Komi

For nearly two decades, the narrow townhouse at 1509 17th Street NW in Dupont Circle held one of Washington's most closely watched tables. Komi, which opened in 2003 under chef-owner Johnny Monis, built its reputation on a single, uncompromising format: a multi-course tasting menu with no printed card, no à la carte option, and no advance knowledge of what would arrive. Guests surrendered the decision entirely to the kitchen, and the kitchen — over years of refinement — earned that trust. By 2018, the Michelin Guide for Washington, D.C. had awarded Komi a star, and the Washington Post's Tom Sietsema inducted it into his Hall of Fame the same year. The room itself reinforced the philosophy. Seating was limited, the lighting candlelit, and the sightlines into the kitchen deliberate. Washingtonian magazine ranked Komi the number-one restaurant in the city in 2009, a position it would reclaim in subsequent years, placing it in the same conversation as the capital's most serious fine-dining addresses. Tasting-menu pricing tracked the ambition: around $135 per person in its later years, with wine pairing available separately. Monis drew on Greek and Mediterranean traditions without treating them as a fixed template. The cooking moved seasonally, and dishes arrived as small, presentation-focused courses that shifted year to year. The format attracted a particular kind of diner: one willing to commit the full evening and forgo the menu as a security blanket. Reservations at the intimate counter were correspondingly difficult to secure. Komi closed in 2021, ending an eighteen-year run that had made 17th Street NW a destination in its own right.