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Covering Forest Hills, Van Ness, North Cleveland Park and Wakefield

876 Cafe Grand Opening Week, June 11-16

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by Marsha Dubrow

The new 876 Cafe on Connecticut Avenue near Van Ness Street is offering an “Escape to the Tropics” from June 11 through June 16 to celebrate Caribbean-American Heritage Month and the restaurant’s formal, but oh so casual, opening.

  • June 11 is Senior Appreciation Day, so from 3 to 6:30 p.m., senior citizens get a 10 percent discount on meals.
  • June 12 is a Caribbean-American Heritage Celebration, featuring callaloo (Jamaican mild spinach) and rum specialties in a $25 prix fixe dinner from 6 to 10 p.m.
  • June 13 is Business Networking and Mixer from 6 to 11 p.m.
  • June 14 is the formal opening from 12:30-1:30 p.m. — with “hoopla and fanfare,” says manager Gary Tucker, a Jamaican. Raffles and giveaways galore.
  • June 15 begins its weekly “Irie Friday”, with “Red Stripe & Jerk Hour” from 3 to 7:30 p.m., and live reggae and soca music from 7 to 11 p.m. First up is the Rainforest Band, with steel drums, sax, and bass guitar. “Irie Friday” is the Jamaican translation of TGIF — “everything is A-OK, life is good” — like the ambience of this bistro.
  • June 16 is a wine-tasting from 3 to 6 p.m. to toast the formal opening of its art gallery, with rotating exhibits by local artists. One of the best works is a portrait of Bob Marley, no surprise. Dozens of tiny head shots are like pixels in this collage.

    • A major enticement: the 876 menu was created in partnership with Jamaican celeb chef Oji Jaja, who has worked at three Ritz-Carltons in Jamaica and in Florida, and was personal chef to Tom Cruise when filming “Knight and Day” in 2010.

    The 876 Cafe chefs are Michael Wallace, from Montego Bay, Jamaica, and Michael Robertson, of Jamaican descent. Co-owner Moreen Wallace is also from Montego Bay, and co-owner Ron Johnson is of St. Kitts descent.

    The thoroughly Caribbean spot, open for about two months, has garnered mostly positive online reviews. Here’s a sampling:

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  • “Jerk Beef Sliders: AMAZING…very friendly and casual, the perfect place for a relaxed weekday dinner.”
  • “There’s a new kid in the neighborhood, and it’s a winner!”
  • “Eh, it was okay.”
  • “I absolutely cannot wait to go back to 876 Cafe!”

    • Named for Jamaica’s 876 country code, the restaurant is surely irie (“EYE-ree”, definitely not “eerie”) — Wi-fi included.

    876 Cafe, 4221-B Connecticut Avenue, N.W., near Van Ness Street, Washington, D.C., Tel: (202) 244-4717, Fax: (202) 244-4749. Open daily 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

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