Gina Chersevani is known around Washington for inventive cocktails crafted with the care and precision of a chemical engineer. In short, Gina mixes chemical solutions so you have a biologically good time. When she designed the cocktail menu for Jake’s, she decided that each cocktail would bear a playful, nautical moniker which pays homage to the restaurant’s namesake, the owner’s grandfather.
Edwin “Jake” Jablonski was a chemical engineer for the Naval Research Laboratory. Much like the Aqueous Film Forming Foam Jake developed to extinguish flight deck fires, the Spice Trade ($10) will cool the heat on a hot summer’s day.
Exclusively at Jake’s, the classic Manhattan ($9) loses its sting when aged for 45 days in bar-top barrels for a deep, amber color and mellow, smooth flavor. An’Apple’is ($10) easily tastes like freshly-baked apple pie in a glass, and doesn’t have to work as hard as James Franco does. If you hate beer, especially thick, murky beers, The Ugly Mug ($10) gets a facelift when 10 Kona Pipeline Stout is sweetened with Godiva Chocolate vodka, champagne and vanilla.
Opening soon, The Boiler Room, located on the lower level, will house pool tables, foosball, shuffleboard, video games, Wii and XBOX 360/Kinect, ping-pong tables, a private bar with seating for 15 and flat screen TVs.
Photo: Jake’s American Grill
Jake’s American Grille
5018 Connecticut Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20008
202.966.5253
Mary was born and raised in New York City where her family owned restaurants. Instead of eating dirt on the playground, she ate duck blood, beef tripe and pork belly. She cut her teeth at The Mandarin Oriental and The Ritz-Carlton hotels, working with Barbra Streisand, Vanessa Williams, Michael Stipe, LeVar Burton, Jane Krakowski and others. Mary founded Girl Meets Food in 2009 as a cover for her debilitating addiction to fried chicken and was named Washington Post’s “Favorite Local Foodie.” After 13 years in hospitality, she started freelance writing for USA Today, The Washington Post, Eater, Washington City Paper, and more. Today, she provides digital marketing for hospitality clients as a content creator who’s contently creating content.