A platter of duck and other Cantonese barbecue dishes. | flipsh0t/Canton Disco Canton Disco is vying to become the go-to spot for a growing residential side of Navy Yard, where locals can slurp congee while working remotely, dig into a duck platter and lo mein for dinner, and sip $12 cocktai ls while splitting salt and pepper wings at a neon-lit bar late into the night. The 40-seat, modern Cantonese spot plans to open its door on Tuesday, February 17, with a Lunar New Year celebration full of passed bites and a lion dance at 5 p.m. Regular dinner service will start the next day, with cafe and brunch hours rolling out around April. The small restaurant definitely has a dream team behind its ambitious vision. Brian Schram, co-founder of Side Door Pizza literally a block away, understands the neighborhood, while Maxwell Park owner and sommelier Brent Kroll created a robust wine list to match up with chef Timothy Yu’s new-age Chinese food, which is based off his family’s beloved recipes at Hollywood East Cafe. The Wheaton, Maryland, restaurant was considered one of the region’s best for traditional Hong Kong and Cantonese fare since 1993. After Yu helped to open Fried Rice Collective’s Chiko (Scott Drewno was an early mentor) and worked a short stint at Minibar, he took over the family business until its 2025 closure. It may have been “a blessing in disguise” for his own career, he says, as longtime customers struggled with the cross-culture ingredients he brought to the menu. “I love that food, I grew up on it… but here is more of a take on what I think could elevate it,” he explains. At Canton Disco he’s adding yuzu to honey walnut shrimp, giving brightness to the sweet aioli-covered fried shrimp dish. French-style rotisserie ducks spinning in the kitchen provide the meat for a tasty platter ($72). Other offerings on the Cantonese barbecue side of the menu use traditional marinades, but Yu adds his own twists. “We’re using fermented tofu in the char sui to break it down a little bit, and then grilling it on a bichotan grill with a maltose-honey glaze [for] a nice charcoal taste,” he explains. The sweet-and-salty pork comes with sharp Chinese mustard, while the beef ribs are coated in a black garlic molasses and a roasted Cornish hen comes with ginger scallion relish. The menu is not all about meat. Vegetarian dishes include mushroom and tofu potstickers and a king oyster chow fun, alongside some fresh salads. “I feel like sometimes a salad gets put on the back burner, but we worked so hard on getting our cucumber salad perfect,” Yu says. Imported green Sichuan peppercorns add a touch of citrus to the soy sauce-heavy starter. Celtuce lettuce root is julienned withe Asian pear and peanuts, then tossed with ginger vinaigrette for another crunchy salad. With plenty of dishes doused in garlic and heat, Kroll took notes from when he helped with Albi’s opening beverage program for the Canton Disco wine list. The list starts with crisp whites and goes through a whole spectrum before ending with oaky reds. By-the-glass options include a savory Palamino from the salty shores of Andalucia, Spain, that goes well with an array of acidic starters, and a classic Northern Rhone Syrah that is gamey and an ideal duck pairing. “For me that’s my starter, and that’s my finisher,” Kroll comments. He poked fun at how expensive and natural wine-focused some beverage programs have become. “Everyone tells you how ‘we’re having natural wines’ and their average glass price is like $18,” he said. “It’s not my thing, it’s what everyone is gearing towards and I don’t think you have to do it.” Instead, he’s focused on “extreme value”: the average glass of wine is a little over $13 and the median price for cocktails is $12. “It’s what a lot of place would consider happy hour, but in real time, with a lot of integrity in the product,” Kroll explains. In-the-works coffee drinks will come online later, plus a huge tea program that also dials into Chinese traditions. Yu says the upcoming brunch and daytime menus will include “breakfast classics from Hong Kong,” like chicken soup with rich chicken stock and comforting congees (rice porridge), and “classic American breakfasts, but make them a little more Chinese,” including a Chinese sausage-filled bacon, egg, and cheese or a wok-cooked beef satay sandwich. They’re also planning to source pastries from local Asian-American pastry shops in the area, which D.C. has plenty of.  After running Side Door Pizza for 11 years in the neighborhood, Schram has seen a demand for early morning food growing north of M Street, where most apartment buildings are. His Detroit-style pizza joint’s breakfast burritos have been a hit. Another hole in the hyper local dining scene, the three owners hope to attract a late-night crowd with a lit-up namesake disco ball in the middle of the dining room and iconic yellow and red neon Chinese zodiac animals lining one wall. “As the night goes on, lights will go down and the music will start thumping,” Schram says. Yu is also planning to add Japanese curry sauce-covered disco fries and lotus root vegetable fritters, inspired by Indian onion bhaji, to a future late-night bites menu. Schram grew up in Montgomery County and remembers going to Hollywood East Cafe, so it felt natural to reach out to Yu, who he knew through shared industry friends, to open Canton Disco. They hope to honor the Maryland staple with the “Canton” part of the name, while the “Disco” part refers to Yu’s upbringing. His father, who’s from the Guangdong Province in China and lived in Hong Kong, had tried his hand at acting before settling in Wheaton and was known for throwing parties with visiting Hong Kong actors and singers he knew from his former career. Yu remembers a literal disco ball hanging in his childhood home’s basement, and he wants to bring those same family party vibes to the small restaurant. “This is my basement, right here,” he jokes. ...read more read less