A few days ago, my brother David opened All Souls, a bar at 725 T Street NW in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington DC. Here's how he describes it on their Facebook page:
A corner bar where all are welcome and there's a little something for everyone.
All Souls seeks to be a neighborhood bar. We’re not a sports bar, a gastropub, a wine bar, a speakeasy or a restaurant. We will be none of these things, yet we will have something for everyone. You will be able to find the craft beers of a gastropub and the interesting labels of a wine bar. If you prefer a cocktail it will be crafted with care and attention to detail. The food will be simple, but elevated, not your typical bar food. And you’ll be able to enjoy all of it while listening to good, eclectic music or watching the game quietly playing in the background.
David's a longtime DC bartender and bar manager, including a number of years at Jaleo and Zaytinya, and running a place like All Souls has been his dream forever. Opening a new bar in DC takes a tremendous amount of work and patience, and David's poured his heart and soul into it.
Tonight David Garber, Commissioner of DC's Navy Yard neighborhood in Ward 6 was walking down T Street...
Walked past @allsoulsbar & @RightProperBeer on way to metro in Shaw -- both opened this week, both filled up. Congrats! Look fwd to visits.
— David Garber (@GarberDC) December 11, 2013
And we had the following exchange...
@GarberDC Awesome! Glad to hear it & hope you get there soon. My brother David owns @allsoulsbar. cc @RightProperBeer
— Ed Batista (@edbatista) December 11, 2013
@edbatista @allsoulsbar very cool -- as a brother myself I appreciate the proud brother seal of approval 🙂
— David Garber (@GarberDC) December 11, 2013
@GarberDC It'll be a very proud moment indeed when I get back to DC & pull up a barstool @allsoulsbar 🙂
— Ed Batista (@edbatista) December 11, 2013
I'm really glad Garber shared that, because it reminds me how truly proud my brother Matthew and I are of David. Many, many people have made All Souls possible--most notably my talented sister-in-law Soung Wiser, whose awesome design firm did the logo you see in the window above (along with many other contributions.) And yet I do take a unique sense of brotherly pride in all of David and Matt's accomplishments, and it'll be a particularly special moment when the three of us get to pull up stools at All Souls and have a drink together. I hope you get a chance to stop by.