The One Who Keeps the Book Washington D.C.
How to Get Into Anju
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Hear the name Anju, and many people’s first thoughts will float to Korean bar snacks. Pan-tossed pork-and-kimchi mandu with blistered skins and juicy centers. Crisp Korean fried chicken whose juices run with its gochujang glaze at first bite. Tender beef tartare, punctuated by lotus crisps for a compelling crunch.
If those diners know the restaurant scene in the nation’s capital and its suburbs, those gustatory recollections will be completed with the faces of Danny Lee and Scott Drewno. The chef duo behind The Fried Rice Collective opened Anju in 2019 and have since garnered multiple James Beard nominations, a legion of celebrity fans, and a reservation book that’s notoriously tough to crack.
While executive chef Angel Barreto and corporate beverage director Phil Anova expertly craft nouvelle Korean bites and cocktails, general manager Eric Chodkowski is the master of the front-of-house.
Chodkowski has worked with Lee for nearly close to two decades. He bartended, then became G.M. at the more traditional Mandu in the same space on 18th Street. When that restaurant was lost to a fire in 2017, Anju rose from the ashes with its heightened creativity and a gift for attracting buzz in the city like few others. Whether guests are drawn by the house-infused soju and smaller bites or by the tasting menu, which brings together the chefs’ creations in a family-style feast, it’s smart to reserve ahead for the privilege.
We were able to capture busy Chodkowski’s attention long enough to get his recommendations for how to make sure a night at Anju goes off without a hitch. Here’s how to get a spot at the hallowed main dining room at the acclaimed Korean restaurant.
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Why is it challenging to get a reservation at Anju?
Because we just take reservations for our main dining room upstairs. There’s only like 60 seats up there. You know, people get surprised at how big it is, but it is limited seating.
When do reservations become available on Resy?
It’s 21 days in advance, on a rolling day-by-day basis. Especially on the weekends, it can get a little wild watching it.
Do you allow walk-ins?
Of course. We use the first floor for walk-ins every single night. The bar area, the lounge and the patio — weather permitting on the patio — but we’ve always saved that area. That way, people in the neighborhood that we’ve gotten to know throughout all the years or people that are visiting D.C. can always sneak in. It might be a little bit of a wait, but we just create a wait list for all that, which allows everybody to walk around. I tell a lot of people when I talk to them on the phone, if you make your way down here, we’ll figure it out after that.
How many seats are open for walk-ins?
Downstairs, we have another 40 seats. So it’s 100 total.
What days and times are diners most likely to get the seats they want?
Generally, Monday through Wednesdays are a little bit easier. Sunday nights later, if you’re available, too. But a lot of it depends on if there’s conventions in town, because we get a lot of requests for large parties ahead of time. If you’re looking for something on the weekends, you can plan around that 21 days.
A lot of times you’ll see, even when you’re looking for a specific night, there’ll be the 5 to 5:30s or the 8:30 to 9s. You’re still going to have this amazing dining experience. So if you’re just focused on joining us, it’s okay to gobble up those times and have this amazing experience.
Do you recommend using the Notify list on Resy?
Resy is amazing because it has that Notify list, which is their automated wait list. A lot of times your names will get taken off of that.
There’s a couple that I’ve known throughout the years, where they got married and now they have kids. We’ve seen their little girl grow up and come in to dine with us.— Eric Chodkowski, General Manager
How long is your list for notifications on a busy night?
I’ve seen it get up to like 700 before. It gets to be a little wild.
How likely are you to get in if you use Notify?
There’s a lot of times that people call up, and I’ll tell them sometimes that there’s not a crazy amount of names on there, so there is a good chance. So just add your name.
We do get last-minute cancelations. Plans change, something happens, so huge shout-out to Resy. We’ve worked with them for a long time. It’s an amazing platform that continues to get better and better, and that Notify list is just a neat thing that they have on there.
Do you have any other insider tips for getting a table?
It doesn’t hurt to email. We have an address, info@tfrc.com. Sometimes I’ll help out with something along those lines.
Who are your regulars?
It’s a little bit of everything. We have people that live in the neighborhood. We have people that used to live in the neighborhood and moved out that’ll come and visit us. It’s like welcoming people in your home. There’s a couple of couples that I’ve known throughout the years, all six years, where they got married — they were engaged when we met them — and now they have kids. We’ve seen their little girl grow up and come in to dine with us. So, we have those kinds of regulars that live right in the neighborhood.
We have guests that, every time they’re in town, they come and visit us. There’s one couple that has a house in D.C. and has a house somewhere else. And every time they’re in D.C., they just make sure they swing by. It’s just good to catch up with them. It kind of changes the identity of the dining experience when it’s more welcoming.
What’s the scene like on a Friday or Saturday night?
It’s bustling. You can always tell when 7 p.m. rolls around. On a Friday and Saturday night, it’s still relaxed, good vibes, the same dining experience, very homey, still. It’s just busier.
What’s your favorite seat in the house?
Yes, there’s a couple of them in our back room, the garden room, which we also use as our private dining area. Danny’s wife, Natalie, is an absolutely amazing restaurant designer. What she does in this room is just absolutely beautiful.
In the main dining room, there’s these round tables, these six tops that have the Lazy Susan in the middle that are great for bigger parties. But there’s no bad seats. That’s the best part about it. We try not to have one where it was because I’ve been in restaurants before, and I was like, ‘Are you even using this as a seat?’ We didn’t want anything along those lines.
Is Korean food your favorite cuisine, and how did you come to learn more about it?
It is now one of my favorites by far. I grew up in a small town in Delaware where there was one Chinese restaurant. So that was my what I was used to, growing up. Then when I moved to D.C. 25 years ago, I had worked with Danny, and he had introduced me a little bit to Korean cuisine at the time when they had opened up Mandu in 2006.
We kept in touch and then when we opened up the Mandu on K Street in 2010, which is when I switched over and joined Danny. Working with his mom [Yesoon] for so long, and her teaching me the menu and the background behind it, and then having the chance to continue to work with Danny, and then bringing Angel into it, it’s just phenomenal. It’s definitely become by far one of my favorite foods, and I love to try out all the new stuff and hear the history behind all the dishes.
