The Occidental opened in Washington, D.C., in 1906, just two blocks from the White House. The restaurant inside the Willard Hotel was a go-to spot for politicos and world leaders for decades, getting reimagined into a few different iterations during that time. It famously served as the meeting place for a Russian KGB official and an American news correspondent who, in 1962, convened over pork chops and crab cakes to discuss a peaceful end to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Starr Restaurants wants to return The Occidental to its former glory. The Stephen Starr-led group took over the iconic concept and debuted the space with a new look on March 5.
“The Occidental is so quintessentially D.C.,” said Starr, noting its preferred status among politicians, celebrities, and international jetsetters. “As soon as I saw the space and learned about the legendary guests who mingled here, I knew that I wanted to recreate that sort of special, convivial but really approachable place where Washington’s cultural worlds could come together.”
Designer Ken Fulk reimagined the space with nostalgic, mid-century touches. Photo credit: Birch Thomas
Designer Ken Fulk reimagined the space with nostalgic, mid-century touches. Photo credit: Birch Thomas
To give the historic restaurant new life, Starr enlisted designer Ken Fulk, whose résumé includes multiple projects for Major Food Group, based in New York City, and Groot Hospitality of Miami.
Guests at The Occidental enter the 14,000-square-foot, 280-seat restaurant through brass doors and into an entryway of black-and-white marble floors. The dining room features vintage touches, including aged parquet floors, crystal chandeliers, and upholstered velvet furniture in shades of green and yellow. A separate bar and second-floor cocktail lounge provide additional indoor seating areas, while a 3,200-square-foot garden-style courtyard is dotted with white-clothed tables and lush greenery.
The menu features American classics like shrimp cocktail, and Martinis are served tableside. Photo credit: Birch Thomas
The menu features American classics like shrimp cocktail, and Martinis are served tableside. Photo credit: Birch Thomas
The menu features classic American dishes updated for the current generation of diners. It begins with a raw bar and seafood items like oysters, shrimp cocktail, and caviar served with all the usual accompaniments. There’s a shrimp Louie salad and lobster bisque, plus crab cakes and steak tartare.
Entrées include beef Stroganoff, Dover sole meunière, and “the pork chop that saved the world,” a grilled heritage pork chop with gremolata and fondant potato that nods to the fateful 1962 meeting.
A section dubbed “from the Occidental broiler” features steaks and prime rib, and sides keep the nostalgia going with options like steak fries, creamed spinach, and onion rings.
Entrées include steaks, Dover sole, and, pictured “the pork chop that saved the world.” Photo credit: Birch Thomas
Entrées include steaks, Dover sole, and, pictured “the pork chop that saved the world.” Photo credit: Birch Thomas
The Occidental’s cocktail menu is equally focused on classics. Martinis are mixed tableside with the guest’s pick from more than 50 gins and vodkas, and Manhattans can be customized from a selection of more than 80 whiskeys.
The wine list is also expansive, featuring bottles from wine-growing regions around the world, including stateside favorites from California and Washington as well as less-expected European spots like Greece, Lebanon, and Armenia.
The Occidental isn’t the only buzzy D.C. opening from Starr Restaurants. Last January, the Philadelphia-based group opened an outpost of its popular brasserie Pastis in the capital city, and in November they teamed with chef Nancy Silverton to open Osteria Mozza.
A spokesperson confirmed that the Starr team is currently working on opening another Pastis in Nashville, refreshing Babbo in NYC, and opening a new concept called Borromini in Philadelphia, with additional projects in the pipeline.
