Komi | |
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Restaurant information | |
Chef | Johnny Monis |
City | Washington D.C. |
Country | United States |
Komi was a restaurant in Washington, D.C. operated by Chef Johnny Monis, serving Italian cuisine and Greek cuisine.
Komi was located at 1509 17th St. NW in Washington, D.C. [1] It opened in 2003, serving wood-fired pizzas and an à la carte menu of soups, salads, and entrees for lunch and dinner. [2]
In the winter of 2006, Chef Monis shut down the restaurant for two weeks, removing a majority of the tables and re-opening with a prix-fixe multi-course menu priced at $84, only available for dinner. [3] This new incarnation of Komi earned rave reviews, landing the No.1 spot on Washingtonian Magazine's Best Restaurants in DC in 2009. [4] It held this top spot through 2012, as it became one of the most acclaimed restaurants in the city. [5]
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama dined at Komi in May 2010. [6]
Komi earned a Michelin star in the 2018 Michelin Guide for Washington, DC. [7] In his 2018 Fall Dining Guide, Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema named Komi to his ten-restaurant Hall of Fame. [8]
By September, 2022, Komi had lost their Michelin star and "morphed into Happy Gyro, a… Greek deli-style takeout." [9]
Johnny Monis was born and raised in Arlington, Virginia, where his family owned La Casa Pizzeria. [10] His parents were born on the Greek island of Chios, and Komi is named for a taverna-lined beach on Chios where the family vacationed. [5]
Monis enrolled as a premed at James Madison University but dropped out to attend the College of the Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales University in Charleston, South Carolina. [10] He did not finish culinary school, however, because he believed he was learning more by working at McCrady's Restaurant. [5]
In 2001, Monis was hired to work at the Washington, D.C. restaurant Chef Geoff's, where he was quickly promoted and was named the executive chef of a new Chef Geoff's location downtown. [10] In 2003, Monis quit to open his own restaurant, Komi. [5]
In April 2007, Food & Wine magazine named Monis one of the F&W 2007 Best New Chefs. [11] In 2013, Monis won a James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic. [12]
In 2011, Monis opened a separate restaurant on the floor below Komi, the Thai-inspired Little Serow, which was named one of the best new restaurants in America by Bon Appétit magazine. [13]