When a quartet of forward-thinking business partners unveiled Matchbox, in the heart of Chinatown in 2003, and touted the restaurant’s brick-lined wood-burning oven, people wondered: “Pizza in Chinatown?”
The answer is a resounding yes! Why not? Moreover, so many folks have queued up for the crispy-crusted pies with innovative toppings that last September, co-owners Drew Kim, Mark Neal, Ty Neal and Perry Smith decided the matchbox-shaped restaurant — which measured only 15 feet by 90 feet — needed to grow. So, the guys opted to expand into the adjacent alleyway and rear brownstone, adding another 130 seats to the original 75.
Matchbox has three floors, with a mezzanine level and an outdoor patio, complete with a commercial fire pit. Indoors, the partners added another wood-fired oven, while expanding the capacity of the prep kitchens. “We basically tripled our seating, including our eight-table outdoor patio,"” says co-owner Andrew Kim, who comes from Parkersburg, West Virginia. “The great thing about our (increased capacity) is that we can now accommodate big parties.”
In spite of added seating, however, diners can still expect a 45 minute to one hour wait on a given evening; Matchbox only accepts reservations for parties of six or more. Also due to demand, Matchbox is now open Sundays. On a recent Monday evening, our party of three had to eat at the bar. This was not a hardship, as the comfy space is attractively appointed with overhead mirrors, inset wine racks and three TV sets. Large jars along the back bar contain booze-soaked fruit.
That makes Matchbox’s expansion and renovation especially remarkable is that the partners — who honed their managerial and design skills at Chicago’s now-defunct Polly Esther’s nightclub, among other venues — did most of the design and work themselves. They also performed most of the labor for the original space. “It was so expensive, with all the details, we had to do it ourselves,” Kim explains.
In building on to Matchbox last year, the partners strove to retain elements from the original space, although they did demolish the old upstairs kitchen to add 17 seats, while building another wood-burning pizza oven to accommodate Matchbox’s booming carry-out business. While takeout customers await their orders, they may sip a glass of wine or beer at the newly-installed mini-bar. “We maximize every inch of our space,” says Kim.
The restaurant’s upper level is festooned with Art Deco-style glass blocks. When surveying the interior, diners can hardly imagine that the building once had bare concrete floors and cinder block walls. The space had housed a Chinese grocery store, and later a row house–before remaining vacant for several years.
The two brick-lined ovens, which measure approximately 6 by 8 feet, can heat up to more than 800 degrees F. The ovens — fueled by oak and other hard woods — were hand built by 30-year veteran mason J. Patrick Manley, whom the partners found on the Internet. “Building the first oven for the original Matchbox space was hectic,” recalls Manley from his home in central Maine. “I didn’t have proper staging room. While I was working, other people were doing all sorts of things around me, tearing up floors and walls. Electricians and plumbers were everywhere! The oven space was a main thoroughfare! It was probably the tightest quarters I’ve ever worked in!” However, the 10-day project proved rewarding, and Matchbox partners invited Manley to build the second oven for the 2006 expansion.
The restaurant’s signature dumb waiter, which formerly whisked food and drinks from the now-gone upstairs kitchen to diners waiting below, is still in use, Kim assures us, adding that the offbeat item was not inspired by Thomas Jefferson’s invention at Monticello. “We came up with it ourselves,” says Kim with a hint of pride. “We are always looking for something new and different.”
A nod to executive chef Jonathan MacArthur’s signature appetizer mini burgers is the small black and white rug in the new dining area with the numerals: 3.6.9, indicating the number of the juicy little morsels a table may order. (MacArthur, who graduated from Baltimore International College’s Culinary School, has wielded his whisk at Piccolo’s and Rocky Run Tap & Grill and Copeland’s of New Orleans, all in Columbia, Md.)
Matchbox’s custom-made booths are covered with attractive earth-toned fabric made by MC Interiors & Fabrics of Gaithersburg. Oaken tables — inset with real matchboxes gleaned from personal collections (including a few from our own stash) — are all custom built; Mark Neal is the carpenter of the group. Funky straw-covered walls (how they are made is a trade secret) are punctuated by colorful photos of kinetic flames and other incendiary images.
About those little matchboxes: “We need more of them,” Kim tells us. “We are now about to sign a lease on a Matchbox spinoff somewhere else downtown.”
But he’s not saying where.
Matchbox
Partners: Drew Kim, Mark Neal, Ty Neal, Perry Smith
Chinatown/Penn Quarter
713 H Street NW
Washington, DC
202-289-4441
Celeste McCall is a Washington, DC food and travel writer. She can be reached at 202-547-5024.
