‘Save Water, Drink Wine’ at the Wharf’s Dreamy New Easy Company

Daniel Swartz

Hot-pink neon signage spelling out “Easy Company” leads the way to the Southwest Waterfront’s first-ever wine bar, opening tonight at 4 p.m.

The bright beacon for largely-European pours of red, white, prosecco, and rosé (98 Blair Alley SW) comes from Better Hospitality Group (BHG), the team behind Shaw standby Takoda Restaurant & Beer Garden. In the past year alone, the group has opened a twice-as-large Takoda in Navy Yard, a big Boardwalk Bar & Arcade at the Wharf, and now, neighbor Easy Company.

The 49-seat newcomer, with room for nearly twice as many alfresco drinkers out front, takes tips from open-air piazzas and casual gathering spots in Europe where wine flows like water. The phrase “save water, drink wine” is splashed in mosaic tiles on Easy Company’s bathroom floors.

A 1,500-square-foot, year-round patio is the Wharf’s biggest to date, claims BHG founder Ryan Seelbach. Easy Company’s name speaks to its “approachable and easy-to-understand menu,” says Seelbach, who hopes the “Easy Co.” nickname sticks. Daily happy hour—a rare find along its pricey waterfront stretch—is also straightforward: 10 wines are $10 each, and snacks are $5-$8, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Daniel Swartz

The 80-plus bottle wine list joins around 20 options by the glass or carafe, which equates to a little over half a bottle. The cocktail list shows off BHG best sellers like the mule, margarita, frosé, and Old Fashioned, plus Easy Co. originals like a daiquiri engineered with limoncello and lavender, a creamy cardamon espresso martini, and California’s cult “Ferrari” shooter—an Italian split of Campari and Fernet.

Daniel Swartz

Daniel Swartz

Easy Company strives to stray from the typical American wine bar, which can be “high priced, dark, moody, and formal,” says Seelbach. Instead, he turns to generational wine bars scattered across towns in Tuscany and the South of France for inspiration.

One corner of the soaring space is filled up with an assortment of framed Matisse prints, gold mirrors, and vintage French posters sourced from Georgetown and Old Town galleries. The mix-and-match look, from its artwork to chairs, is intentional by design (“small villages in France and Italy usually have shoestring budgets,” he says).

Daniel Swartz

Drinking snacks include olives marinated with Calabrian chili, salted pistachios, shishito peppers punched up with Tajin, charcuterie, tzatziki and roasted eggplant-walnut dips, a burrata salad dotted with cherry tomatoes, and Old Bay-flecked calamari.

The menu moves into salads (salmon Nicoise, kale, Caesar) and handhelds like a prosciutto and fontina panini and BHG’s beloved burger, with an Easy Co. counterpart topped with goat cheese on toasted challah. Heartier entrees include egg yolk tagliatelle and roasted chicken with Parmesan potatoes. The team took its time to perfect its fries, going through a dozen iterations before landing on a perfectly fried thin spud. Seelbach also expects the pepperoni flatbread fired up with hot honey to be an early hit. Build-your-own sundaes, another first for BHG, includes a choice of vanilla or chocolate ice cream scoops and nine different toppings.

Weekend brunch stocked with smoked salmon Benedict and omelettes will join the mix starting Saturday, February 4.

Daniel Swartz

Daniel Swartz