In a start to 2017 full of closures around Capitol Hill, Shota Nakajima’s next move at 15th and Pine is a reboot, not a shuttering. After Sunday, his meticulous 10-course Japanese kaiseki Naka is gone. Then, work can begin on what comes next for the chef/owner and first-time restaurateur who we will soon have to refer to as a second-time, a little wiser, a little more settled-in restaurateur.

“I like moving forward, I like changes,” Nakajima tells CHS “Owning a restaurant, I’ve learned a lot about Capitol Hill.”

Adana, informed by a year of upscale business in the neighborhood and Nakajima’s move into his restaurant’s immediate neighborhood, will open later this winter with a refresh of the space and a simpler take on the fussy, detail-oriented preparations at the core of what Naka had been. The name is Japanese for “nickname,” a play on what came before. If Naka was Nakajima’s kaiseki alter-ego of sorts, Adana is a new face for the same character. Continue reading →