Nopa Kitchen + Bar, located in the heart of Penn Quarter in Washington, D.C., will start the new year off with its Southern Good Luck three-course menu available beginning January 1st through January 31. Guests can anticipate a hearty menu highlighting Southern specialties that are said to bring good luck in the upcoming year. This exclusive menu is priced at $50 per person (tax and gratuity not included) and available exclusively during dinner service Monday through Thursday, from 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday, from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Rooted in many years of tradition and history, New Year’s Day in the south is a time to gather with friends and family and enjoy a menu of southern classics that are meant to bring good fortune in the New Year. Pork, with its rich, delicious fattiness has come to symbolize wealth and prosperity in the upcoming year, while black–eyed peas are eaten to symbolize good luck. In America, the prevailing folklore on black-eyed peas dates to the Civil War era, when black–eyed peas, also known as field peas, were used to feed grazing cattle. During the Siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi in the late spring of 1863, the town was cut off from all food supplies for nearly two months. The people were close to starvation and resorted to eating the crops previously reserved for feeding their livestock, which “luckily” saved their lives. Greens, which are most often paired with black eyed peas, are eaten to symbolize money, wealth, and prosperity, and cornbread, which some say symbolizes gold, completes the Southern New Year’s triad.
Executive Chef Matt Kuhn’s Southern Good Luck menu begins with tempting appetizers including Crispy Pig Ear & Arugula Salad with cornbread croutons, smoked peanut crumble, radishes, and buttermilk vinaigrette, and Local Cornmeal Mezzaluna with a braised pork and collard green filling, Anson Mills grits, pork rind, and pimento cheese espuma. For the entrée, guests can enjoy Crispy Berkshire Pork Shank with Sea Island Red Pea hoppin’ John, Tasso ham, and mustard greens, and Gulf Prawn Stew with Carolina Gold rice, kale, pickled okra, smoked corn bread, redneck caviar, and country ham broth. For a classic and decedent finish, one can choose the Banana Pudding & Bourbon Pound cake with vanilla wafers and brûléed bananas or Chocolate Chess Pie with smoked salted pecans and sorghum ice cream.
