Here’s a 2014 food and drink trend for Capitol Hill: the anchor restaurant. Though we might not have thought about it that way when Melrose Market debuted in 2010, Sitka and Spruce filled the traditional role in the non-traditional locavore-focused development. As the roster of Capitol Hill complexes grows and new players step up take on the key anchor role, Matt Dillon’s Sitka has made a few tweaks to update its place in the changing neighborhood and set up cousin Bar Ferd’nand for its big new project in 2015.

In a project completed this month, Sitka and Spruce has quietly joined the Capitol Hill barstaurant scene by expanding out into the market with its own cocktail bar:

The Sitka & Spruce Bar is located within the Melrose Market, across the hall from our restaurant. Here, we serve some of our favorite cocktails, both classic and new. Much like our food menu, our drinks are rotated regularly based on seasonality and availability.

At the Bar, you can order from our entire food menu from the main dining room, and in addition, we offer bar-specific foods from our expanded raw bar and charcuterie stations.

The addition has meant changes for Market neighbor Bar Ferd’nand which has consolidated its bar space to make room for Sitka in a move co-owner Marc Papineau says is more in line with his original vision for a wine counter and bottleshop. There’s also a back table for tastings and occasional special dinners. Anybody who loved Ferd’nand as a quiet alternative to Pike/Pine sometimes manic scene shouldn’t be too disappointed by the changes — there’s still a place to roost and enjoy a glass along with some simple hors d’oeuvres.

The overhaul also sets Ferd’nand up for its big new project in the Chophouse Row development on 11th Ave. Rolled back to a 2015 debut by construction delays, the ambitious and preservation-minded open market, restaurant, and office project will also feature a larger Ferd’nand with more food and a wood-fire oven, Papineau says.