After savoring my way through some clever comfort-food updates at Slate, from homemade lamb gyros to barbecue pork spring rolls, I'm hoping this newcomer doesn't become a casualty of such shallow first impressions.
It's not that this new restau-bar on 21st Street is ugly, per se. Owner Laurentiu Muras spent 10 long months transforming the old Cafe Habana himself, replacing the kitchen, opening up the room, installing so much polished stone across the long bar and tables that he was inspired to coin the restaurant's name.
"I have a friend who owns a granite company," he says, "and it kind of went from there."
What Slate wants to be, however, is simply not apparent from an initial glance, causing an identity crisis diners might have a hard time relating to. The usual gastropub hipsters will likely find the taps too predictable and the space too slick, with its polished granite, loungey music, and austerely empty earth-tone walls. On the flip side, it's not upscale or distinctive enough, either, to merit "destination" status.
What neighborhood diners have slowly been discovering, though, is that this room is a launching pad for a tandem of talents making impressive debuts with creativity at refreshingly affordable prices.
The first introduction, naturally, is Muras, 35, a thick-whiskered Romanian who immigrated to Olney two decades ago speaking no English, and worked his way through various jobs (HVAC, pizza delivery) and numerous bar gigs (Valanni, Jack's, El Vez, Trust) before opening his own place.
