Chef Frank Ruta Leaving Grill Room


At the end of October, after less than two years, Frank Ruta will be leaving the Grill Room, his current restaurant in Georgetown’s Rosewood hotel on 31st Street NW, to open a new upscale French-American eatery from restaurateur Hakan Ilhan (Alba Osteria, L’Hommage Bistro Francais, Ottoman Taverna).

The James Beard Award-winning chef’s Grill Room stint was his first major undertaking since shuttering his legendary Cleveland Park restaurant Palena in April 2014.

The new restaurant, as yet unnamed, is slated to open in March. While details are still vague, it is expected that the menu will return to the French-influenced cuisine he produced at Palena, albeit with new offerings and experiments. Ruta’s longtime pastry chef Aggie Chin will be joining him.

Just a block north of Lafayette Square, the location of Ruta’s new restaurant, 900 16th St. NW, seems particularly well suited for him as a former White House chef.

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