Do you ever yearn for a time when your life didn’t revolve around your phone notifications? At DC’s new phone-free bar, Hush Harbor, you’ll be able to enjoy a night out minus your smartphone.
The neighborhood restaurant and bar officially opens on Wednesday, September 10. The man behind this no-phone bar is no other than chef and restaurateur Rock Harper. You may know the James Beard–nominated chef from his other ventures — including Arlington’s Queen Mother’s and DC’s Ben’s Next Door — or from when he won season three of Gordon Ramsey’s Hell’s Kitchen.
His new venture is looking to reimagine how guests can experience a night out with no smart phones.
“We’re giving people a little nudge to be supremely present,” Harper said in a news release. And perhaps, he said, “this can lead to a renegotiation of our relationship with tech.”
Harper didn’t institute the no-phones rule without trying it out for himself. The chef underwent a “Month Offline” course, where he traded his smartphone in for a flip phone to immerse himself in the low-tech lifestyle.
Upon arrival, guests will lock their phones in a provided pouch. Guests will keep their phones with them; they can have it unlocked and step outside if they need to use it. Hush Harbor even installed a landline, so diners can leave a phone number for babysitters and family members in case of an emergency.
There won’t be a lack of entertainment just because your phone is tucked away. The restaurant will offer analog activities like a lending library and board games, along with letter-writing packages, disposable cameras, and polaroid film for sale. In the coming months, Hush Harbor will also host book clubs and trivia and vinyl nights.
Hush Harbor takes inspiration from Harper’s heritage. It will include a menu full of Southern-inspired dishes like housemade buttermilk biscuits with prosciutto and Cajun red beans and rice with smoked turkey.
The restaurant’s name comes from “the secret gatherings where Africans, held captive in America, would walk into the woods to speak and pray in privacy,” according to the news release. It used this name to continue to “bring meaning to the idea of safe places and community-centered space.”
Hush Harbor will be open 5 p.m. to midnight on Wednesdays and Thursdays and 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. 1337 H St. NE, Washington, DC
Feature image by Max Hernandez-Zapata
