{"id":46245,"date":"2026-10-07T22:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T22:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/46245\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T22:00:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T22:00:12","slug":"have-a-first-look-inside-penn-quarters-twinkling-new-american-restaurant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/46245\/","title":{"rendered":"Have a First Look Inside Penn Quarter\u2019s Twinkling New American Restaurant"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new American restaurant with \u201ccelestial\u201d flair opens at the foot of Penn Quarter\u2019s Arlo hotel on Thursday, October 15. Altair, situated under a glassy, greenhouse-like ceiling, provides vantage points of the night sky as diners enjoy everything from glistening oysters to hearty duck courses (333 G Street NW).<\/p>\n

The 82-seat newcomer comes from NYC-based Renwick Hospitality, which operates Arlo-affiliated restaurants like Soho\u2019s seasonal American spot Lindens and its speakeasy Foxtail; the only other Altair, which opened in 2023 in Midtown; as well as Arlo\u2019s Art rooftop bar in D.C., Soho, and Midtown.<\/p>\n

\"Long<\/p>\n

Long Island duck breast with a pistachio crust. Nicholas Ruiz<\/p>\n

Altair slides into the sprawling lobby-level space left behind by Arrels, D.C. chef Pepe Moncayo\u2019s short-lived Spanish restaurant that went dark this spring after just over a year in business. Renwick soon swooped in to plan which of its restaurants would take its place. The D.C. Altair follows the lead of the NYC original, themed after four ancient elements: earth, air, fire, and water.<\/p>\n

Altair\u2019s menu (and its website) went live today, Wednesday, October 7.<\/p>\n

It starts with vegetable small plates that embrace fall: honeynut squash ravioli with brown butter, pancetta, and agrodolce; Persimmon with rocket arugula, asiago, and pumpkin seeds; and beets with creme fraiche, arugula, and hot honey.<\/p>\n

The following \u201cland and sea\u201d section includes a charred diver scallop with smoked celery root and crispy leeks; Mallard duck with almond crust, sunchokes, and sauce l\u2019orange; and rack of lamb with farro granoli, hakuri, and coffee. A \u201cPig Out\u201d for three features pork three ways (pork chop, rinds, ragu and belly) with cannellini beans and cranberry. Like its NY counterpart, there\u2019s foie gras on the menu \u2014 an ingredient making headlines as of late. (D.C. has decided it wants to follow New York in terms of duking it out over whether foie gras should be banned at restaurants.)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A canopy of string lights hovers over the glass-enclosed dining room. Nicholas Ruiz<\/p>\n

Customers at Altair are greeted by a lush cocktail lounge, where drinks are grouped by its ancient elemental theme: Eucalyptus & Yuzu with gin, soju, green chartreuse, shiso leaf (air); Wild Mushrooms with Jefferson\u2019s small-batch bourbon, turbinado, angostura and orange bitters (earth); and Habanero with mezcal, rooibos chai, roasted grapefruit, and lime (fire).<\/p>\n

The 82-seat space was completely transformed by in-demand firm \/3877, which also put together the look of Cranes (another Moncayo restaurant that closed nearby this year), as well as Mi Vida and Ellie Bird. The sprawling restaurant is anchored by a live tree with hanging lanterns, casting a moody canopy over lounge-style seating with earthy colors and wooden finishes.<\/p>\n

\"Further<\/p>\n

Further back in the restaurant, an intimate dining area is lined with banquettes and textiles. Nicholas Ruiz<\/p>\n

Renwick has loose ties to D.C. already with Seed Library, its year-old Nomad offshoot of Ryan Chetiyawardana\u2019s London cocktail bar inside Hotel Park Ave. The master drinks maker, also known as Mr. Lyan, is also behind the daring drinking den Silver Lyan in the depths of the Riggs hotel in Penn Quarter.<\/p>\n

Renwick\u2019s other hotel restaurants sit in the Motto hotels in Times Square (the Alderman) and Chelsea (Lulla).<\/p>\n

\"Diver<\/p>\n

Diver scallops with celery root, crispy leeks, and a banyuls-port reduction. Nicholas Ruiz<\/p>\n

\"Oysters<\/p>\n

Oysters glistening with grapefruit mignonette bubbles. Nicholas Ruiz<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new American restaurant with \u201ccelestial\u201d flair opens at the foot of Penn Quarter\u2019s Arlo hotel on Thursday, October 15. Altair, situated under a glassy, greenhouse-like ceiling, provides vantage points of the night sky as diners enjoy everything from glistening oysters to hearty duck courses (333 G Street NW). The 82-seat newcomer comes from NYC-based<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46246,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[2672,290,291],"class_list":["post-46245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-dc-restaurant-openings","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-restaurants"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dc\/117401880215944054","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}