Caribbean cocktails and dishes at Croix. | Rey Lopez for Croix Meet Croix, a culinary Caribbean getaway opening Friday, August 14, on the 9th floor of Navy Yard’s Cambria Hotel. Croix celebrates the ingredients and culture of St. Croix, the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands, known for its white-sand beaches, turquoise waters, and coral reefs – all of which are displayed on a loop on gold-framed TVs around the 60-seat dining room (69 Q Street SW).  “It’s almost a resort type of feel. We want people to feel like they’ve escaped a little bit,” says Keem Hughley, corporate director of culinary and concept design for Donohoe Hospitality.   Because it wouldn’t feel like the Caribbean without a breeze, there’s also a wraparound patio dubbed Croix Veranda – complete with two open-air bars, frozen drink machines, a separate small plates menu, and incoming entertainment. And then there’s the indoor Botanic Bar, where 10 ingredients growing on the islands – think fever grass, tonka bean, sorrel, soursop leaf, guavaberry, and pimento leaf – are showcased prominently in glass vessels behind the back-lit bar, on hand to build house-made infusions, syrups, cocktails, and mocktails.  Around a quarter of Croix’s menu is devoted to strictly Crucian dishes. That includes callaloo, the national dish of the U.S. Virgin Islands made with fungi and pimento-smoked coconut oil; saltfish mille-feuille featuring salt cod brandade, flaky johnny cake wafers, and pickled okra; rice and pigeon peas; pates of seasoned beef and conch; and rum-soaked black cake. The balance of the menu swings modern Caribbean, giving a runway to island hop and experiment (see: a waygu burger paired with pepper jelly and pickled Scotch bonnet peppers). “We want to make sure someone coming from St. Croix feels proud of what we’re putting out – but we also don’t want to be limited by such a very niche cuisine,” says Hughley. The D.C. native is no stranger to highlighting lesser-known regions, one being a Seychelles focus at Realm in Shaw, and the other, Afrofuturism at the now-closed Bronze on H Street before that. He gives his chef de cuisine, Malika King (they/them), full ownership of the menu at Croix. The Brooklyn-born chef with a Jamaican and Trinidadian heritage swaps the callaloo recipe they grew up with for a Crucian variety – with no butter or meat. “Turning it into a Crucian dish was something exciting for me,” they say. “It’s bright, it’s creamy, it’s vegan.” Escovitch, a traditional Jamaican mashup of onions, peppers, Scotch bonnet, and thyme, is pickled here for a “nice, crisp bite” alongside the whole pan-seared sea bass. A side of sweet-ish sorrel helps cut the saltiness of the fish. The act of eating sushi inspired its selection of casabes, or circular cassava discs that are gone in a quick bite or two, topped with braised beef, herbed shrimp, and vegetables and presented in a row on a raised crystal pedestal. Lamb ribs are also something you don’t see every day in D.C., but Hughley found a purveyor that serves them. “People love lamb in D.C., but I’m just so sick of lamb chops,” says Hughley. They tend to be a little fattier, so King butchers the meat in-house herself; then it’s dry-rubbed, braised, and cooked at a higher temp for a crispy effect, then plated in a circle atop a bed of sweet potato hash. Some dishes are especially meaningful to the team: The side of seasoned coconut rice with pigeon peas, thyme, and Scotch bonnet stems from a Hughley family recipe, and the dense coconut cake with a passion fruit gel is like the one King’s grandmother used to make. “We’re always trying to incorporate real stories into the menu. That’s when guests really feel it,” he says. “I’m just really excited for people to come up and see a hidden gem.” Having one of the best views in the city, or at least that’s what Hughley says, will certainly help. Croix kind of does have it all, with sightlines of the Capitol, boats on the Anacostia River, the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, and planes taking off from DCA. The main vantage point to note is Nationals Park across the way. The stadium is so close, in fact, that concerts are audible from Croix’s rooftop terrace (queueing ticket-less fans of Foo Fighters and its sold-out show next week).  One draw to get customers up top by sunset is a limited number of cocktails served in a branded coconut – around 20 a night. Frozen drink machines live outside by design. “When you’re at a resort, the first thing you want is a frozen margarita or piña colada,” says Sonat Ozkaynak, corporate director of food and beverage. “[But] we are not a tiki bar, because it’s a Caribbean restaurant.”  He’s also pushing Croix’s wine list with eight Champagnes by the glass and pours from South Africa and Europe. The veranda is divided into two sections: one for sitting with a separate snack menu of dry-rubbed ribs or sliders, and the other for standing and imbibing only. It will shut down come November, after which its speakeasy space, dubbed the Green Room, will come to life with cocktails and live music. For now, it’s smooth sailing outside through the fall. ...read more read less