by Cesse Ip

Last week, ANXO announced that they are planning on shutting down their flagship location in Truxton Circle because of a 15-month struggle to find common ground with their landlord. Petworth News talked to ANXO’s Director of Sales & Marketing, Michael Katigbak, who told us that they were beyond heartbroken to have to close their Florida Avenue location. ANXO opened over 5 years ago at that spot, and they have grown from a small restaurant and cidery to an international distributor of their house-made ciders.

The silver lining of this news is that ANXO plans on expanding their Brightwood Park location at 711 Kennedy St NW.

ANXO plans to expand and have capacity for up to 80 guests and are working on installing a full kitchen. Their Brightwood Park location consists of two buildings – one facing Kennedy Street and the bar in the back.

The new kitchen and pick-up counter will be on the second floor, and a cider hall will be on the ground floor of the front building on Kennedy Street. Guests will be able to sit at the counter and in the pick-up area, the front patio, the front building cider hall, the interior courtyard, and the already existing bar in the back building.

ANXO anticipates an end-of-year completion of the kitchen and until then, they plan on having different pop-up options that are currently in the works. Katigbak told us that working through different pop-ups will serve the dual purpose of providing food variety until their kitchen is ready, while also allowing them to explore what they want to pursue when they fully open.

Expect the first pop up to happen around mid-July when they fully close their Florida Avenue location. As far as the home-grown mushrooms that were on their second floor, the mushroom club will continue, but their plans to grow their own will be pursued after their full kitchen is complete.

Katigbak was most excited about the apple brandy that they plan on producing. ANXO plans on using its own cider to make the brandy and will have it distilled locally. In the short term they are excited about the cocktails that Mixologist Jade Aldrighette will create with the mid-Atlantic sourced apple brandy. However, Katigbak told me that their middle/long term plan includes having exceptional barrel-aged apple brandy available at the Kennedy Street location available within 3 years.

It was heartening to hear that ANXO plans on staying in the Brightwood Park neighborhood long term, since the neighborhood recently suffered the loss of Cheesemonster Studio, which has moved inside Lulabelle’s Sweet Shop on Upshur Street.

When I asked Katigbak about their thoughts on the safety and thoughts on the crime in the nearby area, he told me that ANXO genuinely wants to integrate into and contribute to the neighborhood they call home. ANXO takes this to heart as several of their employees already live in the Brightwood Park area.

Their plans to accomplish this are multifaceted and include hiring and mentoring people within the community to work within their restaurant. Their Giveback program, run by one of their cofounders Rachel Fitz, is planning on giving back 2% of their alcohol sales to the community. They hope to be $10,000 within their first year.

While they know that they alone will not make an enormous change to the neighborhood, they hope that they are able to inspire other businesses to do the same.

Anxo Cidery & Tasting Room
711 Kennedy St NW
anxodc.com

Hours:
WED & THU: 4-8:30PM
FRI & SAT 11AM - 9PM
SUN: 11AM-7PM