The soon-to-be former Rosedale and its patio will be getting a coastal Indian flavor.
Rosedale becoming Malabar: Rosedale, Ashok Bajaj’s farm-to-table restaurant in Van Ness, will be closing around the middle of this month, and a modern Indian concept based on food from the Malabar Coast will take Rosedale’s place in mid-January.
Rosedale has become a popular neighborhood spot since it opened at 4464 Connecticut Avenue in October 2024, but that’s not what Bajaj had in mind for the restaurant.
“I needed a wider appeal for the neighborhood,” Bajaj told Washington Business Journal reporter Daniel J. Sernovitz. “We did not draw people from Bethesda, Chevy Chase and other parts of the city, so we thought maybe it needed a more fun concept to become a destination restaurant.”
Bajaj thinks Malabar will be that restaurant.
“When you walk in, you’re going to feel like: Oh, I’ve been transported to another part of the world,” he told the Business Journal.
Malabar’s Goan halibut curry (photo by Shimmon Tamara Photography)
The end of a streatery: Rosemary Bistro Cafe (5010 Connecticut) has taken down its streatery.
And after.
Rosemary and its neighbor I’m Eddie Cano installed their streateries in December 2020, but I’m Eddie Cano dismantled its street seating the following month, after a van driver rammed into the jersey barriers protecting it.
Several DC restaurants have also taken their streateries down, or are in the process of doing so, after DDOT announced higher fees and tighter restrictions on the structures would go into effect on December 1st. The DC Council passed emergency legislation that day to reduce the new occupancy fee and loosen the design rules.
Avis Budget returns to Van Ness: Eight months after its location behind the Days Inn closed, the same franchise owner has opened a new vehicle rental location a block north of the Van Ness Metro station and upstairs from Pill Plus pharmacy.
The rental office is accessible from Connecticut Avenue and from the 4215 Connecticut Avenue garage.
The street entrance takes you up a flight of stairs.
Customers can also be dropped off inside the garage.
The garage entrance.
The Avis Budget office.
Dog Haus is opening soon: No exact date has been announced, but Van Ness Main Street and 4340 Connecticut Avenue owner UDC said in November that Dog Haus Biergarten planned to open in the former Acacia Bistro space this month. To passersby, the interior and exterior buildout looks nearly complete.
The Whale Tea wants to sell cocktails, too: Franchise owner Teresa Jiang was at ANC 3F’s November 18th meeting to seek commissioners’ support for The Whale Tea’s ABCA tavern license application. Jiang said the plan is to serve tea-based and regular cocktails, and Asian beer and wine. The Whale Tea (4340 Connecticut) is also applying for an ABCA entertainment license, which will allow it to bring in live musicians. Think guitarists, singers, and harpists. “I play harp,” said Jiang.
The Whale Tea, now with a cozy igloo outside.
Discover more from Forest Hills Connection | News and Life in Our DC Neighborhood
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Charles Baker says
Avis is moving back to its old location from 20 years ago. I rented several cars from them in that upstairs garage.
FHC says
Thanks for that historical info, Charles!
Merry says
Thanks – so happy to see the news about car rentals once again in our neighborhood!
Paul Harrison says
Great news about Avis/Budget! Makes it possible to be a one- or no-car family in Van Ness/Forest Hills.
Also exciting that both Dog Haus and Whale Tea are activating the plaza in front of their restaurants – this is key for Van Ness becoming a place where people linger and meet, not just a place for passing through or for targeted errands.
Adam C. Sloane says
We really liked Rosedale. I am sure the new restaurant will be good, but reading the article about Rosedale’s closing prompts me to question the quality of the market research, if any, undertaken by the succession of restaurateurs who’ve opened restaurants at 4465 Conn. Ave NW. For instance, Soapstone Market, which used to occupy that space, closed at 9 PM on weeknights. So for those of us who worked long hours, Soapstone was not much an option for after-work drinks and dinner. When Rosedale first opened, the Washingtonian reported that Mr. Bajaj said he wanted to open “a neighborhood place,” but now he apparently realizes that Van Ness/Forest HIlls is not quite the neighborhood he may have thought it was. Maybe the people who came to Rosedale were a bit older than he expected. So he may have misread the neighborhood, or maybe he just had bad luck with his timing. After all, the approximately one-year period that Rosedale operated was a time of turmoil for the DC restaurant industry resulting from, among other things, inflated food prices, scary stories about crime, the Trump occupation of DC, and a lengthy government shutdown.. In short, it was not an opportune to run a restaurant in Washington, DC. In any event, I hope Mr. Bajaj has better luck with the new restaurant, and I hope it’s as good as Rosedale was.
JA says
Re Rosedale becoming Malabar, I see that Popville reports on 12/30/25 that La Bise is closing. I wonder why the La Bise concept wasn’t selected for Van Ness. It certainly seems more appealing to me and a better fit to the neighborhood–French vs. Indian.