Who’s behind it: Restaurateur Stephen Starr and his Starr Restaurants group reopened, and reimagined, a legendary Washington, D.C., restaurant: the Occidental. Located in the historic Willard Hotel, just a block from the White House, the restaurant has been a dining destination for the country’s political leaders since opening in 1906. Starr took over ownership a year and a half ago, following a pandemic-induced closure. The project comes on the heels of two other recent Starr Restaurant openings in the U.S. capital: Pastis and Osteria Mozza.
When it opened: March 5, 2025
Why you should know about it: The Occidental has played a historic role in the D.C. restaurant scene. Perhaps its most significant meal—featuring pork chops and crab cakes—was held between Soviet and U.S. political representatives in 1962, a meeting credited with ending the Cuban Missile Crisis. Today, the restaurant refers to its pork chop as “the Pork Chop That Saved The World.”
Starr Restaurants is also a leader in hospitality, and 13 of the group’s restaurants have earned Wine Spectator Restaurant Awards, including Best of Award of Excellence winners St. Anselm, Barclay Prime and the Clocktower.
[article-img-container][src=2025-03/restaurant-news-occidental-washington-dc-interior-032025_1600.jpg] [credit= (Birch Thomas)] [alt= The interior of the Occidental in Washington D.C.][end: article-img-container]What’s on the wine list: Wine director Samantha McCrimmon manages the 750-selection list, which is composed of primarily Californian, French and Italian wines. McCrimmon comes from D.C. restaurant L’Avant Garde and has managed beverage programs at a range of resorts and hotels.
A notable collection of Napa Valley Cabernets makes up one of the list’s largest sections and includes verticals from Dalla Valle, Dunn and Staglin. West Coast Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays are also well represented, with bottles from Mount Eden Vineyards, Arnot-Roberts, Failla and others.
French picks include wines from the Rhône Valley’s Paul Jaboulet Aîné, Bordeaux’s Château Montrose and Burgundy’s Robert Chevillon, while the Italian section features Cantina Terlano, Paolo Scavino and Idda. A page of dessert wines, mostly late-harvest bottlings and Madeiras, rounds out the list. The beverage program also features Martinis poured tableside, with more than 50 gins and vodkas to choose from, as well as more than 80 whiskeys.
The culinary approach: Head chef Neil O’Connell, who previously worked at Starr’s Pastis in Miami, continues to serve the Occidental’s established menu of American fare. Several items harken back to the restaurant’s fabled past: for instance, a Barnsley lamb chop (once served with kidneys, and now offered with mint jelly), a 21-day dry-aged, salt-crusted prime rib and supremes of grapefruit mixed with honey dressing and dill oil and served in a Martini-style glass. For seafood, there’s shrimp cocktail, tuna tartare and fresh oysters, as well as Chilean sea bass and Dover sole meunière. For dessert, guests can expect baked Alaska, coconut chiffon cake or the eye-catching bananas Foster, flambéed tableside.
The design: The expansive, two-floor restaurant was designed by Ken Fulk (behind other well-known restaurants such as Carbone in Miami) and seats up to 280 guests. With large brass doors, green velvet banquettes, crystal chandeliers and walls adorned with portraits of historic political figures, the opulent space evokes a mid-century atmosphere. The restaurant also has an upstairs cocktail lounge and a 3,200-square-foot outdoor courtyard overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue.
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Source : https://www.winespectator.com/articles/restaurant-news-occidental-washington-dc-bar-kabawa-momofuku-jean-georges-vongerichten
