Stop by Pineapple and Pearls during the day and you’ll be introduced to the coffee bar, a bright and tiny spot with three or four stools at the windowfront, and sidewalk seating beneath an awning. Four little iced buns lie naked on the white and gray marbled counter, and there’s a barista operating an impressive-looking coffee machine. Order, say, the signature pineapple and pearls bun and the fried chicken sandwich from the very short menu, and the barista’s assistant disappears behind a curtain. Minutes go by. There are no smells of buns baking or fried chicken frying. Then suddenly, magically it seems, the curtain parts, the assistant reappears, and she presents you with a pretty little gold-flecked white box holding your freshly prepared sandwich and a tidy little white bakery bag holding your still-warm bun, and together they fit, just so, inside a black bag. They will turn out to be the best breakfast bun and fried chicken sandwich you have ever tasted.
The coffee bar is the teaser. What you want is to get beyond that curtain to the dining room. That’s where the real magic happens at this Michelin 2-starred restaurant. Tuesday through Friday, and occasional Saturday, nights, Silverman and his able staff create an improbably wondrous menu of 12 items, starting perhaps with a fennel and absinthe bonbon, going on to the likes of spring garlic egg drop and mole-smoked beef rib, and finishing with Chartreuse, Campari, Grappa, and Nardini donuts (just an example—the menu is always changing). The only way to reserve a table is to use P&P’s dedicated booking system on its website. You have 3 price options: Pay $280 per person, everything included—meal, beverages, tax, and gratuity—and sit either at a table for two or four in the softly lit, stylishly white-and-black-toned dining room, or at the chef’s counter; or pay $180 per person, everything included but the beverages, and sit at the handsome wooden bar, where you can order as much or as little to drink as you like. Or reserve a table on the patio to enjoy light snacks (a sweetbread taco is Silverman’s idea of a snack), cocktails and wine for far less (see above for pricing). Reservations are available exclusively on the restaurant’s website for dates five weeks away.
Washington, D.C.› Restaurant
Pineapple and Pearls
715 8th St. SE
Our Rating
Neighborhood
Capitol Hill & Barracks Row
Hours
Coffee bar Tues–Fri 8am–2pm, Sat 8am–4pm; dining room and patio Tues–Fri 5–9:15pm
Transportation
Metro: Eastern Market
Phone
202/595-7375
Prices
Prix fixe $280 all-inclusive (dinner, drinks, tax, and tip) per person in the dining room and at the chef’s table; prix fixe $180 (includes all but the drinks) per person at the bar; patio snacks $13–$24.
Cuisine Type
Contemporary American
Web site
Pineapples and Pearls
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.