Fall Preview 2015: The 10 Most Exciting Restaurant Openings In The Mid-Atlantic

From Baltimore to Pittsburgh, through downtown Philadelphia to the suburbs of Washington, D.C., the mid-Atlantic region remains one of the nation's most vibrant areas for dining. Here are the 10 new restaurants we are most excited about within this particular hotbed of culinary development:

Philadelphia restaurateur Konstantinos Pitsillides is bringing his unique take on Cypriot cuisine to a much bigger space in the City of Brotherly Love — one that is fully liquor licensed, to boot. (Photo courtesy of Kanella.)

The average diner is still unfamiliar with the multi-culti deep cuts of Cypriot cuisine, and that's all the motivation Konstantinos Pitsillides needs. The chef, who ran his distinctive BYOB Kanella in Philly for seven years, is in the process of moving the restaurant about a mile and a half southeast, to a new space that's more than twice the size. Kanella 2.0 will feature a liquor license, meaning cocktails made with mastika and grappa and an atypical wine list that'll focus on underappreciated grape-growing regions of Hungary and Croatia. But the distinctive cooking of Pitsillides's Cyprus will still be the biggest draw. Armed with a new charcoal grill and a wood-burning oven, he'll combine classics, like keftedes and octopus, with roasted goat, Armenian lahmajun and saganaki made with kefalotyri ("ten times better than halloumi"). 757 S. Front St., Philadelphia, PA 19147; kanellarestaurant.com

Consider this a preview of the preview: Jennifer Carroll and Mike Isabella, who met as competitors on season six of Top Chef, have been trying to work together for years. They're finally getting a chance to collaborate with Requin, which will pop up in Northern Virginia this fall before properly debuting in D.C. later on. Carroll, a Le Bernardin alum, gets a chance to expand her scope with this French-Mediterranean concept, which will operate temporarily out of an upcoming location of Isabella's Kapnos Kouzina in Merrifield's Mosaic District beginning sometime in November. (The permanent location, along the Wharf in D.C.'s Southwest Waterfront, should be ready in 2017.) "Seafood heavy, but not seafood only" will define the approach of the menu at Requin (that's French for shark), where she hopes to get away from heavier Gallic dishes in favor of vegetable- and crudo-centric preparations. 8296 Glass Alley, Fairfax, VA 22031; requindc.com

Mike Isabella isn't stopping with Carroll in the recruitment department. He's also encouraged Jonah Kim, the well-traveled Austinite who last ran Michael Mina's Pabu in Baltimore, to partner up for Kim's solo debut in Arlington. Kim, who's participated in various collaborations and pop-ups since Pabu closed in 2014, will target D.C.-area ramen fanatics with his tonkotsu stylings (with proprietary noodles, of course), as well as dishes that speak to his Korean-American upbringing (yook hwe, Korean steak tartare; wings in a gochujang-bourbon glaze). Kim's first restaurant should be ready by November. 4000 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22203; yonava.com

Chef Justin Severino's smoked pork conserva at Morcilla in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo: Adam Milliron.)

Slated for October, chef Justin Severino's anticipated follow-up to Cure will be Spanish in approach, but his knack for scratch-made meats won't suffer — it's just shifting slightly to the west, from Italy to Iberia. Severino's charcuterie spread at Morcilla will include jamón and chorizo served in various tapas and pintxos setups, as well as the titular blood sausage in a montadito (similar to a crostini) with piperade and caramelized crab. Severino's Spanish explorations will be accompanied by a like-minded beverage program built around Spanish wines, cocktails and ciders. 3519 Butler St., Pittsburgh, PA 15201; morcillapittsburgh.com

Donna Crivello and Alan Hirsch, who run two locations of Charm City café Donna's, are working on Cosima, a Southern Italian restaurant opening in late fall in Mill No. 1, a cotton processing facility converted to a multi-use complex. The kitchen will skew more ambitious than the comfort food theme of Donna's, focusing specifically on Sicily and its many-layered cooking tradition; they'll be working with a wood-fired oven to crank out pizzas and other roasted/toasted specialties. Mill No. 1, 3000 Falls Road, Baltimore, MD 21211; cosimamill1.com

The Dinosaurs are swarming. Originating in Syracuse, New York, John Stage's big-plate barbecue joint opened its westernmost restaurant in Chicago this past spring. The crew is now poised to debut its southernmost outpost, on Fleet Street in Baltimore, its first location in the region and its tenth overall. Stage and company are setting up its smoked-meat emporium in a 7,800-square-foot, 220-seat space inside Harbor East's Union Marketplace, and plan on celebrating Baltimore's ace reputation for craft beer by highlighting local brewers on the draft list. The pits should be smoldering by the last week of September. 1401 Fleet St., Baltimore, MD 21231; dinosaurbarbque.com/bbq-baltimore

Chef Edward Lee's "dirty" fried chicken in a gochujang-honey glaze at Succotash in Oxon Hill, Maryland. (Photo courtesy of Succotash.)

Currently in dinner-only mode with lunch and brunch coming soon, Edward Lee's East Coast debut combines the distinctive brand of Southern cuisine he's cultivated at his Louisville restaurants, 610 Magnolia and MilkWood, with meat, seafood and other touches sourced within the local region. Lee, with executive chef Lisa Odom, has put together plates like "dirty" fried chicken in a gochujang-honey glaze, fried local catfish with jalapeño-mint aioli, Rappahannock oysters with watermelon vinaigrette and a dry-aged, bone-in rib eye from Maryland's Roseda Farm. All this is executed in a rustic-contemporary Southern space conceived by Knead Hospitality + Design, Lee's partners in the project. 186 Waterfront St., National Harbor, MD 20745; succotashrestaurant.com

While his well-loved BYOB Noord focuses on Dutch and Scandinavian flavors, chef Joncarl Lachman will tap into France's former holdings in North Africa for the food at Neuf, in the heart of South Philly's Italian Market. There is plenty of land and hundreds of years to cover here, and Lachman's done his homework, focusing on the traditions of countries like Morocco (various tagines), Egypt (the humble street-food staple kushari), Tunisia (kamounia, a super-slow-cooked beef stew). Lachman's second restaurant, which will have a liquor license, is penciled in for a September 30 opening. 943 S. Ninth St., Philadelphia, PA 19147; neufphilly.com

Cioppino has been signature dish for San Francisco's Tadich Grill for more than a century. The restaurant's first East Coast outpost is expected to open this fall in Washington, D.C. (Photo courtesy of Tadich Grill.)

San Francisco's Tadich Grill, one of the oldest restaurants in the country, is finally expanding — and it's going about as far away as it can go, with a sister location in our nation's capital. Operating, in one form/location or another, since the mid-1800s, Tadich is known for its seafood grilled over mesquite hardwood, white-jacketed waiters and power-broker clientele; it should be more of the same in the District, with a northwest location six blocks from the White House. One East Coast distinction: the no-reservations policy in place at the Bay Area original will not transfer over. Operators are shooting for Oct. 1. 1001 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Suite 102, Washington, DC 20004; tadichgrill.com

Brendan Hartranft and Leigh Maida, who already operate a humming trio of popular Philly beer bars (Memphis Taproom, Local 44, Strangelove's), are diversifying the roster a bit this autumn with the addition of Coeur, a Montreal-inspired restaurant joining the Italian Market fray. The couple, along with partner Brendan Kelly, are going the crowd-pleasing route with this menu, which will feature choices like a signature roast chicken (done in a massive 28-bird rotisserie) and a potentially game-changing poutine burger. Chef Andy Tessier (ex-Boulud) will also get into house-made charcuterie. In addition to Coeur — cannot wait to hear people try to pronounce this with a Philly accent — the team is also building out Clarkville, a casual pizza-and-craft-beer spot in West Philly. 824 S. Eighth St., Philadelphia, PA 19147; coeurphilly.com