused cocktail was excellent, but they discontinued it.
- Sad news, of course, because it represented good modern American that was not too affected.
- The sloppy dress of the waitstaff was inappropriate, however; that style decision smacked of trying to be hipper-than-thou.
1/05/2008 2:21 PM
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