The Atlas Room, opening this summer in the old Napa 1015 space (1015 H St)

The Atlas Room (1015 H St) comes to us later this summer from owner Matt Cordes and chef de cuisine Bobby Beard. Cordes is experienced in some of DC's best kitchens including Bob Kinkead's Colvin Run Tavern, Gerard's Place, Vidalia, Evening Star Cafe, and 701. He was also the opening chef at Russia House, which is from the group behind Biergarten Haus. Cordes is currently preparing for his master sommelier exam and plans a nice wine list and various cocktail offerings alongside a seasonal, new American dinner menu.

Cordes's partner in the kitchen will be Bobby Beard. Beard was previously chef at Vermillion in Old Town Alexandria. He had also been executive chef at Pesce in Dupont Circle, and previously a sous-chef for Michel Richard at Citronelle. H Street star Chef Teddy Folkman of Granville Moore's and Food Network Fame cooked with Beard when he was at Vemillion several years ago.

The duo intend to draw on their extensive fine dining experience to bring a seasonal new american menu that highlights their experience with french cooking techniques. They plan to do a mix of larger and smaller plates with about a dozen menu items to be available in bite sizes, appetizer sizes, or entree sized portions. The menu will change every two to three months with the season. The chefs intend to take their drink offerings as seriously as their high end cuisine with plans for a high quality wine list and a creative bar chef-creative cocktail list as well to complement the offerings from the kitchen.

They are in the midst of their build out to refurbish the interior of the building and currently shooting to open by August. The plan is for roughly 55 seats with the majority devoted to the dining room and the rest part of a decent sized bar area. They should be very welcome addition to growing dining scene on H Street.