Mockingbird Hill, a Tavern Featuring Chantal Tseng's Sherry and Jamón on 7th Street in Shaw, Now With Coffee During The Day - Closed (but Doing Pop-Ups)

[Ferhat Yalcin]

I only saw the pictures but the place looks very elegant. Anybody tried it yet?

Congrats Derek!

[arleneivana]

We went last Saturday around 6:30pm and got the last three seats at the bar. The food menu is short and spanish - think olives, anchovies, tomato bread and hams - and everything we had was high quality and excellent. I don't recall seeing any "hot" dishes or pintxos, based on the press the owners have been doing I assume we shouldn't expect anything like that. There was a $10 sherry flight featuring three sherries or you could order all the sherries by glass ($6-25/glass) or bottle ($30+). The menu was organized by style and explained each style succinctly. Each sherry came with a small food pairing, for example, the fino with olives, the oloroso with walnuts, the pedro ximenez with a square of dark chocolate, etc. There were also a couple draft beers, a green apple gin & tonic on tap, maybe four or five sherry cocktails, and some wines. Derek and Chantal and two others were serving and we were lucky to have Chantal explain to us what we were drinking and the differences in process for each style. That being said I could barely hear her, partly because she talks so quietly and partly because it could get fairly loud inside. The space is really really lovely, with the feature being the long bar supplemented by a couple tables in the front and a back room that I didn't see but seemed to fit the many people who wandered in after us. Would be a lovely place for a pre- or post-dinner drink, or a light meal if you were so inclined. I can't wait to go back and wish it were open during the day so I could have a sherry with my afternoon reading.

Edited to add: It's a few steps north of the 7th street entrance of the Shaw metro station, for those using that option.

[RWBooneJr]

Any idea how crowded this place has been? I'm headed there tomorrow and am hoping it won't be ridiculous at 8:00.

[hillvalley]

7th and T is now the best and easiest date night in the city: Show at The Howard and Mockingbird Hill before or after.

Here's why I love mockingbird: the menu is very affordable and decadent at the same time. For around $20 not including tax and tip you can sample four of the meats and a flight of sherry. The charcuterie plate is one of the best deals in the city. It's enough for a solo diner to have just enough to feel spoiled or to have a light share. I won't bore you with the details about the meat other than it's really good. Besides, do you really think Derek Brown is going to serve bad pork and duck? My only complaint about the menu is that I'd like to see a vegetable dish or two.

The drinks are reasonably priced. I had a very good glass of Fino for $6. Now, I am no wine expert, but this was not $6 table plonc. I think the most expensive sherry was around $15. My favorite though was the G&T made with Green Hat Gin and house made apple & sage tonic. The best part: it's on tap. Yep, there is G&T on tap at the sherry bar and it's really good. And $8 bucks.

This lovefest does come with one word of warning: The barstools. They are stools with no backs and are tall for this short woman; I couldn't reach my briefcase sized bag with my feet. There are a plethora of hooks but those don't work for big bags.* In the end I was more comfortable than I expected but next time I'll bring a little purse.

*When I'm out I have to be touching my bag in someway at all times. If it doesn't fit on the hook it goes in between my feet. Tall bar stools make this hard.

[darkstar965]

Has anyone done the free class on Tuesdays? I've been wanting to try it but haven't been able to make it yet with how it's scheduled a bit early. Love the concept and, of course, the two principals behind it.

[Mark Dedrick]

I don't know how we went this long without trying this place out, but we finally went this past Friday and absolutely loved it. I don't know if this is typical, but we had no trouble grabbing a seat at the bar, and between about 7:30 and 9 pm the place was never crowded. Excellent sherry selections, and Chantal is the perfect person to steer you through their menu. We only barely experimented with the small plates, but ham tasting and the sardines were both fantastic.

[brr]

we stopped by Saturday night after dinner and scored 4 seats at the bar - I have to admit when i initially heard about this place i thought it would be too precious for its own good but I was wrong - MH is a real gem - the staff were delightful, the drinks were great and the food that we tried was excellent - we will be back

[dcandohio]

So happy to be back in DC! Last night we did a snack and bar crawl. We got to Mockingbird Hill right st 5:00. we each had a different sherry flight ($13 and $14 I think). Chantal gave us a great lesson on what we were drinking and on sherry in general, and while we sat we listened to the other servers giving their information. Everyone working there is passionate and so, so pleasant. LAMB HAM. Do I need to say more? OK. SERANO. Even if you think you don't like sherry you should give it a chance. A little trip to Spain steps from the Shaw metro.

[B.A.R.]

A few weeks ago we popped in to Mockingbird Hill, after a leisurely walk from the Red Hen, with a pit stop at Big Bear Cafe*. I'm not a good enough writer to truly capture how aweome this place is. It's great, really, really great.

It reminded me of the Brewers Art when it opened in Baltimore in the mid-90's. A funky little space with a passionate owner, enthusiastic servers, and a tightly focused selection of products no one really knew they wanted. For the Brewer's Art, it was Belgian beer. For Mockingbird Hill - sherry.

DC has had a long list of cookie-cutter, expense account restaurants that put out very good to excellent fare. The sum of their parts, however, is often soulless.

Mockingbird Hill oozes soul and is an amazing addition to the neighborhood, specifically, and the DC food and wine scene in general.

*for my money, these two adjacent neighborhoods have some of the most exciting restaurants in DC right now. 

[jetton999]

Hello Don Rockwell peeps. Just wanted to send a quick note to tell everyone about our new coffee program that began this past Wednesday at Mockingbird Hill on 7th Street in NW DC. Derek Brown has partnered with 2012 World Cupping Champion Cory Andreen (who owns Cafe CK in Berlin, Germany) to bring an extensive program to the ham and sherry bar.
 
From Sprudge.com:

Andreen's concept for the coffee service at Mockingbird Hill is unique for the DC area in that it isn't a cafe. Rather than taking a standard approach, Andreen is using the reputation and layout of the sherry bar at Mockingbird Hill to create something intimate and new"”a service-oriented approach that focuses on presenting the inherent characteristics of high-end coffees in a unique coffee experience.
 
Mockingbird Hill has an ambitious and exciting global coffee menu, with a rotating selection of 10-15 coffees from reputable roasters like Norway's Tim Wendleboe, Denmark's Coffee Collective, Portland, Oregon's Heart, and Berlin's Five Elephant, with plans to add Workshop and others into the mix in the near future.
 
For now, Andreen says that all pourover coffees will be prepared on black steel Hario V60's and served in a whiskey tumbler alongside a small glass decanter, while iced coffee will be brewed over ice and served on tap from a keg. Mockingbird Hill's unique (non-alcoholic) "mixed coffee drink" selections will include things like the "Cola" (Coffee Collective's Kenya Kieni, soda water, bitters, and sugar), an Addis Tonic (Ethiopia Chelelektu and tonic over a block of ice), and a "White Colombian" that falls somewhere in between a "Caffe al freddo" and a White Russian.

Andreen will also offer tasting flights of coffees brewed with the Espro Press and served in stemless wine glasses. While most everything at Mockingbird Hill's coffee bar is intended to be consumed on-site, Andreen's brewing up different batches of large format coffee each day as well as iced coffee for to-go options, at approachable price points (and served in Happy Cups). In a move currently to trend in North America, cream and sugar will be available on request, but only to be added by the barista. By design, Mockingbird Hill features no espresso machine, with all the focus on Andreen's filter-brew creativity.
 
You can also expect no visible menu, and no line. The idea is to sidle up to the bar, place a drink order, and sit comfortably as a barista makes drinks and serves them to be consumed on site in glassware. According to Andreen, the concept was designed to intentionally pull customers out of their rituals and traditions, and cause them to stop and think about what they're drinking. The glassware and bar creates a mental pause for the guest, if only for a second. It's meant to help change the culture of the city, to get District dwellers to slow down and think about their beverages.

 
Hope to see you all there. Open seven days a week 8AM-3PM.

[LauraB]

Hope to see you all there. Open seven days a week 8AM-3PM.

If I understand your post correctly, Mockingbird Hill will be a coffee bar between 8 am and 3 pm.  Just wondering, will you be serving anything besides coffee?

[jetton999]

Daytime coffee bar hours are 8am-3pm seven days a week. The bar then reopens at 5pm. We have a new chef, Scott Ryan who has implemented a new lunch program that starts at 11...

Light breakfast fare will begin next week...

[Andrew Huber]

Daytime coffee bar hours are 8am-3pm seven days a week. The bar then reopens at 5pm. We have a new chef, Scott Ryan who has implemented a new lunch program that starts at 11...

Light breakfast fare will begin next week...

Thanks for letting us know.  I would just like to echo the sentiments of other posters and let you know that Mockingbird Hill is an absolute treasure for the neighborhood and the city as a whole.  Your staff is just unbelieveably knowledgeable and dedicated to spreading the love for one of the most underappreciated beverages in existence. The sherry list itself is excellently curated, and the food is delicious.

I will absolutely be making many more trips to see what Scott can do.

[weinoo]

First visit last week.  All I can say is that I wish there was a place like this in Manhattan.  Oh yeah, we have Casa Mono, and Donostia, and a few others where sherries are offered by the glass.  Nothing compares to this, though.

Spanish bombs, indeed.

[The Doctor]

For the next few weeks, Mockingbird Hill is taking on a holiday theme and rebranding itself as the "Miracle on 7th Street." Be warned, though, that the lines to get in have been running down the block. I stopped by about 7 last night and there were at least 30 people waiting outside. Some redditors have reported similar experiences.
 

[DaveO]

For the next few weeks, Mockingbird Hill is taking on a holiday theme and rebranding itself as the "Miracle on 7th Street." Be warned, though, that the lines to get in have been running down the block. I stopped by about 7 last night and there were at least 30 people waiting outside. Some redditors have reported similar experiences.

Last week I was at a breakfast meeting and near us were two people, one of whom was describing places in Shaw.  She referenced the holiday theme.  I interrupted them for a moment just to ask which restaurants in Shaw she liked and she responded the Derek Brown restaurants.

"lines are long"  redditors have reported it, she a nearby native referenced it....and its now on DR.   I guess its working!!!!!!!

[Tweaked]

When my brother is in town, we always seem to end up at Mockingbird Hill.  So after pre-dinner drinks at Right Proper, some Ethiopian at Zenebach, we waddled on over.  Tuesday night turned out to be a good night to visit.  Punk on the playlist, a young and enthusiastic bartender willing to offer up samples, and pretty much the place to ourselves.

We went with a sherry flight, discussed the ins and outs of sherry production (some of which I might remember), sampled 7 or 8 different styles of sherry (who knew there was a salty sherry, made from grapes that are coastal and hence pick up salt flavorings), and finally settled on some Bodegas Dios Baco Amontillado and Oloroso sherry.  Produced in a semi-dry style but with some residual sugar for sweetness, without being cloying.  Really, really tasty stuff.  The duck ham and pickled garlic also didn't suck.

Truly one of the great bars in DC.

[Gary Tanigawa]

Mockingbird Will Close For the Summer to Revamp

[Tweaked]

Booooo.  But doesn't surprise me.  It hasn't been very busy the past 3 or 4 times I've stopped in for sherry.  Hopefully it's not a too radical change. 

[Gadarene]

Aw, man.  That sucks a lot.

[Mark Dedrick]

Really disappointing to me. I absolutely love this place, and really enjoyed the fact that it was completely different from anywhere else in the city. 

[Gadarene]

I'd like to know whether it will ever be possible for small, interesting, niche-focused places like this to survive in DC in any significant number (they exist in profusion in a dozen other cities I've visited, large and small).

Call me a pessimist, but I have a hard time thinking so.  And that makes me really sad.

[DPop]

The rebranding is a prudent idea by Derek et al.  I could never get myself excited enough to go out for sherry and ham, even though I tend to enjoy both.

[DonRocks]

1 hour ago, Gadarene said:

I'd like to know whether it will ever be possible for small, interesting, niche-focused places like this to survive in DC in any significant number (they exist in profusion in a dozen other cities I've visited, large and small).

Call me a pessimist, but I have a hard time thinking so.  And that makes me really sad.

Once (and only if) they lift the height restrictions - we've had this discussion more than once.

Very few people in Manhattan would go cross-town for ham and Sherry.

When that time comes, it's the restaurant investors who know the politicians and real estate developers who will get mega-wealthy (it will be like knowing where the Metro stops are going to be, two years before they vote on them).

[Gadarene]

Well, lifting the height restrictions is never going to happen, practically speaking.

So I'm back to being sad!

(I agree that so much of it has to do with density, though.)

[DonRocks]

5 minutes ago, Gadarene said:

Well, lifting the height restrictions is never going to happen, practically speaking.

So I'm back to being sad!

(I agree that so much of it has to do with density, though.)

Never say never. I suspect they'll happen; it's just a matter of when, where, and how much - think of DC in the 1800's.

[Gadarene]

Well, whenever it does or doesn't happen, my perhaps-controversial opinion is that DC can't be considered a great food city until we have a relative profusion of small, chef- or ingredient-driven, interesting, high-quality places.

Which we do not remotely, in the present state of things.

[DonRocks]

Mockingbird Hill and Southern Efficiency became Cherry Blossom Pub for six weeks, from Mar 1 - Apr 15, 2017. Does anyone know if it was the same ownership, or what's in store next?

[eatruneat]

The Washingtonian reports that Mockingbird Hill and Southern Efficiency will be a series of pop-ups for the foreseeable future, aka as long as there are lines down the block to get into the theme du jour. Derek Brown is still involved. Although the article says that they could always change the bars back to what they were, I would bet a lot of money that Mockingbird Hill as we know it is gone as Chantal Tseng is no longer involved in the operation.

[Ericandblueboy]

Went by on a Friday night at 7:30 to see the Game of Thrones pop-up.  The line was far too long for us to wait.

[DanielK]

On 8/5/2017 at 8:29 AM, Ericandblueboy said:

Went by on a Friday night at 7:30 to see the Game of Thrones pop-up.  The line was far too long for us to wait.

I am hearing 3-5 hour (!!!) wait on weekends.

A friend of mine's son is the one that built the dragon for them.

[Marty L.]

27 minutes ago, DanielK said:

I am hearing 3-5 hour (!!!) wait on weekends.

A friend of mine's son is the one that built the dragon for them.

Drove by a 5:00 in the afternoon yesterday--over 200 people in line. Can this possibly be worth it? Don't think I'd wait that long even if there were rumors of a return of Julien Shapiro.

[Ericandblueboy]

3 hours ago, Marty L. said:

Drove by a 5:00 in the afternoon yesterday--over 200 people in line. Can this possibly be worth it? Don't think I'd wait that long even if there were rumors of a return of Julien Shapiro.

Apparently over 200 people think its worth it.  Don't know how many people think it's not worth it....probably over 200 people.  Most people just don't care either way.

[DonRocks]

On 8/6/2017 at 3:55 PM, Marty L. said:

Drove by a 5:00 in the afternoon yesterday--over 200 people in line. Can this possibly be worth it? Don't think I'd wait that long even if there were rumors of a return of Julien Shapiro.

I think waiting in line is sort of its own social event - think of all the midnight video game and book releases, Black Friday, and camping out for concert tickets - none of that stuff can possibly be worth it just to actually obtain the end products. You know you're getting old when you look upon lines like these with scorn.

[DanielK]

18 hours ago, DonRocks said:

I think waiting in line is sort of its own social event - think of all the midnight video game and book releases, Black Friday, and camping out for concert tickets - none of that stuff can possibly be worth it just to actually obtain the end products. You know you're getting old when you look upon lines like these with scorn.

Or we hated that shit so much that we invented web shopping so we didn't have to do it again.