Lead Line Cook

La’ Shukran is a new bar, dining room, and rooftop terrace debuting in the Union Market District this fall. Featuring the cuisine of 2024 James Beard Award winner for Outstanding Chef, Michael Rafidi, a high energy cocktail by Radovan Jankovic, and a progressive, natural-leaning wine program by William Simons.

Beneath an arched, stained glass sign at the rear of a historic building in Union Market, a green door leads to a hall where Arabic-tinged elevator music drifts down a long flight of tiled stairs leading to La’ Shukran - a modern reimagining of a Left-Bank watering hole, a retro-modern late-night restaurant transported from Al-Bireh to Washington, DC.

La' Shukran is "No. Thank you." Or is it "No, thank you"? It's both. Or it's neither. Or it's neither and both at the same time. It's a quick "la', shukran" to a persistent vendor in the Arab Souk, and it's "la' shukran 'ala wajib" (a form of 'you're welcome' meant to convey respect and esteem). It's a dark, neighborhood cocktail joint in Hamra where artists, thinkers, musicians, and creators rub elbows with bankers, gourmands, and rec league sommeliers in keffiyeh. La' Shukran is a gathering place, a decidedly modern and mildly nostalgic space where beverage, talk of art, philosophy, and culture, and the sights, sounds, and - importantly - the flavors of Bierut, Jaffa, Barbès, Canal Saint Martin, Wadi Nisnas, and Al-Manara Square share an equal footing. It is the confluence of ideas, cultures, and flavors that lies at the heart of La' Shukran - a celebration of both the harmonies and the tensions found within heritage and cuisine.