(Updated at 9:35 a.m. on 4/2/2024) Fresh off this past Saturday’s Easter celebration, Capital One Center in Tysons is gearing up to launch two restaurants and a new edition of Perchfest later this spring.
Stellina Pizzeria and Starr Hill Brewpub are both expected to open in late April, though precise dates haven’t been established yet, according to Capital One Center.
If that timeline holds, Stellina’s opening will come more than two years after it announced plans to expand with a 4,100-square-foot restaurant on the ground floor of Capital One’s headquarters (1610 Capital One Drive). This will be the D.C.-based pizzeria’s fourth location.
Starr Hill Brewpub hasn’t been in the works for quite as long. After opening a biergarten in The Perch in 2021, Starr Hill Brewery shared last year that it will add a 7,572-square-foot, street-level eatery at 7730 Capital One Tower Road. The pub will feature an expanded food menu and two bars with more than 20 beers on tap.
Both restaurants will arrive in time for Perchfest, the celebration that Capital One Center holds every spring and fall at The Perch. The tradition began in September 2021 as a grand opening for the 2.5-acre urban green space on top of Capital One Hall.
Scheduled for May 3 and 4, the spring 2024 Perchfest will have a “retro” theme that organizers hope attendees will support by wearing 1980s and 1990s attire.
“Capital One Center is delighted to host the next celebration of Perchfest…which has become an exceptional rooftop experience for our community and Capital One associates,” Capital One Center Head of Public Affairs Meghan Trossen said. “This will be our sixth Perchfest — and each year the event grows. Our community asked for a throwback theme, and we listened! We can’t wait to host the ultimate retro party for all our 80’s and 90’s kids!”
The proceedings will kick off from 2-6 p.m. on May 3 with a revival of the Perch Putt Open, a charity mini golf tournament first introduced at last September’s festival. Funds will go to Miriam’s Kitchen, a nonprofit dedicated to ending homelessness and the festival’s charity partner.
While the rest of Perchfest is free with a ticket, Capital One Center is encouraging donations. The development has raised over $25,000 for Miriam’s Kitchen, as of last Thursday (March 28), and hopes to reach $30,000.
Other festivities will include a free fitness class, pie-eating contests, a Made in Fairfax pop-up market sponsored by Celebrate Fairfax, a Kentucky Derby-related event at the restaurant Wren, and live music at both Starr Hill Biergarten and Starr Hill Brewpub, which will host “Perchfest After Dark” concerts.
Capital One Park, the baseball stadium across the street at 1820 Dolley Madison Drive, will also be active with three scheduled games between Marymount University and Marywood University from Dunmore, Pennsylvania.
The full festival schedule is below. Read More
Capital One Center will bound into spring later this month with an Easter celebration at The Perch (1803 Capital One Drive).
The Tysons skypark is inviting kids and their parents to an Easter egg hunt on March 30. Visitors will have a chance to meet an Easter bunny, along with actual bunnies, alpacas and a baby goat in a petting zoo run by My Pet Alpaca.
Other activities include sack races, balloon animals, arts and crafts, and “special entertainment” from a DJ at the Perch Putt mini-golf course, according to a media advisory.
After closing for the winter, Perch Putt will reopen this Saturday (March 23) with a new Korean food truck called Bap-Bowl. The menu includes DIY rice, greens and japchae bowls, kimchi, a Korean corn dog and soft-serve ice cream.
For the Easter celebration, the tiki bar Rhum Roost will serve “festive” beverages, such as Peeps hot chocolate and mimosa buckets, and Dos Los Carlos, another food truck, will have breakfast tacos.
Easter at The Perch will also feature:
- A pop-up box office offering fee-free tickets to upcoming shows at Capital One Hall
- Free chair massages from the nail salon and spa Nothing in Between (1590 Capital One Drive)
- A Magnolia Dessert Bar pop-up from Sisters Thai, which is set to open its largest restaurant yet at Capital One Center this year
Tickets for the Easter egg hunt cost $22.20, including an online processing fee, but the rest of the event is free. Capital One Center charges $10 for event parking, advising visitors to instead utilize the nearby McLean Metro station.
Located 11 stories up on top of Capital One Hall, The Perch opened in August 2021 with a dog park, bocce ball pits, an amphitheater and Starr Hill Biergarten. The mini golf course and food trucks were added to the 2.5-acre green space in May 2022.
In the works since early 2022, Sisters Thai’s Tysons restaurant is under construction at 7730 Capital One Tower Road and will feature an outpost of Magnolia, which can currently only be found in Vienna. Capital One Center also anticipates that Stellina Pizzeria, Ox & Rye and Starr Hill Brewpub will open this year.
A more specific timeline for the upcoming restaurants remains elusive, but the development did announce that Ometeo (1640 Capital One Drive North) — a Tex-Mex eatery that arrived in December — added lunch hours this week, opening every weekday at 11:30 a.m.
(Updated at 6 p.m. on 2/9/2024) A former staffer for state Sen. Barbara Favola has ushered a new postpartum care center into the world.
Sanu Postnatal Retreat launched on Jan. 31 at The Watermark Hotel (1825 Capital One Drive South) in Tysons, offering stays ranging from three to seven or more nights to new parents in the post-hospital period of recovery from a pregnancy.
Founder and CEO Julia Kim, who previously worked as a chief of staff for Favola and former delegate Mark Keam, spent two years working with medical advisors to develop Sanu, which was inspired by Korean sanhujoriwon centers that provide postpartum care to mothers and infants.
“Sanu is driven by a mission to normalize a culture of postpartum care by providing foundational, focused support so families can thrive during this critical period and beyond,” Kim said. “Our signature postnatal retreat is anchored by the belief that a strong foundation for parenthood begins with judgment-free, mother-centered care, because a supported mother has whole-family benefits.”
A mother of two, Kim pivoted from a 15-plus-year career in politics and policymaking after experiencing a “difficult postpartum journey,” according to a press release.
To develop Sanu, she worked with physician and postpartum wellness consultant Dr. Kristal Lau, mindfulness expert Lisa Abramson and nursing educator Dr. Esther Park.
Modeled after the traditional Korean concept of “sam-chil-il,” a 21-day resting period following a pregnancy, the retreat’s 24-hour, customized services include a nursery, feeding assistance, mental health services, parenting classes, IV therapy and postnatal massages.
According to the press release, The Watermark Hotel was chosen as Sanu’s first location for “its elevated residential-style suites” that, in some cases, have kitchenettes.
All suites feature extraordinary beds dressed in luxury linens for a well-deserved rest experience, fine bassinet linens, and luxury personal care, as well as high-tech nightlights and baby monitors. In addition, rooms are stocked with clean, high-performance diapers and wipes from Coterie and other premium baby care products. The floor also houses a tranquil parents-only lounge and a separate 24-hour nursery staffed with medically accredited caregivers.
During their stay, guests can get chef-prepared breakfasts and dinners from Wren, the Japanese restaurant in the hotel lobby, and lunches from the meal delivery service MightyMeals.
Sanu is currently open for reservations, which can be booked through its website and start at $975.
Capital One Park is winding up for another year of baseball.
Capital One Center unveiled a schedule yesterday (Thursday) for the ballpark’s second season since it opened at 1820 Dolley Madison Drive in Tysons on March 31, 2023.
The season will kick off earlier this year, with Marymount University squaring off against Hampden-Sydney College on Feb. 17. The Arlington-based Catholic university’s baseball team will join the Georgetown Hoyas in making Capital One Park its “home” stadium for 2024.
Georgetown University’s team will make its local debut on March 1 with the first of three games against Fairleigh Dickinson University, which is visiting from New Jersey. The Hoyas are also scheduled to play Cornell, Maryland University, George Mason University, George Washington University and other Division 1 teams at Capital One Park.
Designed for collegiate and high school games, the stadium will also again host the entire season of the nonprofit Potomac Summer League. The college-level, eight-team D.C. area league is set to start practices during the first week of June.
Other highlights of Capital One Park’s upcoming season include two college tournaments in May, with the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament taking over on May 9-11 and the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament following on May 19-25.
This season will also bring some new amenities, including more bleacher seating, a merchandise kiosk, locker rooms and a rentable “party deck,” according to Capital One Center, the mixed-use development emerging at Capital One’s headquarters in Tysons.
Planned for 6 million square feet, the 35-acre campus already consists of 3 million square feet of commercial development, including a performing arts venue in Capital One Hall, The Watermark Hotel and The Perch skypark. The Tex-Mex restaurant Ometeo opened in December and is slated to be joined by Sisters Thai, Stellina Pizzeria, Ox & Rye and Starr Hill Brewpub this year.
Northern Virginia has lured another D.C. sports team across the Potomac River.
Georgetown University’s baseball team will play most of its home games this year at Capital One Park in Tysons, the Hoyas announced yesterday.
The team was based at the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy in the District last year after bouncing between the Nats academy, Shirley Povich Field in Rockville and Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf, Maryland, for the 2022 season.
The Hoyas won 30 games in both of those seasons, a first for the program, and a pre-season coaches’ poll projected it to finish fourth this year in the NCAA’s Division I Big East Conference, according to the team.
“We are really excited to play at Capital One Park this spring as it is an amazing first-class venue that will provide our fans a great experience,” Hoyas Baseball Head Coach Edwin Thompson said. “We look forward to providing a great product on the field and we know with Capital One Park’s amazing amenities, our fans will enjoy the gameday experience. We look forward to opening day at our new home this spring!”
Capital One Park opened at 1820 Dolley Madison Blvd for its inaugural season at the end of March 2023, hosting over 200 high school and college-level baseball games. The stadium features a synthetic turf field and can seat 650 people in fixed and bleacher seats.
The stadium is part of Capital One Center, the financial corporation’s headquarters campus in Tysons. Slated to be supplemented at some point by an urban park, the facility is intended to be temporary until the mixed-use residential and office buildings approved for the site can be constructed.
Capital One Park’s 2024 season will kick off in February. A full schedule is expected to be available this week, according to a spokesperson for Capital One Center.
The news that the Hoyas will make Tysons their new home came just a month after Washington Capitals and Wizards owner Ted Leonsis announced plans to relocate the professional hockey and basketball teams to Alexandria, though whether that vision comes to fruition remains to be seen.
(Updated at 4:40 p.m.) After almost four years of dreaming, planning and building, the team behind Ometeo is ready to introduce its spin on Tex-Mex cuisine to Tysons.
The new restaurant will open to the public for the first time at 1640 Capital One Drive tomorrow (Wednesday), Long Shot Hospitality Partner Jeremy Carman confirmed to FFXnow.
Ometeo recently announced through Eater DC that it would open this week but hadn’t landed on an exact date yet. At least initially, it will be open at 4-10 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday and 4-11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, according to a public relations representative.
Ometeo will be the first ground-level dining option to arrive at Capital One Center since the pub City Works closed in 2020. Capital One’s headquarters campus is also home to the Japanese restaurant Wren in The Watermark Hotel and Starr Hill Biergarten, which will expand with a new, street-level brewpub next year.
(Correction: This story previously said Starr Hill is relocating to the new space. The existing biergarten in The Perch will still operate after the brewpub opens.)
“With the corporate density of Tysons and how much activity and…opportunity there is there, combined with the fact that there are a lot of residents in McLean and Great Falls that can access that campus pretty easily without even kind of venturing all the way into Tysons, we thought the location was really strong,” Carman said.
Carman says the partners at Long Shot Hospitality, the D.C.-based restaurant group behind The Salt Line and Dauphine’s, wanted to create a Tex-Mex concept that combines the comforts of a chain restaurant with a more “elevated” and “chef-driven” approach.
“We thought that it might be something that the area needed, and it was definitely something that we were passionate and excited about exploring,” Carman said. “So, that was several years ago, almost three or four years ago when we started talking about that…I think that we’re all really glad that we set out to execute it, and we’re pretty excited with how it turned out.”
For the chef who could propel their vision into a reality, the partners turned to El Paso, Texas, native Gabe Erales, who became the first Mexican American winner of the cooking competition TV show “Top Chef” in 2021.
In addition to already being acquainted with Erales on a social basis, the team felt he could bring “a lot of authenticity and a lot of knowledge to the concept” as someone who has built his career on exploring regional Mexican cuisine, Carman says.
Erales’s “Top Chef” victory was overshadowed by an Austin American-Statesman story that alleged he’d been fired from an Austin restaurant for “repeated violations of the company’s ethics policy as it relates to harassment of women,” including cutting a female employee’s hours after they’d ended a sexual relationship.
In that story and a subsequent public apology, Erales said he had a “consensual” relationship with an employee who was affected by “poor decisions” he made as a manager, but he denies that his actions reached the level of sexual harassment, as labeled by news reports.
“I’ve grown from it,” Erales told FFXnow. “I’ve taken a lot of steps in the last few years to just become a better leader, a better business owner and a better chef ever since.” Read More
A new restaurant is getting ready to open at Capital One Center in Tysons.
Ometeo — a new Tex-Mex concept from a former “Top Chef” winner and the team behind The Salt Line — is expected to open in Capital One’s headquarters building at 1640 Capital One Drive next week, according to a sneak peek from Eater DC.
An exact opening date hasn’t been confirmed yet, but Ometeo spokesperson says to expect a reveal early next week.
Located near where Starbucks used to be, the new 11,000-square-foot restaurant will seat 240 people inside and 75 people outside, Eater DC reported. The “seafood-focused” menu includes fajitas, tacos, enchiladas and more made with ingredients sourced from the Gulf of Mexico.
Ometeo will also serve wine, cocktails, margaritas and frozen drinks, per the menu shared by Eater.
The concept was developed by chef Gabe Erales, who won the 18th season of “Top Chef” in 2021, and the D.C. restaurant group Long Shot Hospitality. Typically based in Austin, Texas, Erales was fired from a restaurant there in 2020 for alleged sexual harassment.
Erales issued an apology in July 2021 “for the impact that my poor decisions had on those involved.” He opened two new restaurants in downtown Austin this fall.
Planned for 6 million square feet of mixed-use development, Capital One Center is poised to add more food-and-drink options next year, including Sisters Thai, Stellina Pizzeria, Ox & Rye and Starr Hill Brewpub. An announced Spanish restaurant from Jiwa Singapura chef Pepe Moncayo was put on hold earlier this year.
Martinis will be shaken and stirred across the D.C. area in the week following Thanksgiving.
That’s when more than 85 restaurants and bars around the region will celebrate D.C. Cocktail Week, an annual promotion organized by Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) that will begin on Nov. 28 and end on Dec. 5 — the 90th anniversary of Prohibition’s repeal.
“Enjoy cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages paired with food bites, cocktail classes, tasting dinners, happy hours, and other happenings at restaurants throughout the region,” RAMW said in a press release.
While the festivities are mostly focused on the District, the line-up of participants includes two based in Tysons: Jiwa Singapura in Tysons Galleria (1702u Galleria at Tysons II) and Wren in Watermark Hotel (1825 Capital One Drive) at Capital One Center.
Opened in September 2021 as part of the hotel, Wren serves Japanese cuisine and hosts a full bar with wine, beer and cocktails. For D.C. Cocktail Week, the restaurant will pair tuskune — a grilled chicken thigh meatball skewer with housemade tare and poached egg on the side for dipping — with “It’s been oolong time” — a roku gin cocktail mixed with smoked oolong tea, strawberry cocchi rosa and lemon oil, according to the campaign website.
Jiwa Singapura is participating in the seven-day promotion for the first time since it opened at Tysons Galleria on Feb. 15. The Singaporean restaurant from chef Pepe Moncayo hasn’t revealed its featured pairing yet.
To try other newcomers, Fairfax County residents can hop across the Arlington border for Clarendon eatery Bar Ivy and Sabores Tapas Bar in Penrose, or across the Potomac River for AIR Restaurant & Lounge, Casta’s Rum Bar, Code Red, DC Capitol Square Bar & Grill and more in D.C.
“Special events and in-house happenings will take place throughout the week including special happy hours and cocktail making classes being added daily,” RAMW says, though the calendar currently only lists D.C. events.
Instituted on Jan. 17, 1920 after the ratification of the 18th Amendment, Prohibition banned alcohol sales ostensibly in an attempt to reduce domestic violence, poverty and other social issues, though rampant anti-immigrant sentiments were also a driving force.
The move instead fueled more drinking and dragged down the hospitality and entertainment industries, giving rise to a black market of bootleggers and organized crime. Deemed a failure, Prohibition was repealed on Dec. 5, 1933, though its legacy as a period of expansion for U.S. policing continues to have consequences.
The sounds of Broadway are coming to Fairfax County in a truck this fall.
The Concert Truck will kick off the season with six stops across the county in three days, starting at the Oakwood Meadow Senior Residences in Rose Hill on Sept. 27 and concluding on Sept. 29 at the Providence Community Center in Oakton.
The mobile concert hall will also make stops at The Boro for its inaugural Tysons Fall Mixed Market, George Mason Regional Library in Annandale, the Mosaic District in Merrifield, and Capital One Center in Tysons.
At each stop, The Concert Truck co-founder and pianist Nick Luby will be joined by singer Jacob Lamb for an hour-long performance “featuring arrangements of Broadway classics,” according to a public relations representative for The Boro.
Luby started The Concert Truck with fellow pianist Susan Zhang in April 2016 as a way to expand the accessibility of live music, according to the pop-up’s website.
Equipped with lights, sound and instruments, the 16-foot box truck launched in Columbia, South Carolina, delivering eight performances in five days. It has since appeared across the country and partnered with local and national arts organizations, such as the Kennedy Center’s Washington National Opera and the Virginia Arts Festival.
The full schedule for the truck’s Fairfax County tour is below.
September 27, 2023 @ 11:00 a.m.
Oakwood Meadow Senior Residences
5815 S. Van Dorn Street, Alexandria, VirginiaSeptember 27, 2023 @ 5:00 p.m.
Boro Park
The Tysons Mixed Market
8350 Broad Street Tysons, VA 22102September 28, 2023 @ 11:30 a.m.
George Mason Regional Library
7001 Little River Turnpike Annandale, VA 22003September 28, 2023 @ 5:00 p.m.
Mosaic
2905 District Avenue Fairfax, VA 22031September 29, 2023 11:00 a.m.
Capital One Center — The Sculpture Garden
1680 Capital One Tower Road Tysons, VA 22102September 29, 2023 @ 2:30 p.m.
The Providence Community Center
3001 Vaden Drive, Fairfax, VA 22031
For anyone looking to get a more traditional Broadway experience, Capital One Hall is bringing back its “Broadway in Tysons” series for a third year. The season will open with “Jesus Christ Superstar” — which is celebrating its 50th anniversary — on Oct. 20-22, followed by “The Cher Show” on Feb. 16-18, “STOMP” on April 5-7 and “Little Women” on May 17-19.
With autumn just over the horizon, Capital One Center has lined up an expanded roster of events, vendors and musicians for its fifth Perchfest.
The biannual weekend festival will return to The Perch (1805 Capital One Drive) in Tysons on Sept. 15-17, marking about two years since it launched in 2021 to celebrate the skypark’s opening.
In addition to the usual live entertainment and lawn games, the upcoming festival will feature a mini golf tournament called the Perch Putt Open to benefit Miriam’s Kitchen, a D.C.-based nonprofit dedicated to ending homelessness that will serve as the event’s charity partner.
“Each year the program grows,” Meghan Trossen, head of Capital One Center’s public affairs, said of Perchfest. “We are thrilled to team up with Miriam’s Kitchen, which has served our community for over 40 years to end chronic and veteran homelessness in the DC Metro Area.”
The tournament is open to event sponsors and anyone who buys spots for four people at $500. Noting that there are only a few sponsorships remaining, Trossen says interested participants can register by contacting her directly at meghan.trossen@capitalone.com.
The Perch Putt Open will kick off the weekend’s festivities from 3-7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 15.
For those not participating in the mini golf tournament, this fall’s Perchfest will still offer a new attraction in the form of a Shop Made in VA pop-up market showcasing apparel, home goods and other products from local artisans.
The 18-hole Perch Putt mini golf course, its accompanying food trucks and Starr Hill Biergarten will also be open throughout the festival.
The full schedule is below, though Capital One Center says it’s subject to change depending on the weather:
Friday, September 15th
- 3-7 p.m. — Perch Putt Open, Tysons community vendors on the Great Lawn
- 4-6:30 p.m. — Starting Early at Starr Hill Biergarten
- 7-10 p.m. — Run for Cover at Starr Hill Biergarten
Saturday, September 16th
- 12-12:45 p.m. — Free “Sweat Sesh” fitness class from Body Fit Training (BFT) on the Great Lawn
- 12-2 p.m. — Free Flowing Music Experience at Starr Hill Biergarten
- 12-7 p.m. — Shop Made in VA and Tysons community vendors on the Great Lawn
- 2:30-4:30 p.m. — Texas Chainsaw Horns at Starr Hill Biergarten
- 3-6 p.m. — Four Roses (Wren’s private label) barrel release party
- 5-7:30 p.m. — Sidemen Band at Starr Hill Biergarten
- 8-10:30 p.m. — Kleptoradio at Starr Hill Biergarten
- DJ/MC afterparty with Captain/2nutz at Starr Hill Biergarten until closing at midnight
Sunday, September 17th
- 10:30-11:15 a.m. — FitCoach Caroline HIIT Workout at Starr Hill Biergarten
- 11 a.m.-5 p.m. — Tysons community vendors on the Great Lawn
- 12-2 p.m. — The Vandalays
- 2 p.m. — Pie-eating contests sponsored by Wegmans and Capital One Center
- 2:30-5 p.m. — NovaKane at Starr Hill Biergarten
Coming from Wren, the Japanese restaurant in The Watermark Hotel, the Four Roses barrel release party will require separate registrations. More details on that particular event will be coming soon, Capital One Center says.
Perchfest is free to attend, but advance registrations through Eventbrite are encouraged.
In the past, the festival has drawn about 15,000 people over three days, according to Capital One Center. The most recent edition in May offered a preview of three restaurants — Sisters Thai, Stellina Pizzeria and Ox & Rye — coming to the mixed-use development, though now, they’re not expected to open until next year.
