Chef Johnny Spero’s modernist-minded fine dining redoubt first opened in 2018, tucked into a Georgetown alley just off the main drag. An alum of José Andrés’ Minibar, Komi by James Beard Award winner Johnny Monis, and Spain’s acclaimed Mugaritz, Spero crafted tasting menus rooted in seafood, wild ingredients, and locally sourced seasonal produce—earning Reverie a Michelin star in spring 2022. “Getting the star and seeing the books fill up for the first time, there was finally a light at the end of the tunnel,” he says. “I felt, ‘We can do this; we can succeed; we can make this work.’”
Just weeks later, the restaurant was gutted by a fire. “I went through all the stages of grief in one day,” says Spero, who was on the verge of opening another restaurant and welcoming a third child into his family. “And then I accepted it was like, ‘Okay, let's move on.’”
While Reverie was being redesigned and rebuilt, Spero cooked at restaurants around the world—including Evett in Seoul, LURRA˚ in Kyoto—and held a residency at Minibar. He focused on the silver lining. “I got the opportunity that not a lot of people do,” he says. “I got to rethink about all the things that I didn't like about the restaurant and change it.”
After an 18-month hiatus to rebuild and refocus, Reverie reopened in summer 2024 with a redesigned kitchen and a darker, moodier, more minimalist aesthetic. The tasting menu remains seafood-driven but now incorporates meat, including dishes like lamb and squab.
Recent highlights have included razor clams with black walnut–gooseberry salsa macha and eucalyptus-infused avocado cream; citrus-accented scallops paired with a trompe l'œil-inspired edible shell made of sunchokes and black trumpet mushrooms; and a pudding made with rice roasted inside a young coconut.
No two meals are the same. Dishes shift constantly. Creativity drives the menu, and the future is always in flux. “Our goal is to have a fluid menu that changes based on what we want to be cooking,” says Spero. “We are constantly evolving.”
