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The Balkan restaurant Ambar opens tonight in Clarendon

Besides Balkan food, get into Balkan wine and Raika, a fruit brandy.

By Editorial October 5, 2016 at 2:13 pm

The best way to enjoy this Balkan Experience all at once is to book your private event! Get 20% off your event booking until the end of July! Thanks @yooeee

A photo posted by Ambar (@ambar_restaurant) on Jul 28, 2016 at 8:56am PDT

By Tonya Stewart

After almost four years on Capitol Hill, Ambar opens a third location in Clarendon tonight. The modern Balkan restaurant also has a location in Belgrade, Serbia.

The menu includes a beet tzatziki spread; slow-cooked sweet cabbage with lamb stew; suckling pig; wild boar burger with pesto; and a traditional dish of roasted bell peppers stuffed with cheese, breaded, fried and served with kalamata olive jam. There’s also the never-ending small plates feast dubbed The Balkan Experience, which is discounted to $25 for the opening.

Executive chef Dejan Pilovic joins Ambar from Serbia, and chef de cuisine Chris Hawkins, a Mississippi native, is moving from the Capitol Hill location. Also new in Clarendon: rotisserie chicken, pork and lamb, wood-fired grilled meats and in-house made-to-order breads. The wine list sources from Serbia, Macedonia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia, and there will also be a Rakia bar highlighting several varieties of the brandy indigenous to the Balkan region.

Moving into the corner location formerly occupied by Boulevard Woodgrill, the space was designed and decorated by owner Ivan Iricanin‘s wife, Nya Gill, a recent graduate of the interior architecture and design MFA program at George Washington University. Dinner service starts tonight with breakfast, lunch, brunch and late-night service to come. // Ambar: 2901 Wilson Blvd., Arlington

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