An Asian food hall, a stunning basement pub and other new restaurants and bars to check out now

A few years ago, a restaurant offering a seven-course, $110 tasting menu in Ivy City would have been unthinkable. But chef Matt Baker's Gravitas, which offers menus with as few as four courses, sets itself apart from the competition in both looks and menu. Food critic Tom Sietsema's first impressions: “From 'Light Beginning,' one of four menu categories, I opt for a summer salad that yields a wreath of colorful herbs and vegetables — cornets of summer squash, ribbons of carrot, miniature eggplant — interspersed with tufts of whipped goat cheese. 'Indulgence,' my second plate, is just that, panko-crusted, soft-centered sweetbreads encircled in lightly charred petals of pearl onion, each holding a drop of Madeira jus.” Up next: A two-seat chef's counter and a rooftop bar “enclosed in a greenhouse.” 1401 Okie St. NE. 

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