Let me just tell you, I felt so cool. A few weeks ago, I went to the grand opening night of Farmers & Distillers. Yes, the same Farmers of Founding Farmers, the (in) famous brunch spot in Foggy Bottom. I was cool, the restaurant was cool, but the food? Hmmmm. (At least we got some super cool pictures, courtesy of my wonderful food photographer and friend, Ashley Sinha!)
The Farmers group has a few restaurants under its belt. The most popular, Founding Farmers has locations in Foggy Bottom and Montgomery County, MD. The food is fun and decadent, but it is built around a lot of hype. Seems like the group is continuing the trend with their new joint, Farmers and Distillers.
Located in between Chinatown and Mount Vernon, the cuisine is a mix of Chinese fusion and American classics. The concept was founded in memoriam of George Washington and his passion for distilled spirits. Hence, they have their own distillery on site! However, they didn’t have a D.C. liquor license yet, so they were serving other people’s booze. So sad…
Anyways. It was pretty packed when we got there, but the environment didn’t seem chaotic at all. Probably because they’ve gone through a few openings before, there were relatively little hiccups. Our waitress was wonderful, though she did mix up a few of the descriptions.
Drinks
We started off ordering drinks. They have a large selection, separated by type of alcohol. In each category, gin, vodka, amaro, there’s a “whimsical cocktail,” a group cocktail for 2-4 people. We had the “Constitution Royale,” served with a base of blueberry bitters and gin with champagne poured on top. Really nice, not too sweet, not too strong. Made for sipping with dinner. The whimsical cocktail is expensive, but worth it. It feels fancy to have them assemble the drink in front of you, and it tasted great. The whimsical deal is also a bit cheaper than buying 2-4 drinks separately.
[Also, check out this awesome picture! You can find more of Ashley’s work on Instagram and Twitter!]
Appetizers
For the first round of food, we ordered the Local “Raclette” and the chicken Imperial Spring Rolls. The raclette was served with a huge loaf of fresh bread. Like huge. Enough for at least 5 people (but I’m not complaining about excessive bread!). The melted cheese paired with the pickled vegetables were absolutely wonderful with the bread. The chicken spring rolls were sort of funny looking, very thin and long, with a peanut sauce on the side. I loved the raclette, but the spring rolls were so-so, the sauce to meat ratio was pretty off.
Dinner
Let me say, by this point, we were already getting full. Nonetheless, we were looking forward to our entrees anyways. We shared the Char Siu Chicken Shaobing and the Curry Chicken Hand-Pulled Noodles. The Shaobing was described as a flatbread, but ended up being more of a sandwich. Too. Much. Meat. It was like a pulled pork sandwich with no sauce. The pickled cucumbers were great, but it really needed some lettuce or mayo sauce to balance the bread and meat. I really didn’t want to finish it because it was so overwhelming.
I was looking forward to the noodles, but unfortunately, those were disappointing too. Better flavor and texture balance than the other dish….but the noodles were so soft that they felt undercooked and raw. Overall, a very underwhelming entree round. But hey, at least the fries were good!
Desserts
We were looking forward to dessert but already had full bellies. But whatever, you always gotta go for dessert. We had the Affogato, hot espresso poured over salted caramel ice cream, paired with creme brûlée and apple cider donuts. This round was a great choice. The Affogato was the star, the hand-churned caramel ice cream was so smooth and the right balance of sweet which balanced with the more bitter espresso.
The donuts were really quite good. Ashley and I are a little spoiled by the gourmet donut scene in D.C., but these were really good considering its just one part of their menu. Bonus, each donut is only $1! The apple cider donut also tasted great dipped into the ice cream.
By the end, we were most certainly stuffed. Both of us were scared of the bill, but it didn’t end up being too bad for a three course meal with drinks for two. Clearly, I had mixed reviews on the quality of all the food, but the service was wonderful and the overall experience was pretty fun.
If you go, I would suggest getting drinks, appetizers, and dessert. Skip the entree, it is their weakest link and the rest of the food will fill you up anyways. Try the place out, but know that you could get an equally fancy (if not more) meal at another D.C. joint. Its fun to take pictures and tell your friends you tried it, but its really another Farmers joint that didn’t live up to the hype.
The Bottom Line
Great drinks, appetizers, and desserts in an Instagram-worthy atmosphere
Cone Rating: 3.5 Cones 
Price: $$$ (20$- 30$)
Location: Chinatown/Mt.Vernon Metro, Washington, DC
On the Internet: Farmers and Distillers Website, Yelp Page
aditi eats 