Newcomer City Tap House, which recently opened in December, will launch Saturday and Sunday brunch service beginning January 18th. Located adjacent to the new City Center, the 180-seat upscale American pub will serve brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Executive chef Scott Swiderski’s a la carte dishes include artisan pizzas, crab cake benedict, chicken & waffles, and foie gras French toast in the mix. Additionally, City Tap House will feature a bottomless brunch bar, which includes endless bloody marys, mimosas and beer-mosas.
“We’re brunch people,” says Brian Cooke, City Tap House’s culinary director. “We look forward to heading out on weekends with friends and family and enjoying an indulgent meal. We really want to nail brunch in DC and create a fun vibe where mimosas and beer-mosas become part of the neighborhoods weekend ritual. Our menu is structured so guests can enjoy a medley of appetizers, or one of our signature entrées like my current favorite, the Chicken & Waffles. We can worry about our diets on Monday.”
Guests can look forward to brunch menu appetizers such as Maple-Sherry Glazed Pork Belly with Local Turnpike cheddar grits, poached egg, and mustard greens; Ham & Cheese with shaved Benton’s ham, spicy pimento cheese, and picked green tomato served on a crostini; Foie Gras French Toast with Hudson Valley foie gras, roasted apple, and port gastrique; Honey Crisp Granola with dried bing cherries and vanilla yogurt, as well as Yellowfin Tuna Tartare with cucumber, scallion, and a ginger dressing.
Signature salads include the Country Caesar with romaine hearts, garlic croutons, and shaved Parmesan; Green Kale Salad with persimmons, pomegranate, pecans, grana padano, and a maple-pecan vinaigrette, and the Salad Niçoise with seared tuna, baby green beans, hard boiled egg, roasted tomato, potatoes, and house vinaigrette. Three varieties of mussels will also available, and served with house-made focaccia. Standouts include the Abigail with roasted garlic butter, leeks, and a Belgian ale broth; Elise with plum tomato, garlic, olive oil, and basil chiffonade, and the Pancho with spicy chorizo, poblano peppers, tomato, and garlic.
Six house-made brick oven pizzas and flatbreads will also be available, and include the Tartufo Pizza with roasted mushrooms, taleggio, guanciale, fried egg, and black truffle; Mediterranean Flatbread with toasted curry hummus, feta, olives, tomato, and cucumber; Three Little Pigs Flatbread with palacios chorizo, fennel sausage, guanciale, broccoli rabe, and fontina, as well as the Honey Goat Cheese Pizza with sliced red onion, pistachio, rosemary, and truffle honey. Popular Craftwiches will include the Cuban Roast Pork Sandwich with shaved ham, house pickles, gruyere, and dijonnaise served on ciabatta; Lobster Roll with poached lobster, celery, green onion, and mayonnaise served on a buttered roll, and the famous Tap Burger with Creekstone Farms ground beef, Lancaster rustic cheddar, agrodolce onions, and beer gastrique served on a toasted brioche. Each craftwich is served with hand cut fries or a green salad.
Main dishes include the Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with caramelized bananas and Vermont maple syrup; Steak & Eggs, hanger steak, potato hash, fried eggs, and truffle aioli; Chicken & Waffles, pan fried chicken, buttermilk waffle, honey thyme butter, coffee stout syrup, and red pepper jam; Crab Cake Benedict, jumbo lump blue crab, poached eggs, and oven-dried tomato hollandaise,as well as the House Smoked Salmon Hash with shaved fennel, fingerling potatoes, poached eggs, and hollandaise.
