The Sovereign, Chef Peter Smith's Belgian Bistro with a Belgian Beer List Designed by Greg Engert - Wisconsin Avenue and M Street in Georgetown

[TedE]

Wow, I hadn't heard a peep about this.  From the Prince of Van Ness (nee Petworth):

 

"The Sovereign Will Showcase the Widest Array of Drafts and Bottles from the Very Best Belgian Brewers" on popville.com

[DonRocks]

Just so my "Wisconsin and M" in the title isn't confusing, The Sovereign will be at the end of that alley on the Northwest quadrant of the intersection, in the old Blue Gin and Champions Sports Bar space - the entrance to the alley is immediately south of Abercrombie & Fitch:

Next time you see me, ask me to tell you about the only time I've seen Tom Sietsema visibly angry.

And here's a little blast from the past:

"Champions Comes Back from the Dead" on georgetownmetropolitan.com

[cheezepowder]

Fritz Hahn of the Washington Post tweeted that Neighborhood Restaurant Group will be opening the Sovereign the middle of next week.  It's located at 1206 Wisconsin Ave, NW, in Georgetown.  Greg Engert chose the Belgian beers, and Peter Smith will be cooking.  See Fritz Hahn's Washington Post article for more details.

[cheezepowder]

Opening tomorrow, Feb. 4, 2016, via Sovereign's tweet.

[JBag57]

The website is not functional, but the dinner and draft menus can be accessed via their Facebook page (sorry do not know how to do those hyperlinks you guys use), and are actually hosted on the DC Beer website.  I attended a pre-opening party, and they did a really nice job on the buildout.  Did not get to sample much of the food, though, so will need to go back.

If you are going, and are not familiar with where Champions was, and The Sovereign now is, it is down a short alley to the left of the Abercrombie and Fitch store on Wisconsin Avenue, one building up from M Street.

[Kev29]

dinner and draft menus

[lion]

Champions, woo, that was a long time ago! Back in the day when Georgetown was really a bunch of bars. Times really have changed. 

[robyn]

I went to Sovereign with a group of friends last Sunday night and was really impressed. Huge and flavorful mussels and crisp, proper Belgian fries. I had the burger, which was excellent. A friend had the coq au vin, which was succulent.

I'm a huge fan of Belgian beer. We had a bottle of the Cantillon Fou' Foune to start, and it was one of the best beers I have ever had.

The bartenders are as helpful as at Churchkey, but the food is so much more appetizing. We're excited to go back to try the other Cantillon bottles and other beers on the menu.

[washingtony]

I love beer and I love all things Belgian but I admit that I wasn't terribly excited for Sovereign.  It's fairly easy these days to find great beer at places with better food than Churchkey or Bluejacket.  Not to mention that I so rarely go to Georgetown.  But last night my wife and I decided on a whim to check it out.  Jesus, that was the best decision we've made in a while.

Their beer menu is bonkers.  For example: Saison Dupont on draft (I've never seen that in the United States); a gueze of the day (last night's Boon Mariage Parfait 2011 was very good);  nearly an entire page of Cantillon bottles; nearly a half dozen Fantome bottles; for the love of Tintin, four different Westvleteren bottles!  They limit Cantillon and Westy (and maybe others) to a single bottle per group per visit.

The food was much better than I expected.  A solid cheese plate, pretty good vegetarian options, and thankfully Liege style waffles instead of Brussels style.

Overall, I'm very impressed and will definitely be back.  Just next time I'll bring a change of clothes and a fake mustache so I can do a flight of Westy 12 in different years.

[DonRocks]

Huge and flavorful mussels and crisp, proper Belgian fries. I had the burger, which was excellent. A friend had the coq au vin, which was succulent. 

Brooks, you keep this up, and you're going places. Kudos!