A high-end restaurant and bar with dry-aged meats, an extensive wine list and a series of curated rooms for dining and relaxing is preparing to open in Pentagon City.
Ember is looking toward a soft opening in late August at 1301 S. Joyce Street, followed by a grand opening in September, founder Nicholas Mounts told ARLnow. It brings food and drink inspired by European cuisines and five seating areas, including a VIP room, a banquet hall and a “secret lounge.”
Mounts, who announced his plans in August 2025, remained coy about details on the lounge but described a “speakeasy vibe.”
“It’s an upscale concept with a really high-end interior, marble flooring, and you have your own bar, too. There are some secret menu items that are offered only in there,” he said. “I can’t tell you more about it.”
Ember’s preliminary menu begins with appetizers such as dry-aged steak tartare, fennel-crusted lamb carpaccio, lamb ragout risotto and “Octopus à la Basquaise,” with romesco sauce, chorizo and aioli potatoes, and a tomato-cucumber escabeche.
Main dishes feature smoked scallops, short rib, rockfish and mid-Atlantic bouillabaisse, while shared items include a charcuterie selection and in-house bread service. A specialty is the dry-aged meats, offering a choice between prime boneless ribeye, tomahawk pork chop and New York striploin.
“The menu is something we’re describing as Euro-fusion,” Mounts said. “It’s an amalgamation of a lot of European cuisine, but it’s leaning French.”
The drinks menu is still being finalized, but will likely include options such as Old Fashioned and Manhattan cocktails along with a wide selection of wines.
The main dining area of the restaurant is expected to offer live music and dancing on Friday and Saturday evenings, while a family seating area will bring a brightly-lit extension of Ember’s main floor.
Ember replaces the Irish gastropub Mattie and Eddie’s, which closed at 1301 S. Joyce Street in July 2024.
