Renowned chef Victor Albisu has opened plenty of restaurants. But his newest concept in Vienna feels different.
Electric Bull is slated to open this spring at 176 Maple Ave. West. It began as a basic idea: a neighborhood grill and butcher shop centered on great meat and live fire. Somewhere along the way, that vision attracted an elite group of chefs and partners whose combined experience is helping shape it into something much bigger.
“This started very simply,” Albisu says. “A butcher shop grill. I’ve always been drawn to meat and fire.”
The James Beard–nominated chef behind the wildly successful Taco Bamba chain and former D.C. steakhouse Del Campo has long been fascinated by the culture of South American steakhouses. But instead of recreating the formal steakhouse model familiar to Americans, the Northern Virginia native wanted something more relaxed and community-oriented.
“In Argentina or Uruguay, steak places are neighborhood joints,” he says. “They’re approachable. They’re places people go regularly.”
Capturing the Spirit
Electric Bull aims to capture that spirit. The restaurant will combine a butcher counter selling specialty cuts with a live-fire kitchen and an evolving menu built around butcher’s cuts, house-made charcuterie and bold flavors. Raw bar dishes, tartares and carpaccios will be featured alongside steaks rubbed with house-made spice blends and sauces inspired by South American grilling traditions.
The adjoining butcher case will offer dry-aged steaks, house-made sausages and prepared items like bone broth and a signature “Bullognese” sauce. Weekend brunch will bring dishes like chorizo and eggs, tortilla española and steak and eggs to the lineup.
But what excites Albisu most isn’t just the concept, it’s the team forming around it.
“I’ve always believed you can have a vision,” he says, “but it takes great people to make something special.”
Years in the Making
Albisu and his longtime business partner Jennifer Resick Williams began developing Electric Bull several years ago. Resick, founder of the D.C.-based communications firm Know Public Relations, has worked with Albisu since Taco Bamba’s infancy.
“He was one of my first clients,” Resick says. “Over the years we’ve built brands together. Now we’re building a business together.”
The next piece of the puzzle came through chef Justin Severino, a four-time James Beard nominee widely regarded as one of the country’s leading experts in whole-animal butchery and charcuterie.
Severino built his reputation in Pittsburgh at the restaurants Cure and Morcilla, where his in-house salumi program featured up to 20 varieties of cured meats, including duck speck, culatello and coppa secca.
Cure was named one of Bon Appétit’s Top 50 Best New Restaurants in 2012. Morcilla ranked No. 4 in the country on the magazine’s Best New Restaurants list and earned a James Beard Foundation nomination. He originally joined Electric Bull as a consultant, but the more he discussed the idea with Albisu, the more invested he became.
“Victor and I are not capable of not brainstorming,” Severino says. “We can talk about food and concepts for days.”
Building the Team
Soon after, Severino asked if he could join the project as a partner, working with Albisu and Resick to grow Electric Bull beyond a single restaurant.
“There wasn’t any hesitation,” he says. “For me, the timing was perfect. I was ready for a new adventure.”
Severino brings decades of experience in butchery and salumi production, which will play a central role in Electric Bull’s identity. The butcher case will feature house-made sausages and specialty cuts alongside steaks ready for the grill.
“The relationship between the butcher counter and the restaurant is what makes it exciting,” Severino says. “It allows both sides to exist and feed each other.”
The final key addition was executive chef Adam Hoffa, known locally for his work at Pirouette Cafe & Wine Shop in Ballston and recently named Best Chef in Arlington Magazine’s Best of Arlington 2025.
Hoffa’s resume includes time in the kitchens of Fiola and St. Anselm in Washington, DC, and a recent appearance on Food Network’s Chopped. A South Carolina native with Italian culinary training, he brings a style that blends Southern sensibilities with refined technique.
Hoffa first met Albisu for what he assumed would be a quick conversation. Instead, the two spent nearly two hours discussing food, ideas and the culture they hoped to build.
“A lot of what we talked about was being in service to the people around you,” Hoffa says. “Not just the concept, but the people who help build it.”
That philosophy resonated.
“The personality and direction of the team just felt right,” Hoffa says.
Cooking With Fire
Electric Bull’s kitchen will revolve around live-fire cooking, an element at the heart of the restaurant.
“I love cooking over live fire,” Hoffa says. “That connection to the grill, to the char, to the heat. A lot of the menu will revolve around that.”
Instead of a traditional steakhouse lineup of filet, ribeye and strip, the menu will explore lesser-known cuts and creative preparations.
“There are so many interesting cuts people rarely see — it’s gonna be hangers and skirt steaks and short ribs and picanha and flat irons,” Albisu says. “We can just do what we want to do and have fun doing it.”
The menu will also include raw bar dishes, charcuterie boards and composed plates that highlight Severino’s curing program and Hoffa’s skills. “It’s really a menu with no rules,” Albisu says.
A Neighborhood First
Despite the talent involved, Electric Bull isn’t meant to feel like a grand culinary destination. Albisu says the goal is something more simple: a place locals return to again and again.
“I live in Vienna,” he says. “This is a great community with people who love food. We want to be meaningful in that neighborhood way.”
Whether the concept grows beyond Vienna remains to be seen. Albisu, who turned Taco Bamba into a 16-location phenomenon, isn’t focused on expansion plans just yet. “I don’t force growth,” he says. “If something resonates, it grows naturally.”
For now, the team is focused on opening the doors and bringing their collective vision to life. For Albisu, the collaboration itself is what makes the project worth doing.
“I’m excited to lock arms with these people,” he says. “That’s what makes this special.”
Feature image rendering courtesy HapstakDemetriou+
