In 2020, the Germantown area mourned the closing of the longstanding neighborhood restaurant Eiderdown (and the loss of its duck fat popcorn), but new life is blossoming in the historic building at 983 Goss Ave. that promises to revive the savory popcorn, too.
Redbud Dining Room is the latest concept from Toasty’s Tavern owners Matt Filip, Nate Sturdevant, and Aaron Chadwell, and New Wave Burritos, Matt + Nate’s joint — which coincidentally got its start in the Eiderdown kitchen in 2014.
The new semi-upscale eatery — think cloth napkins and shareable plates — is set to open later this month once renovations are complete.
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While the trio have made upgrades with fresh paint, jungle-and-tiger-themed wallpaper, vintage lighting fixtures + reupholstered furniture (done by Nate), the name Redbud recalls the neighborhood’s history.
“Redbud Liquors existed since the 1950s and through the 1990s, maybe even early 2000s,” Nate said. “Most of the neighborhood folks remember it.” .
In the kitchen, red and white tiles spell out “redbud” and after staring at it long enough, they settled on the name. A stroke of luck — and perhaps a good omen — occurred when they removed the Eiderdown signage outside to find the same tile pattern on the front of the building.
Redbud will feature a dining room, full bar + late night dance hall. Its hours will be:
- Wed.-Thurs., 5-10 p.m.
- Fri. + Sat., 5-11 p.m.
- Sun., 5-10 p.m.
The dance hall will invite the night owls in after 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays until 3 a.m.
Read on to find out what’s on the food + drink menu and what’s in store for the dance hall.
🌹 Dishes
The menu will be composed of classic, American cuisine categorized by appetizers, small plates, sandwiches, entrees + desserts ranging from $8-$22.
Chef Hudson Barlow will be moving from Toasty’s to Redbud to run the kitchen + Dave Wheatley will take over at Toasty’s.
“Everything will be a la carte with an emphasis on sharing, so you can get a lot of different plates,” Matt said.
And now the moment you’ve been waiting for…
The group is bringing back the duck fat popcorn made popular by Eiderdown, but putting their spin on it by serving it with furikake + nutritional yeast.
Here are few more plates to get your mouth watering:
- Bloomin’ Shallot, basically a play on a blooming onion, but with shallots and lemon wedges deep fried
- Vegan caesar salad
- Croque Madame sammie
- Quail a l’orange, a goat cheese stuffed quail sauteed and topped with orange marmalade + Grand Marnier
- Fried ice cream
🌹 Drinks
Sisters Lauren + Betsy Conley will serve as the general manager and bar/beverage manager, respectively. The bar will focus on wine and cocktails, but beer and the usual liquor suspects will also be available.
The bar will have four natural wines, cocktails, and shots (for late night) all on draft. Plus, tropical drink enthusiasts can indulge in a clarified milk punch they’re calling the Dirty Bird — a riff off of the classic tiki drink, the Jungle Bird, which is named after the parrot that used to live in the former liquor store.
🌹 Dance Hall
The former private dining room of Eiderdown is being transformed into a late night dance hall.
“We’re building a stage for late night Friday and Saturday events and we’ll have projection screens — kind of like the old Saturday night Seidenfadens vibe,” says Aaron, who used to DJ Seidenfadens late night dance parties.
Follow Redbud Dining Room & Redbud Dance Hall on Instagram to be the first to know about opening day.