Yellowfin tuna with sweet corn and pickled bamboo from Elyse. | Jonathan Krinn After relying on an invite-only clientele since February, Elyse opens to the public next month Chef Jonathan Krinn slowly rolled out his “out of the box,” five-course tasting menu back in February, inviting and serving a “supportive groups of guests” that subscribe to his email list. The tenured chef already has a baked-in customer base in Northern Virginia, where he’s operated restaurants around the region for a quarter-century. Elyse opens for full-service dining — with reservations open to all — starting Wednesday, October 9 (10824 Fairfax Boulevard, Fairfax, Virginia). Situated in a tiny standalone building off Lee Highway, Elyse only has 30 seats, including eight at a bar wrapped around an open kitchen. It’s Krinn’s smallest restaurant yet, comprised of a dark lounge interior that “hugs” its patrons. The former owner of three Northern Virginia establishments went with an intimate tasting menu model this time around, in part, because “[I’m] a little older and maybe a little wiser,” he tells Eater. “I want to keep doing this with the same energy that I’ve done it for so many years,” Krinn says. “And I think the key to that is evolving and changing your environment to fit your desired sort of life structure.” Elyse comes to fruition following an extended break from running restaurants. After operating Vienna gem Clarity for seven years, and even powering through a pandemic, the chef stepped back in late 2021 to focus on consulting and cook private prix fixe dinners at client’s homes. (Clarity is now run by Green Pig Bistro’s former chef Tracy O’Grady.) Jonathan Krinn Spiced caramel roasted peach with a parmesan mousse from Elyse. Elyse, which is Krinn’s daughter’s middle name, will have a flexible schedule, operating for dinner four days a week and three days a week during the slower season. With only eight people on staff, including his 84-year-old father who has been baking French and country wheat bread at each of his restaurants, he can also easily close down while he and his wife go off to lead international yoga and cooking excursions (their upcoming one is in Marrakesh). Elyse also adopts a relaxed structure for dinner service, with only one seating a night that allows guest to sit back and enjoy the hybrid tasting menu ($125) for as long as they like. Diners will have two options on the menu, choosing from a few first courses after an amuse bouche and a fourth-course pick before dessert. Krinn plans to change up the menu monthly and is already experimenting with future dish ideas. “I try to be sensitive to making sure that everyone can find something, but if you want to take it off the grid, you can do that too.” “In the summer, I did a sweet corn ravioli with piggy ear salad,” he says. “Which was really neat, because my clientele is really open to to try new things, because there’s a lot of trust with us.” At Clarity, Krinn was known for his daring use of unexpected ingredients, and Elyse will be no different. Over its preview run, diners enjoyed dishes like bone marrow-infused pastas, smoked beef tongue, and tuna and pickled bamboo. Krinn hopes the small venue and menu will continue to develop that trust with customers and he plans to have even more adventurous off-menu options for curious diners, like cornmeal-crusted lamb sweetbread (brains). “I think it’s a nice way to offer the really out of the box things as a choice, but it’s not a requirement,” he explains. “I try to be sensitive to making sure that everyone can find something, but if you want to take it off the grid, you can do that too.” There’s also an optional wine pairing ($85) to go along with the creative dishes and a wine list curated by Krinn and consultant sommelier David Hale, who worked at Michel Richard’s Citronelle in Georgetown for years. Krinn is also a big fan of bourbon, so look for pairings of the well-stocked brown spirit behind the bar. Returning to a restaurant kitchen and slowly building the perfect space for his longtime customers has reignited Krinn’s passion. He’s happy to say he “feels like a kid again.”