The future home of AM Wine Shoppe

Justin Abad, the co-owner and general manager of Cashion’s Eat Place, calls the AM Wine Shoppe his solo project. Is that to say, then, that the gourmet wine/antipasti shop in the former Skynear space is your John Lennon, break-away moment?

“Yes, but the Beatles will always be my first love,” Abad responses with a laugh.

In other words, Abad may be the owner of AM Wine Shoppe, but he will have Andrew Akre, a former Cashion’s employee, run the neighborhood-y place for him. Abad will continue to focus his energies on the Adams Morgan restaurant, he says.

Still, Abad is investing plenty of time putting the new store together. He’s hired former Jackie’s chef (and former Cashion’s line cook) Sam Adkins to consult with Cashion’s chef/co-owner John Manolatos on the shop’s small menu. Adkins will also execute the menu of housemade salami, marinated vegetables, stuffed peppers, and other antipasti.

There will also be Italian sodas (made to order), some imported cheeses, and a few housemade sandwiches for sale, says Manolatos. Just simple sammies, he adds, like salami on good bread with olive oil. Stuff like that.

The shop will feature an 18-foot-long farmer’s table, where some antipasti will always be available for nibbling. There will be daily wine tastings, too, Manolatos says, but AM Wine will not have the necessary license to allow customers to open their newly purchased bottles. “If you purchase it, you can’t drink it on premises,” Manolatos adds.

As for the wine selection, that is Abad’s department, and he plans to stock between 50 and 70 bottles — at least at the outset. The owner would like to ultimately offer about 150 bottles, but he wants to “see how things go” at the beginning before increasing his inventory. About 75 percent of the wines will be in the $15-$25 range. The other 25 percent, Abad adds, “will probably be on the higher-end range.”

Abad has no plan to focus on any particular region, although he admits that his palate “tends to be kind of Old World.” That doesn’t mean, however, that Abad plans to sell only austere, European wines that need 10 years of aging before they’re drinkable. No, he plans to sell the “more reserved,” less fruit-bomb-oriented wines from all over the world.

It will be the kind of place, Abad says, where you pick up a bottle on the way home from work, not a place where you shop for $150 bottles for your cellar.

The AM Wine Shoppe will be open seven days a week, Abad says. As for an opening date, the owner says, “We’re ambitiously going to say Dec. 1.” It will probably start as a soft opening, he adds.

AM Wine Shoppe, 2122 18th St. NW

Let’s assume for a moment that you don’t want to grill and that you don’t have any friends kind enough to invite you to their barbecue drunk-a-thon on the Fourth. Where do you turn? Well, Y&H has some options, including a couple with smoked meats for those who just can’t celebrated America’s birthday without an animal sacrifice.

Mmmm, animal sacrifice.

• Jamie Stachowski will be grilling his artisan sausages at Red, White & Bleu in Falls Church from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday. The charcuterie master will be tending the charcoal grill at the wine and gourmet food shop, cooking up veal bratwurst, kielbasa, merguez, and linguiça for customers to sample. Stachowski will also have some rabbit terrine, country pate, and other “meat surprises” to try. All samples will be free, but the shop is hoping, of course, that you’ll be enticed into buying some of Stachowski’s meats to take home — and maybe a bottle or two of wine to go with it.
• Mr. P, one of the top 50 performers on Y&H’s 2009 Dining Guide, will be working the Fourth at his usual spot: the Safeway parking lot at Rhode Island Ave. NE. Aside from his amazing spare ribs, which are smoked to a charred, crispy, and succulent state, Mr. P will also trot out a new item: barbecued short ribs. He tells me they will be a permanent part of his menu.

• Asia Nine not only has some patriotic rolls available — the red-white-and-blue tinted Firecracker Roll and Independence Roll — but also a special BBQ Grab-n-Go Menu. The latter features such entrees as Thai barbecue chicken and Laos grilled steak, which you can have boxed with sides and ready for transport to the Mall. The specials run through July 9.
• Cashion’s Eat Place is not taking any holiday on the Fourth. From 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., chef John Manolatos will be serving up a picnic spread of hamburgers, brisket sandwiches, and Maryland blue crabs. You can also call ahead and order a picnic basket for two for $40. Call (202) 797-1819.

Speaking of picnics, the Post has compiled a list of restaurants that will be packaging their food for carryout on the Fourth. And if you’re looking for more Fourth-oriented restaurant specials, the Washingtonian has an authoritative list.

Happy Fourth, everyone.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery