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owners Jill Tyler and Jon Sybert closed their beloved Adams Morgan restaurant after a decade at the end of last year. They weren’t sure whether they wanted to stay in DC or even in restaurants. “We really wanted to push that reset button,” Sybert says.
They recognized they’d changed a lot in 10 years, as had the city and the business. “We knew what we were doing wasn’t working the same way it did. I don’t want to be a business owner to run a nonprofit, and that’s kind of what Tail Up Goat was quickly becoming,” Tyler says. Ultimately, the couple decided not only to stay in DC and in restaurants, but also in the same restaurant space. Still, their second act looks a little different. Rye Bunny—named after their two dogs—offers counter service with a fancy-fun comfort food menu and a cozy, quilt-accented dining room. The new model aims to be sustainable not just in terms of what’s on the plate, but also with the business and work culture. Here’s what to expect from the highly anticipated restaurant, set to open Thursday, April 2.Rye Bunny owners Jon Sybert and Jill Tyler. Photograph by Scott Suchman. While Tyler and Sybert were trying to figure out their next move, Tyler visited a friend and former restaurant colleague who co-owns Birdie’s in Austin, which has received numerous. “He was like, ‘You’re going to open a counter service restaurant.’ And I was like, ‘I’m not opening a counter service restaurant. Full stop, not happening.'” Tyler says her favorite part about hospitality is, well, the hospitality—”the connections around tables”—and she felt that would be lacking with the model. She did a 180 after seeing Birdie’s in action: “An hour in, he was like, ‘What are you going to do?’ I was like, ‘I’m going to open a counter service restaurant,'” Tyler says. Rye Bunny’s model lies somewhere between fast-casual and full-service. You order at a counter, where staff will walk you through the menu and help you pick a glass of wine or a cocktail. From there, you’ll grab a table number and sit wherever you want. A server will fill your water, clear and reset your plates, and put in extra food and drink orders if need be. And most importantly to Tyler: “You’re going to have the banter that is my favorite part about going out, if that’s what you want.” From the restaurant’s perspective, the model is far more economically viable because they need nearly half as many front-of-house employees as they did before. Tyler says that also means they can offer health insurance to all their full-time staff and pay more competitively; All hourly employees will make at least the full minimum wage, plus tips. And because the restaurant is not using the tip credit, gratuities can be spread between front- and back-of-house, evening out pay disparities. “Sustainable wasn’t only about supporting local food systems in the way we thought about it previously. Sustainable was ‘How do we run a sustainable business? How do we create a sustainable workplace culture?’,” Tyler says.Roasted parsnips with date chili crunch. Photograph by Scott Suchman. Rye Bunny will use many of the same farms and producers as Tail Up Goat, but chef Sybert describes the new menu as “comfort food.” Think a twist on steak au poivre that incorporates peppery nasturtiums; ravioli stuffed with ramps and other spring greens; or fried chicken with sumac and aleppo honey, black garlic, and crispy lemon slices. Tyler says her personal favorite is a dish with parsnips roasted in butter until they’re crisped on the outside but pudding-like inside. They’re topped with a date/chili crunch and paired with a minty apple salad and mascarpone. “I think that fits the bill of things I’m kind of looking for: something that you see on a menu that has some sort of nostalgic pull,” Sybert says. The drink list, curated by former Tail Up Goat beverage director Audrey Dowling, includes an eclectic mix of 14 wines by the glass, mostly in the $12 to $15 range, plus around 100 by the bottle. There are also a handful of beers and batched cocktails, including two takes on a martini and a mezcal negroni.The dining room at Rye Bunny brings together string lights and vintage quilts. Photograph by Scott Suchman. The new dining room no longer has a bar, but it somehow has same number of seats. Tyler says her main request to design firm Edit at Streetsense was “we want cozy.” And so the interior includes vintage quilts, mismatched secondhand wooden chairs, and booths upholstered in leather rag rugs thrifted from a flea market in Austin. Locally made stained glass transoms separate the counter walk-up from the dining room, while the ceiling is covered in string lights and paper globe lanterns with pressed flowers. “We spend more time here than we even do in our home, so the kind of space we wanted to be in,” Tyler says.The restaurant will mostly cater to walk-ins. But there will be two reservations available each night via OpenTable. Each reservation includes a $25 booking fee, which is not a deposit but rather will 100-percent go toward non-profits, which supports immigrants facing detention or deportation. Tyler says it was a way to make charitable giving sustainable for the business, while also giving an option to guests who want a sure thing.in July 2016, she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper. She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad.Who Wants a Treat? These Pet Owners Are Going Gourmet.
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