Arrive Magazine - January/February, 2009

Chef Spotlight
Where Everybody
Knows Your Name …

Johnny’s Half Shell is the kind of establishment where a suited man bellies up to the marble countertop and the bartender shakes the customer’s hand (“Hey, friend”) and, Cheers-style, pours his order without prompting. And so it goes with another customer. And another. Soon you realize the greetings are sincere. Relaxed banter ensues over pints and chowders, between guests planted on wicker stools and the jovial staff.

This is also the kind of eatery where co-owner John Fulchino brings his family to celebrate his mom’s 81st birthday. But he sneaks away to animatedly discuss (in a thick Boston accent) two of the 110 team members who help him run the show, colleagues he passionately describes as “the salt of the earth.” The trio (or “dream team”)—Fulchino, partner and James Beard Award–winning chef Ann Cashion and beverage director/ manager Bill Dickett—have worked together for more than 15 years. Of his 20-plus-year alliance with Cashion, Fulchino says, “There are two things we haven’t stopped doing: working hard and laughing.”

Their diligence and good humor seem to be paying off. Opened in Dupont Circle in 1999, Johnny’s moved to its roomier location on Capitol Hill in September 2006 (the old space seated 50; the new one seats 315). Though loyal patrons “moaned when the restaurant relocated” just a few blocks from

Union Station, “slowly, they’ve begun to follow.”

Food lovers appreciate Cashion’s menu,

based on organic and sustainable ingredients, which ranges from the obvious (oysters, clams, crab cakes and Maine lobster) to the more surprising (Johnny’s pancake with applesauce, tequila-cured gravlax, Baltimore dogs with blue cheese or sauerkraut, and fritto misto of shrimp, calamari and fish filet).

“I don’t know anyone else who can prepare food for 315 people and make it taste this good,” Fulchino gushes.

And then, of course, there are
what they call the “strong drinks.”
Beverage director Dickett calls the
cocktail-making process “a labor of

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love” (no margarita mixes here) as he swiftly combines 100 percent agave nectar, tequila and freshly squeezed lime. Johnny’s also exists as D.C.’s only absinthe bar, featuring eight varieties of the green fairy and a do-it-yourself station where patrons mingle around a late-18th-century absinthe fountain.

Fulchino admits that this Capitol Hill neighborhood “was not accustomed to a restaurant full of soul that serves organic food; it took a while to break through.” But Hill staffers lining the stools during the three happy hours seem sufficient evidence that Johnny’s has been officially welcomed. The new venue boasts four private rooms (the aptly named Capitol Room gives big-name politicos a spectacular view of that majestic dome) and bonuses like an outdoor terrace where crab shells and mallets fly on Friday nights. Other draws include a lunchtime piano player and three-piece band (average musician age: 80) that entertains on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Though popular for its tasty dishes
and “honest pours,” it’s Johnny’s Half
Shell’s inviting ambience and home-
spun feel that make
its owners most
proud. Despite the
eatery’s proximity to
the Capitol Building,
Fulchino observes,
“Here, it’s OK to wear
jeans or suits, to be a

Republican or a Democrat. Politics are irrelevant. Anything goes.”

On that note, Fulchino apologetically hops off his stool and returns to the bustling terrace. A spread of fresh seafood awaits him. And, more importantly, so does an 81-year-old birthday girl.