Renovated Evening Star Cafe To Reopen Wednesday

will reopen for dinner Wednesday with new chef Jim Jeffords overseeing the kitchen.

Jeffords, 30, comes to Del Ray after spending four years with chef Eric Ziebold at Cityzen in the District’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

The Star, which is part of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, parted ways with chef Will Artley prior to .

When the Mt. Vernon Avenue restaurant reopens Wednesday, customers will see an “updated but still funky and eclectic redesign of the space,” according to Megan Bailey, public relations director for NRG.

The overhaul has also yielded a renovated bar with new cocktail list and an expanded beer list featuring 20 drafts, including one cask. The selection will be curated by Greg Engert, NRG’s beer director.

Jeffords, who spent his childhood in Moultrie, Ga., promises to bring a strengthened southern accent to the Star’s menu.

Tom Sietsema wrote Thursday in The Washington Post’s Going Out Gurus blog that a preview of the new menu included “scallops served with a hoe cake and tomatillo chow chow, and a risotto swirled with hoppin john, brined tasso, black-eyed peas and mustard greens. There also will be miniature pecan pies and an Oreo stack cake, a confection Jeffords traces to childhood birthday parties.”

Check back with Del Ray Patch early next week for a peek inside the new-look Evening Star Cafe. The restaurant provided a few "little peeks" on its community blog last week.