Lion & Bull

By Warren Rojas

Courtesy of Lion & Bull

Lion & BullRon Miner spent the past few years thinking about his dream restaurant—a food fantasy that’s now become reality with the help of some like-minded hospitality pros.

Miner’s Lion & Bull will draw strength from a dining and wine program orchestrated by Middleburg’s French Hound founders John-Gustin and Marny Birkitt, as well as a booking alliance with Vienna’s Jammin’ Java (a solid draw for national acts).

Chef Birkitt sketched out a menu of modified standards like peach-habanero chicken wings, Asian-style salads and classically sauced proteins, but noted that the idea is to keep things very approachable. “This can’t get too highbrow … or too expensive,” he notes, estimating that he’ll be “stopping by constantly to make sure everything is fresh, neat and done right.”

5351 Merchant View Square, Haymarket; 703-754-1166; www.lionandbull.com. Open for lunch, dinner and late-night dining daily.

(July 2009)