Chef Marcus Samuelsson opens his first D.C. restaurant this spring. | Marcus Samuelsson Group The famed NY restaurateur brings NoMa a seafood-focused spot this spring NoMa’s 2-year-old Morrow Hotel has a new chef in charge: NYC-based Marcus Samuelsson Restaurant Group just assumed all food and beverage operations at the 200-room Hilton by Curio Collection property near the Union Market district, his team exclusively tells Eater. Marcus DC, one of the three venues Samuelsson will open in the stylish hotel this spring, will be a “seafood-focused, full-service brasserie” located right off the lobby (222 M Street NE). The anchor dining attraction replaces Le Clou, D.C. chef Nick Stefanelli’s ambitious French destination for frog legs and frisee salads that quietly fizzled out last fall. For his first hospitality project in the nation’s capital, Samuelsson draws “inspiration from the history of Black excellence in the arts in D.C.” This isn’t his first rodeo in the area, however. The Ethiopian-born, Swedish-raised chef made a short-lived DMV debut inside MGM National Harbor back in 2016, christening the Maryland casino alongside other notable names like José Andrés. (Marcus National Harbor served fried chicken, mac and cheese, and local seafood over its year-long lifespan.) Clay Williams/Hav & Mar Marcus Samuelsson’s Chelsea restaurant Hav & Mar opened in late 2022 with scallops and shiitake mushrooms. “I’ve loved the DMV region for many years and have wanted to open in D.C. proper for some time,” he tells Eater via email. (He’s currently across the globe in Africa, where he’s checking in on his year-old Ethiopian restaurant there.) The international restaurateur who helped revitalize Harlem’s dining scene with the 2010 opening of polished comfort foods spot Red Rooster went on a NY expansion tear in recent years. Arrivals include seafood-heavy Hav & Mar in Chelsea and lower Manhattan’s ultra-glam Metropolis in the Perelman Performing Arts Center. Given D.C.’s proximity to Chesapeake Bay waterways, going with a seafood cuisine focus made most sense at the Morrow. “Growing up in Sweden, I’ve eaten my fair share of seafood and it’s my go-to comfort food,” he says. Newly named executive chef Anthony Jones, part of the opening team at Miami’s Red Rooster Overtown in 2020, reunites with Samuelsson at Marcus DC. The Maryland native and Food Network Chopped champ most recently led the kitchen at Penn Quarter’s Dirty Habit. The Morrow Washington DC Marcus DC will sit directly off of the sleek hotel lobby. The bounty of the Bay will show up in raw, cured, and dry-aged forms at Marcus DC, which is similar to what Clyde’s Restaurant Group’s new Cordelia Fish Bar does nearby. “What’s been happening here in the last few years has made me excited to be a part of the next evolution,” he says. “There are so many great players in food open in and nearby Union Market.” The booming Northeast neighborhood is now home to other NY hospitality magnates like Stephen Starr (St. Anselm, El Presidente, Pastis) and Keith McNally (Minetta Tavern). “NoMa felt like the right neighborhood, with this incredible cross section of history, arts and culture,” he says, shouting out the nearby site where the Beatles played their first concert in the U.S. (The iconic Washington Coliseum is where REI’s D.C. flagship store now stands.) Marcus DC’s menu will also carve out room for “premium steaks, innovative interpretations of comfort food classics, and seasonal produce sourced from local farms,” per a statement from his group. It’s “too soon to share” dish details right now, he says. The gilded dining room that formerly housed Le Clou will get a new look from Kamille Glenn, an alum of the same Rockwell Group that designed his sparkly Metropolis restaurant near One World Trade. Adrian Gaut/Metropolis Marcus Samuelsson’s showy Manhattan project Metropolis debuted in late 2023. Samuelsson will also spearhead the hotel’s reimagined rooftop restaurant (in what was Upstairs at the Morrow), an 11th-floor cocktail lounge, and private event space. Each venue get a fresh new name and distinct menu under his watch. While the Morrow marks Samuelsson’s first brick-and-mortar return to D.C.’s dining scene since 2018, his culinary ties to the nation’s capital run deep. He cooked for President Barack Obama during his tenure at the White House and maintains close friendships with James Beard-nominated D.C. chefs Angel Barreto and Jerome Grant. “Each time I [visit] I find myself winding up at a late dinner somewhere that I love,” he adds, naming U Street institution Ben’s Chili Bowl as a longtime favorite. Coming to D.C. feels like home. “Outside of Ethiopia, the DMV has the most amazing places to enjoy Ethiopian food and culture,” he notes. As host of No Passport Required, a PBS series produced by Eater, he dedicated an entire 2018 episode to D.C.’s vibrant Ethiopian scene. Samuelsson’s international portfolio includes other “Marcus” restaurants in Atlanta, New Jersey, the Bahamas, Canada, and Ethiopia, along with Streetbird and Vibe BBQ outlets in the U.S. and Bahamas. The chef is currently in the clouds in the heart of Addis Ababa, visiting his 47th-story Marcus Addis restaurant that debuted last year atop the tallest building in East Africa. “We are traveling [and] enjoying seeing the hard work the team put in,” he says. “Africa is such a vibrant food continent.”