D.C.’s new Beard finalist

Maison Bar à Vins opened in Adams Morgan on September 13, 2025, and less than seven months later it landed on the James Beard Foundation’s 2026 finalist list for Best New Restaurant. The national list is only seven restaurants long, and Maison is the Washington name on it. (jamesbeard.org) The James Beard Awards are one of the biggest prizes in American restaurants, and the foundation says the 2026 winners will be announced on June 15, 2026, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Making the finalist round means Maison already survived the longer semifinalist list released on January 21, 2026. (jamesbeard.org 1) (jamesbeard.org 2) Maison sits at 1834 Columbia Road Northwest in a nineteenth-century Adams Morgan brownstone that used to house Habana Village, a Cuban nightclub that spent about 30 years in the building. The room now runs as a French-inspired wine bar and restaurant instead of a dance club. (eater.com) (washingtonian.com) The people behind it are The Popal Group, the Afghan family-run Washington hospitality company that already built local followings with Lapis, Lutèce, Pascual, and LaPop. Maison was designed as the easier, walk-in-friendly sibling to Lutèce, where co-owner Omar Popal said one recurring complaint was that guests could not just stop in for a drink. (maisondc.com) (washingtonian.com) That setup helps explain why Maison moved fast. The official site says the house is built for walk-ins and late nights, while the dining room still takes reservations, so it can work both as a neighborhood bar and as a destination dinner. (maisondc.com) (resy.com) The kitchen is led by executive chef Matt Conroy, whose name was already familiar in Washington from Lutèce and Pascual, and Maison’s team also includes chef de cuisine Jason Chavenson and wine director Chris Ray. On Maison’s own site, Conroy is described as the chef behind Pascual, Lutèce, and Maison, which gives the new place a built-in audience before the first plate even hits the table. (maisondc.com) (resy.com) The food is French in style but not locked into old formal restaurant rules. Early coverage highlighted smoked eel croquettes, seaweed choux buns with whipped fish roe, escargots with bone marrow, brioche-stuffed chicken, and housemade pasta with Maine mussels. (washingtonian.com) The wine side is just as central as the kitchen. Washingtonian reported more than 1,000 bottles in the cellar, and Maison says the list leans on French regions, organic and biodynamic producers, and lesser-known grapes instead of a short, safe greatest-hits menu. (washingtonian.com) (maisondc.com) Washington already had other 2026 James Beard finalists, including Maxwell Park for Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages and Moon Rabbit’s Kevin Tien for Outstanding Chef, but Maison was the only District restaurant to make Best New Restaurant. That puts it in the one category built specifically to answer a simple question diners ask every year: where is the new place people will wish they booked earlier. (eater.com) (wjla.com) If you are trying to go soon, Maison’s own reservation page says it welcomes both reservations and walk-in traffic, but finalist attention usually pushes more people onto both paths at once. The window between the March 31 finalist announcement and the June 15 awards ceremony is when a lot of “we should try that place” energy tends to turn into actual booked tables. (resy.com) (jamesbeard.org)