Image: Chicken Paprikash Caesar with side of pickled eggs in the mix.

Last Updated: August 2021

Current Status:  The counter service stall in The Roost food hall is open for breakfast and lunch from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Overview: Richmond-based chef Brittanny Anderson (who acquitted herself well on Top Chef 2021) has focused on food tied to the German or Swiss side of the Alps.  Leni is her contribution to The Roost food hall created by the Neighborhood Restaurant Group.  There are breakfast and lunch options.  The lunch options are a set of toasts or a set of salads.  Early on there were larger-plate, dinner options like a roast chicken, but those appear to have been dropped for the time-being. The dishes echo the food Anderson serves in Richmond – Speck on toast, fried egg sandwich with sauerkraut, paprikash caesar salad.  The ingredients are well-sourced, the salads ample enough to get you easily from lunch to dinner.  Despite the presumption, the dishes are on the lighter side – more apt for a German spa town than Bavarian beer hall.  There are limited beverage options, but there are more in the hall.  And, no, we cannot find a good explanation for the name which has one obvious connection.

 Summary:

Cuisine: Sandwiches/Salads
Neighborhood: Capitol Hill
Address: 1401 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20003
Website: https://www.theroostsedc.com/leni
Reservations: Walk-in

Other Critics/Voices:

Washington Post: Tim does overview of The Roost and calls out Leni’s Beet Rosti specifically as being good.

Washingtonian: Preview

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