In an era marked by the return of private members’ clubs, corner tables, and Amex Black–exclusive restaurants, there’s still one thing money can’t buy: taste, not just in food or interior design, but in culture.
Historically, elite Republicans were fixtures on New York’s Upper East Side, an area known for high incomes, polished manners, and a grounding in the arts. But what about today’s New Right? Can taste be found in a movement that often wears political incorrectness as a badge of honor?
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In Washington, just off Pennsylvania Avenue SE, near the Potomac, Butterworth’s may offer an answer. Opened in October 2024, the restaurant is a cross between an English pub and a French bistro. More than a place to eat, it has taken on an ambitious mission: to culture the Right.
As a New Yorker, I’m used to some of the world’s finest dining. Here, great food isn’t a novelty; it’s expected. So, when I started hearing whispers about a D.C. restaurant that was not only drawing political heavyweights but also serving dishes with real ambition, I had to see it for myself.
From the moment I arrived—greeted by a fig-colored facade and golden calligraphy—I sensed something rare for D.C.: atmosphere by design. The interior, with its deer-antler chandeliers and eclectic velvet-upholstered furniture, exuded warmth, a personal touch, and eccentric charm. “I found that on Facebook Marketplace,” said co-owner Raheem Kassam, the British political activist and editor, gesturing to a piece in the entryway.
The message was clear: nothing here is mass-produced; everything is personal. Chef Bart Hutchins, known for bringing disco balls and purple pool tables to Adams Morgan with his bar, Le Mont Royal, has returned with something just as daring, but more refined. “You can’t mass-create this sort of thing,” he told me. “Every touch has to be personal. That’s what separates places.”
Unlike many establishments familiar to Manhattan diners, Butterworth’s isn’t a one-size-fits-all concept. “We didn’t spend a ton of money on this,” says Hutchins. “That’s how you develop a scene. You build a community.”
Though Butterworth’s is often described as the Right’s latest social clubhouse—with regular visits from War Room’s Steve Bannon, FBI director Kash Patel, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and U.S. chief of protocol Monica Crowley—Hutchins resists rigid political labels. “This isn’t a right-wing thing,” he said. “We just created a really good product. People came.”
Still, the restaurant’s appeal on the Right is no accident. Butterworth’s is succeeding where other conservative-coded institutions have failed: it’s cultivating taste, not through aesthetic posturing, but through intentional design, local sourcing, and genuine culinary creativity. “We are trying to culture the Right,” Kassam said.
The kitchen’s ambition is matched by its execution. Menus change weekly and have featured dishes like lamb tartare, Carolina Gold rice, dry-aged duck breast, and an intermede of caviar posset—a luxe palate cleanser priced at $25. Even the no-hats policy (yes, that includes red ones) signals Butterworth’s effort to revive an older code of etiquette: refined, nuanced, and deliberate.
Ingredients are sourced locally, often from people whom the team knows by name. “We’re not part of the globalist machine,” Hutchins said. “We’re buying fish caught three miles away by someone I know personally. That’s how we eat. That’s how culture is built.”
A prime example of this occurred on May 28, also known as National Hamburger Day—the only day the establishment serves a burger on its menu. “If there was a burger on the menu, everyone would order it,” Kassem said, “We want people to be adventurous.”
To commemorate the occasion, Hutchins put together something true to Butterworth’s ethos. The kitchen created 100 units of an eight-ounce patty made of chuck, brisket, and bone marrow, topped with a cave-aged gouda specially crafted by a Virginia farmer. “You don’t sacrifice flavor for philosophy,” Hutchins said.
The burger sold out. One patron told me it was “the most marvelous burger” she’d ever had—rich but restrained, charred yet balanced.
But Butterworth’s isn’t all caviar and bone marrow. A staple of the menu is its now-iconic pommes frites—fries cooked in beef tallow, not seed oils. It’s a subtle nod to the RFK Jr.–inspired MAHA crowd and their growing culinary awareness. Here again, politics and taste intersect.
Still, Butterworth’s resists the exclusivity that often defines D.C.’s elite haunts. While it has hosted gatherings for right-leaning outfits, it’s not just a MAGA clubhouse. You’re as likely to see the New York Times’s Robert Draper scribbling notes at the bar as you are a Trump staffer sipping a Filthy Monkey, a cocktail mix of Monkey 47 gin, olive brine, and lemon twist—a Kassem menu staple.
Butterworth’s has even teamed up with progressive-coded institutions. The restaurant and the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center are partnering to “offer 10% off checks for Kennedy Center ticket holders, staffers and performers.” This isn’t a major surprise—the Trump-appointed interim executive director Ric Grenell is a Butterworth’s regular—but it signals the restaurant’s willingness to embrace more than just D.C.’s conservatives. In a city known more for power than style, Butterworth’s is giving D.C.’s New Right a cultural identity that’s sophisticated and welcoming—and doing it while serving food that, as even the Washington Post admits, is delicious.
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