CityZen Chef Eric Ziebold to open new restaurant in Mount Vernon Triangle

After 10 years at the acclaimed CityZen restaurant in D.C.’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Executive Chef Eric Ziebold is striking out on his own.

The chef has signed a lease for a 6,000-square-foot space at 1015 Seventh St. NW, according to Matthew Jemal, senior vice president with Douglas Development, the building’s owner.

The site is a three-story office and retail building that was previously home to Alperstein’s Furniture, a longtime furniture leasing outlet in the District. Alperstein’s, which focuses on leasing furniture to embassies for staff housing and other furniture rentals, relocated to Cheverly in 2013.

No specifics on Ziebold’s plans were immediately available, but I’ll follow up with the chef and provide an update when I learn more. A spokeswoman for the Mandarin Oriental in Southwest D.C. said she did not have any comment at this time.

CityZen made a huge splash when it opened 2004, with the then 34-year-old chef being named one of Food & Wine Magazine’s best new chefs of 2005. The restaurant has been honored by groups local and national, from the RAMMY awards to the James Beard Foundation.

The restaurant space that Ziebold has leased is adjacent to Douglas Development’s planned Square 450 development, a 435,000 square foot office and retail project to be built at 655 New York Ave. NW.

We’re not entirely surprised that the chef is ready to make a go of it with his own place. After all, he told the WBJ in an interview back in 2006 that his next step would be to open his own restaurant. He added, however, that he wasn’t in any hurry. I’ll say.

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