The entrance to La’ Shukran sits in a gritty Northeast alleyway. | Hawkeye Johnson Chef Michael Rafidi’s high-energy cocktail bar arrives above Yellow on Thursday, September 19 Drawing influence from a land known for its convergence of cultures, La’ Shukran in Union Market is a confluence of bar, bistro, and back-alley neighborhood joint, where award-winning chef Michael Rafidi digs deep into his bag of Levantine tricks to produce a vibrant space tinged with nostalgia, disco, and pops of color. Hawkeye Johnson Hummus augmented with smoky escargot in arak butter. Rafidi, fresh off snagging 2024 James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef, is also behind Michelin-starred, hearth-fired marvel Albi and colorful cafe Yellow. While the two are both Levantine in soul, steeped in za’atar and sumac, Rafidi’s newest venture moves in a different direction. Bar-centric as much as it focuses on food, he calls La’ Shukran “retro-modern late-night.” The opening beverage program showcases lots of Levantine wines and arak, a popular Middle Eastern distilled spirit with cooling notes of anise and licorice. Rafidi tapped longtime friend (and fellow Michael Mina alum) Radovan Jankovic to lead the bar, and sommelier William Simons — Albi’s wine director since day one — curates a list of progressive, natural-leaning varietals. Set above Yellow’s newest Union Market location, La’ Shukran is years in the making. Rafidi and Jankovic (who also runs the bar program at Mercy Me and just-opened Cana) have long wanted to do a D.C. cocktail bar to their own tune. While the partners originally imagined the spot more in the cuisine of a French bistro, only the style remains, with a relaxed feel, daily specials, “and more my kind of food,” he says. Hawkeye Johnson La’ Shukran is dressed with fringe-lined lamps and a hot-pink rug made in Morocco. La’ Shukran serves Rafidi’s takes on Levantine classics. “Its similar spices and flavors from Albi and Yellow,” of dishes shot through with za’atar, chiles, sumac, spicy ferments, and shatta, a popular hot sauce in the Arab world. The opening menu features “end-of-summer” melon with whipped tahini, spicy chilis, and smoked feta; a lamb tartare with shittah and seeded lavash bread; and smashed eggplant. One of Rafidi’s signature apps is smoky escargot steeped in butter made with arak. Hawkeye Johnson A headphones-wearing cartoon camel is the mascot of the delightfully playful project. Mains include head-on prawns with harissa tzatziki, and hot quail aside tahini ranch. There’s also a hefty grilled NY strip with sumac onions. The La’ Shukran salad comes not just with feta but also “lots of herbs and love [that’s] nostalgic of what I grew up with in the Middle East.” A short dessert menu includes knafeh, a cheese-filled, floral syrup-drenched phyllo pastry, plus a coffee and tea program. The drink menus feature illustrations, photographs, and historical expositions. Arak plays a starring role in several cocktails and a dozen styles can be ordered by the glass. Other cocktails play with other Levantine and international flavors; the Simsim for example, brings in sesame and date molasses. Simons’ wines run from trendy pet-nats and other bubbles to indigenous Lebanese varietals to low-intervention options, a few of which are available by the glass. Hawkeye Johnson The 53-seat space includes a 13-seat bar. Hawkeye Johnson Kebab steak au piovre with a late summer salad at La’ Shukran. The boundary-pushing, border-shifting bar sits in the upper level of a former meatpacking warehouse in a somewhat-grungy back alley that “just felt right,” he notes. The loft-like space revels in lush textures and a ’70s-retro vibe, with overstuffed cushions and plush rugs. Music plays a starring role, too, from funky Arab tunes to “low-end theory bass,” a score with music from Egypt to Sudan to Lebanon, played. DJs will also spin at night while drinks flow. La’ Shukran follows the recent opening of another late-night Lebanese party place, Yalla, on U Street. The La’ Shukran name is as enigmatically complex as the bar, meaning “No. Thank you”; “No, thank you” and a form of “you’re welcome.” For Rafidi, the bar strives to be “a celebration of both the harmonies and the tensions found within heritage and cuisine, but also a loud, fun place to have a good time without being too serious.” Hawkeye Johnson The dim stairwell leading up to La’ Shukran. Hawkeye Johnson Cocktails play with lost of arak. Hawkeye Johnson Billowing drapes, mirrored details, and candle-lit accents frame the space.