Image: Don’t duck the peppers.
Last Updated: July 2025
Overview:
The term “hidden gem” comes in for some abuse, especially when applied to a place that lacks both covert and precious qualities. My Little Chamomile is a true hidden gem. For years, chef/owner Cagla Onal built a reputation among the food cognoscenti based on her day-time counter spot Green Almond Pantry. Now she has a full-service restaurant to show off her skills. Reservations can fill up a few days in advance, but we suggest taking any time you can get and going.
The menu rotates but is centered on the kind of cooking Onal learned from her mother (the name is a based on her mom’s term of affection for Onal’s daughter). The first part of the menu is specials that while not exactly like the dishes of Green Almond Pantry, will feel familiar to its customers: fava bean salad under a yogurt dressing; roasted Anaheim peppers in oil; smoked eggplant; cucumber, tomato, and feta salad; and lamb skewers. Mixed in are more delicate dishes more appropriate for the plate than the take-out container, like squash blossoms stuffed with rice and basil. The section called, “From Mom’s Kitchen” is the heart of the menu, featuring comfort food like braised lamb over roasted eggplant puree that gets its depth from cooking, spices and herbs more than smokiness. Other choices under this section on our visit included, red lentil soup, baby artichokes, grape leaves stuffed with beef and rice, and manti (tiny beef dumplings). Rounding out the savory choices are two larger format dishes from the grill, whole branzino and a steak.
For the time-being Green Almond’s legendary focaccia is not on the menu, but fresh little loaves topped with sesame do come with the meal and help avoid using fingers to lap up leftover sauce. Desserts also are made in-house with three choices currently: a chocolate-ganache cookie cake, a corn meal flour cake soaked in simple syrup and served with an ample supply of fresh whipped cream and sour cherries, and a walnut phyllo pastry that is closer to mincemeat than baklava.
Certain aspects reflect the low-key, neighborhood nature of the place. The room is sparsely decorated, though the bar built from walnut and brass works both as a centerpiece and an invitation. The kitchen is the same one used by Green Almond Pantry. More than one crying child could be heard with nary a blanched look or eye roll from others. They just started Sunday brunch. The drink menu is limited to start. The servers included friends who are helping Onal get going (she had a kickstarter as part of the effort). Which is to say, we expect the friendly charm to remain even as it builds out and settles in. All of which adds up to a gem. As for the hidden element, My Little Chamomile is accessed through the alley behind Green Almond Pantry – like you are going to Reverie, but keep going.
We have been known to advise, “support what you want to see survive.” My Little Chamomile deserves all the support you can give as it ascends from hidden gem to crown jewel status.
Other Guidance: The restaurant is at street level, but it can be tricky to get down the cobble-stoned alley and one step down the back pathway. Vegetarians and GF can do very well here.
Summary:
Cuisine: Eastern Mediterranean (Turkish)
Neighborhood: Georgetown
Address: 3210 Grace Street NW Washington, DC 20007 (via Cherry Hill Ln. alley)
Website: https://www.mylittlechamomile.com/
Reservations: Opentable (via website)
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