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| The main focus at Emissary will be coffee. |
A new cafe is coming to Dupont and promises to bring both cocktails and coffee to the busy corner of 21st and P NW. I had a chance to talk to the GM and get an early look at the still developing interior spaces last week.
Aside: Emissary will open in the building I first knew as Cafe Japone, a favorite karaoke spot for a few hot years, although I'm not sure I ever ate food there. Anyway, I have fond memories related to this particular building.
Emissary will occupy the downstairs, ground floor level at at 2032 P Street NW. The idea is that the establishment will be coffee-first. It's the first thing you'll see when walking through the front door and the providers at open will be Counter Culture (great choice). The look inside is cool and clean with a lot of exposed brick, counters that appear to be marble --although I'm not good identifying stone-- and simple cool colors for for tables and chairs. They'll serve pour over and batch brewed along with most of the espresso drinks you'd expect from a good coffee shop.
Walking past the first room, the shop goes deeper and opens up into two additional rooms. The "middle" room looks to me like it could be a flex space of sorts and has cool bar seating that looks into the kitchen area. They have a small kitchen, so some sort of food service is not out of the question. This room is warm with high-top, wood seats at the bar, and the bar itself is pretty classy looking with more marble at the counter top.
The innermost room has a wooden bar in a compartmentalized bar area that opens to another seating area which includes a long, high-backed wooden bench. This room seems to have more of the relaxed bar vibe where you'll eventually be able to get a cocktail --they're developing a dedicated cocktail program-- or maybe chill with a glass of wine or other drink. The furniture and seating weren't quite complete when I stopped by, but I could see either a series of two top tables for more intimate feel, or a couch for a more communal chill vibe. Not sure what the owners will do, but the bar area has potential to be a great hangout space.
Another aside: I'm not sure I want to bring this back, per se, but over on The 42, I ran a series called Coffee/Riot, documenting the coffee shops I visited in DC over the years. There are so many great shops now, I can hardly keep up. But, maybe I'll bring it back under another name. In the meantime, read about the shops covered over the years via The 42 Bus blog.]
More photos:
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| Main entrance. |
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| Coffee is the star at this establishment. |
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| Cool light fixtures and exposed brick. |
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| Seating looking out onto P St NW. |
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| Bar area in what I'm calling "the middle room." |
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| Bar area in the innermost room. Looks small, but camera angle is kind of weird. |
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| Long wooden bench and more cool lighting in the innermost room. |
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| Emissary is located at the corner of 21st and P Streets NW. |
