The airy rooftop restaurant Urban Heights will open Thursday on Norfolk Avenue, bringing Filipino flavors and island cocktails to one of Bethesda’s most unusual restaurant buildings.
The restaurant takes up the second and third floors of the building that formerly housed Roof Bethesda. Previous Roof patrons will remember the floor-to-ceiling windows and the location of the two bars—one on the rooftop, the other on the second floor.
However, the Robert Wiedmaier Restaurant Group has made many changes to the space. Everything that was previously painted red is now yellow or gray. A new carpet has been installed in the main dining room on the second floor and a couple of TVs have been added . The furniture on the second-floor patio and rooftop has been replaced.
The new owners are planning in early May to install an awning that will cover the space in front of the rooftop bar, which will provide shade on what can be a hot rooftop during summer months.
The menu is based on the cuisine of Chef Cliff Wharton’s native Philippines. Wharton, who has known Wiedmaier since the late ‘90s, comes to the restaurant after a four-year run as the executive chef at Matchbox Food Group’s original Chinatown location. Prior to that he served as chef de cuisine at Washington, D.C.’s fondly remembered TenPenh.
Wharton said today he has been asking Wiedmaier for years to work with him on a new concept. The Urban Heights’ space, with its light-filled dining room and outdoor dining space, fits with the style of food the restaurant plans to offer, Wharton says.
“It’s a great atmosphere for great food,” he said.
The menu includes small plates such as edamame, chicken adobo sliders, teriyaki wings and shrimp chive dumplings, ranging in price from $3 to $9. Dinner entrees including whole fried fish with tamarind dipping sauce and Tabasco honey-glazed duck with fried rice and Chinese broccoli reflect Wharton’s Filipino roots and the Southeast Asian cuisine he’ll bring to the restaurant.
The new restaurant plans to offer a daily happy hour from 3 to 7 p.m. The rooftop will offer a limited, mostly appetizer menu of dishes, similar to the Happy Hour menu. The restaurant plans to limit reservations and possibly walk-ins during the first two weeks its open to ensure staff has enough time to acclimate itself to the day-to-day operations.
"What we're going to try to do is not screw it up in the first two weeks," Brian McBride, a chef and partner with the restaurant group said Wednesday.
Thursday’s opening means Bethesda will be home to its fourth Wiedmaier restaurant. The RW Restaurant Group also operates Mussel Bar & Grille, Wildwood Kitchen and the recently opened Villain & Saint.
Restaurant Info:
Urban Heights
7940 Norfolk Avenue, Bethesda
301-312-8282
The view looking out from the main dining room to the second-floor patio.
The second-floor patio, above the Dunkin' Donuts on Cordell Ave.
Rooftop patio
Workers were still filling up the rooftop bar with equipment and drinks on Wednesday morning.
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