A restaurant, food business incubator and shared kitchen is coming to D.C.’s Ward 8, where it will be part of a larger redevelopment of the former Big K Liquor about a third of a mile east of the Anacostia Metro station.
Tasting Lab DC has signed on for about 4,000 square feet at 2228 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE, where it aims to open by the end of the year. The venture is being led by Talema Rice, who has been in the hospitality industry for about a decade. The University of Maryland grad spent about half that time with food services giant Aramark in a variety of capacities including task force operations manager at the National 4-H Conference Center in Chevy Chase and sales manager at the Georgetown University Hotel and Conference Center.
The restaurant will serve up American fare and is slated to employ around 40 people. In addition to Tasting Lab’s roughly 3,000 square feet of dining area, there will also be about 1,000 square feet of shared kitchen space for aspiring food entrepreneurs to hone their skills as part of a hospitality workforce training program.
“It’s always been a dream of mine, to open a restaurant,” Rice said. “Tasting Lab is a concept that focuses on the community, on bringing good food and great service to the community, with a creative twist on the cuisine.”
Tasting Lab DC is among several businesses awarded grants as part of the District’s Neighborhood Prosperity Fund, which helps cover the cost of capital improvements like architectural, engineering and construction. The District awarded Rice's business a conditional grant of about $850,000.
Tasting Lab checked off several boxes in that program, including bringing additional food-service options to an underserved part of the city and helping Chapman Development LLC follow through on some of the goals the District hoped to see achieved through the redevelopment of several parcels in the 2200 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE.
“This is one of the finishing touches on the Maple View Flats project,” said John Falcicchio, D.C.’s deputy mayor for planning and economic development. “The community really demanded some different retail as a component of the project so we're excited that the Tasting Lab delivers on the promise to deliver more food options on the site.”
Chapman was picked to remake the site in 2012, though there were complications along the way including some resistance from neighborhood residents to parts of the project’s vision as it emerged. Still, the Vienna-based developer followed through with other parts of the development, including 114 multifamily units and one of the first Starbucks to open east of the river. University Health Services Inc. is also planning an urgent care center at Maple View.
The developer of Maple View, formerly known as Cedar Hill Flats, has also agreed to invest in the Tasting Lab’s buildout and to provide other needed support to ensure its success. Managing Member Tim Chapman said he believes in the vision for the project and in Rice’s ability to pull it off.
“Talema is an incredibly bright, detail-oriented person," he said. "And we were looking for someone that, but for the opportunity, was trying to create a restaurant that fit with what the community wanted, and what we were looking for in the building, and part of what we promised the community.”
