Rogue 24 SpiritsBar, DC

As a big fan of Rogue 24, I realized that I never tried their SpiritsBar. This four-seat bar is located at the far end of the dining room with a full view of the open kitchen. Reservations can be made for 6 or 7:30 p.m. seatings. So we made a reservation for a Saturday night.

When we arrived, we were immediately seated at the bar. Luckily, no one else had a reservation at that time so we had the bar to ourselves. Chef RJ Cooper is more than willing to accommodate his vegan diners and, as always, we were really impressed with this spread. You typically get four drinks and four small plates for $44 so it's a similar concept to that of the Columbia Room in the Passenger, but much more gourmet.

My night started with a Pickle Back -- a rye whiskey shot followed by pickle juice. That was a strong start to the night.

The first plate of items was amazing -- an assortment of vegan delights! There was cucumber in sake served with sea salt, celery root ravioli, tapioca puffs, stuffed red peppers with chorizo, and vegan mozzarella balls tossed in basil powder with tomato powder, breaded and fried. Very creative. The cucumber with sea salt and celery root ravioli were my favorites by far.

The next drink was really good. It had blood orange tincture, cognac, and simple sugar and on the glass was a carrot sugar ash that you could lick before you drank the cocktail.

Next up was this funky looking vegan egg made of potatoes! A potato spherification over potato puree with blossoms. Not too shabby!

Then we got a tempeh "taco" wrapped with collard greens and served over black bean puree. It was topped with sweet pepper relish.

My next drink was as good as the last. Made with Michter's rye whiskey, wine, chartreuse, and celery bitters, it was very nice.

Next up -- a mushroom forest with beech, pini pini mushrooms and other exotic mushrooms with tarragon powder and mushroom soil. Loved this one. And the presentation was exquisite.

My last drink was my favorite. For dessert, it had grilled apples, El Dorado rum, Smith & Cross rum, and St. Elizabeth allspice dram.

For dessert, we had chocolate sorbet with chocolate hazelnut rocks. It was so decadent. I want to come back just for dessert sometime!

Honestly, even though I think the 24-course meals here are exceptional, I wasn't expecting the same level of food for the bar, so I was blown away. And the drinks were amazing. This is an incredible deal at just $44. I can see myself coming back pretty often. I think I'm about to go rogue.

Previous reviews
October 15, 2012
January 27, 2014

Rogue 24
922 N Street NW (rear)
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 408-9724