MVT: Michael Schlow Debuts New Crudo Bar, Conosci, on Friday 4/15

James Beard award winning chef Michael Schlow will open Conosci, [pronounced ka-no-shi], on Friday, April 15. Conosci, which translates loosely to ‘do you know?’ or ‘are you aware of’ in Italian, is an intimate 30-seat crudo bar, tucked away inside Schlow’s latest DC restaurant, Alta Strada City Vista. Guests enter through lush, blue velvet drapes to be transported to a completely different dining experience from Conosci’s Italian counterpart, which serves imaginative crudos, a daily soup, seasonal vegetable dishes, and other inspired creations.

Fresh seafood will be front and center, but exquisite vegetable and meat preparations also find a place on the menu. With a la carte options available, guests can also choose from two tasting menus of either $45 per person, or an experience of $135 per person, giving diners the ability to leave the menu entirely up to Schlow, his executive chef Michael Zentner and their team of cooks. Conosci’s menu will be updated daily, and items will vary based on seasonality and the chef’s whims; opening menu examples include hamachi with uni, caviar, and “miracle sauce” and tuna poke with chiles, furikake, cilantro and yuzu. The menu will also feature meat dishes like tataki of prime beef with asparagus, miso mustard and crispy chicken skin, along with vegetarian options in the “market vegetable” section like snap peas with radish, mint, walnuts and pecorino.

The cocktail program, overseen by Schlow Restaurant Group’s Christine Kim and Anthony Marlowe, features a vintage bar cart stocked with a carefully selected list of spirits, mixers and house-made juices, syrups and bitters. There will be no bar, and all cocktails will be mixed tableside from the cart according to the taste preferences of the guest. Cocktails will change seasonally and feature unique creations such as ‘You, Me, & Boshi’ made with sake, lemon, umeboshi plum, and plum bitters.

Designed by Edit Lab, Conosci is cozy yet elevated, and the space is lit by hundreds of candles reflecting off silvered walls. Beaded chandeliers drop down over a marble counter with a glossy aubergine face, which serves as a stage for the work of the chefs. Black and white and cobalt blue paintings from Schlow’s wife Adrienne, a mixed media artist, adorn the walls while the vintage bar cart lives in the middle of the room. Deeply tufted banquettes add a personal feel to the setting.

Open for dinner service only, Conosci’s operating hours are from 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Reservations can be made by calling (202) 629-4662. 

For more information visit conoscidc.com.