Media Release

Contact: Heather Freeman

               (800) 987-9806

               Freemanhb@aol.com

 

Zola Promises an Intriguing Dining Interior for

 Historic Penn Quarter

 

Washington, D.C.--Zola, the new 6,000-square-foot restaurant created through a partnership between Dan Mesches of the Star Restaurant Group, LLC and The Malrite Company, opened its doors August 8th to reveal an elegant, modern American restaurant designed by the nationally recognized architectural firm of Adamstein & Demetriou. The 175-seat restaurant, located on the corner of F and 8th Streets, N.W. has a sleek, sophisticated look.   Zola, the International Spy Museum’s Spy City Café, and the Museum’s private dining facilities are the latest endeavor for the Star Restaurant Group. The company’s successful ventures also include Washington D.C.’s Red Sage, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary, and Cascata, a northern Italian white table cloth restaurant, which opened last February. 

 

 “We loved the space and chose to build our restaurant in the wonderful, historic Le Droit building, which is also home to Washington’s exciting, new International Spy Museum.  Guests dining in Zola find the connection to espionage indirect, even subliminal. We are able to pay tribute to the shadow world in a highly sophisticated, very understated manner, yet retain our stand-alone restaurant concept and quality.  Even the name ‘Zola’ is a subtle nod to Emile Zola, the famed French author who penned the Dreyfus Affair disclosing the falsely accused spy,” says Dan Mesches.

 

Adamstein & Demetriou combine images, texts, and design elements to bring to mind suspense and intrigue without ever directly referencing specific sites or events.  The effect is both alluring and edgy, adding to Zola’s unusual, evocative sense of style.

Noted Washington, D.C. artist Jim Sanborn worked in collaboration with the designers to create innovative art for Zola. The works include code-like impressions of words and symbols that appear to glow on backlit acrylic panels lining the entrance corridor; his trademark shredded paper pulp panels, molded with raised text, are showcased in the back bar and private dining rooms. Sanborn’s light fixtures, made from metal sheeting and cut to project letters, words and symbols, cover recesses in the walls.

 

“By working with Sanborn, we are ensuring that the product has integrity and is both intellectually and emotionally stimulating,” says Theo Adamstein.  Sanborn’s public art includes works at the CIA in Langley, Virginia; the University of Connecticut; and the Internal Revenue Service. 

 

”Our design concept taps into ideas of illusion and concealment, transparency and discovery, cryptology and encoding,” says Adamstein.  Partner Olvia Demetriou adds, “We’re hoping that everything we’ve come up with is going to give this other worldly feel throughout the space that guests can’t quite put their finger on.  We’ve painted a mood.”

 

Design elements include:

 

Original architectural features, especially the huge and beautiful windows flanking F and 8 Streets and a grand interior staircase, plus all the historic building’s original trim, door frames, and portals. 

 

Four contiguous dining rooms feature warm cherry woods, dramatic, high-backed deep red velvet booths.  Neutral shades, accented with rich reds and warm gold tones are combined with dark ebony wood portals and lighter cherry wall panels to enhance the open and inviting atmosphere. 

 

Dramatic spy ovals cut through the six, stunning red booths, reminiscent of luxurious train berths, allow guests a peek into the adjacent quarters.  These elliptical openings are actually different heights and sizes, but all line up permitting guests in the corridor to see clearly across the four rooms.

 

A carefully placed window in the back of each spacious booth provides a view into Zola’s kitchen where chefs perform their magic.

 

Additional focal points include the three oval wine stations within the restaurant, showcasing vintages and the occasional display of a chilled magnum of champagne.

 

For an added element of mystery and privacy, Adamstein & Demetriou designed giant glass panels imprinted with images from the world of film noir.  These pixilated black and white photographs separate the intimate dining rooms, while inviting guests to steal a glimpse of tables in the distance.

 

Zola contains no fluorescent lighting.  Incandescent, warm light saturates the spaces, including the dramatic spotlights placed along the entrance corridor, which beam from both the ceiling and floor. Filtered lights at the host stand project coded text onto the floor, exposing the guests who pass beneath it.

 

The sleek oval bar, lit from within, combines rich cherry wood, tectonic metal sheeting and rich red velvet fabric.  The back bar features a wall of red transparent film laminated to mirror.  Sanborn-designed lighting fixtures are inset into recesses in the walls.  An intimate room off the bar features two tall, round booths with a red velvet enclosure, making the edge dining special.

 

A wire grid of declassified intelligence documents from around the world hangs in the historic stairwell.  The documents, printed in several languages, are sandwiched between Plexiglas and connected by steel, making one large 8’ x 12’ sheet.

 

One-of-a-kind bathrooms feature stall doors with peek holes and a vanity mirror, which is backlit with splashes of red light.  The faux peepholes on the stall doors are cause for a closer look, which reveals the windows aren’t transparent as the glass is frosted. 

 

Zola’s elegant private dining room, complete with a working fireplace, can accommodate up to 40 guests for a seated dinner.  This handsome room has expansive windows overlooking the National Portrait Gallery and features state-of-the-art audiovisual amenities including T1 Internet access and video conferencing capabilities. 

 

Adamstein and Demetriou also designed the International Spy Museum private event space, available exclusively through Zola.  This unique light-filled loft seats up to 150 guests and features historic windows flanking F and 9th Streets, including a dramatic open balcony. 

 

 

Zola, located at 800 F Street, NW, is open every daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.  It is directly across the street from the National Portrait Gallery, within four blocks of the National Mall, steps away from the MCI Center, and within one block of FBI headquarters, Ford’s Theatre, and the 7th Street Arts Walk.  Zola is one block from the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metrorail station, serviced by the red, yellow, and green lines. Valet parking is available in the evening. For reservations, call (202) 654-0999.