Commuters and residents near the Crystal City Metro and VRE stations this morning may have been lucky enough to score a free doughnut with the official opening of The Stand, a new pop-up eatery showcasing up-and-coming food vendors.
Opening week finds La Colombe coffee served alongside offerings from Cookie Dough & Co. (think raw cookie dough in a cone) and B Doughnut, a Leesburg-based purveyor of malasaladas (Portuguese doughnuts) with fillings ranging from sweet lemon curd and berry crème to savory “Everything Bagel Doughnuts” stuffed with cream cheese, lox, bacon and chives.
Additional vendors on deck include Pinch Chinese dumplings (you may have seen them at Nats Park); Petsworth upstart Timber Pizza; Donburi rice bowls; and Capital Chicken & Waffles.
Building on Crystal City’s popular “Food Truck Thursdays,” The Stand becomes the centerpiece of an urban plaza outfitted with hammocks, games, outdoor seating and a water feature. In warm weather it’s a hot spot for outdoor lunches, happy hour and neighborhood special events.
Operating out of a longstanding kiosk—now freshly remodeled—at 1601 Crystal Drive, The Stand is a new venture of restaurateurs Mike Bramson and Dan Zhu, whose Social Restaurant Group also owns Pamplona and Bar Bao in Clarendon, the forthcoming Clarendon beer garden known as “The Lot,” and the D.C. restaurants The Prospect and Provision No. 14.
“We are so excited to introduce The Stand in Crystal City, Zhu said in a press announcement. “Crystal City is full of creative people with an appetite for discovering new kinds of food. It’s the perfect canvas for our chefs to share and test ideas in a fresh outdoor setting.”
Social Restaurant Group also has ambitious plans for a food hall called Common Ground in Rosslyn, the Washington Business Journal reports. Angela Fox, president and CEO of the Crystal City Business Improvement District, sees the twin projects as complementary ventures that will feed off of each other in incubating new ideas.
“Crystal City is home to a creative market and a young innovative crowd,” Fox says. “Adventurous diners who may be hungry to try something new.”