Saison closed last year after 10 years in Jackson Ward. (Mike Platania photo)
Saison’s old home has been snapped up by another local restaurateur.
Brandi Battle-Brown, owner of Ms. Bee’s Juice Bar, is preparing to open The Hive Bar & Grill at 23 W. Marshall St.
Saison and Saison Market had occupied the Jackson Ward space from 2012 until late last year.
Battle-Brown has operated Ms. Bee’s along Brookland Park Boulevard in Northside since 2019 and added a second location at The Valentine museum in 2021. She said The Hive will use both the market and restaurant spaces that Saison had occupied.
The restaurant area will be open for dinner, and its menu will include pasta, fish and vegan dishes, among other selections.
“It won’t have anything really heavy,” Battle-Brown said of the dinner menu.
She said The Hive’s breakfast and lunch offerings, to be served in the market space, will include breakfast sandwiches and waffles with fruit, as well as grab-and-go juices from Ms. Bee’s.
Brandi Battle-Brown outside her Ms. Bee’s location on Brookland Park Boulevard. (BizSense file photo)
Battle-Brown said she’d been planning to open a full-service restaurant sooner, but when she struck the deal with The Valentine, which included two years of free rent, those plans got delayed. She said she’s looking forward to having a full kitchen at her disposal.
“I don’t have a hood in Brookland Park, so I play around with a lot of the food but I’m cooking it on a hot plate,” Battle-Brown said.
She said she also wanted to open a spot that didn’t have seasonality, the way the juice bar does.
“My business at Ms. Bee’s is great, but we don’t live in California where it’s hot year-round,” Battle-Brown said. “So the juice bar only sustains itself nine months out of the year. I thought with a bar and grill I’d be able to sustain myself during the slow periods.”
The Hive is leasing the roughly 2,100-square-foot Jackson Ward space. Battle-Brown said it needs only some redecorating and she’s planning to open The Hive’s market in May and the restaurant and bar in June.
Similar to Saison, The Hive also will have some outdoor seating facing North Adams Street.
“We’ll have an area there for dogs with some fake grass and treats,” Battle-Brown said.
The Hive adds to other new restaurants in Jackson Ward that have recently opened or are in the works. Ethiopian coffee shop Buna Kurs opened in the former Saadia’s Juicebox last fall, and Mama J’s is expanding to the former Salt & Forge space.
Saison closed last year after 10 years in Jackson Ward. (Mike Platania photo)
Saison’s old home has been snapped up by another local restaurateur.
Brandi Battle-Brown, owner of Ms. Bee’s Juice Bar, is preparing to open The Hive Bar & Grill at 23 W. Marshall St.
Saison and Saison Market had occupied the Jackson Ward space from 2012 until late last year.
Battle-Brown has operated Ms. Bee’s along Brookland Park Boulevard in Northside since 2019 and added a second location at The Valentine museum in 2021. She said The Hive will use both the market and restaurant spaces that Saison had occupied.
The restaurant area will be open for dinner, and its menu will include pasta, fish and vegan dishes, among other selections.
“It won’t have anything really heavy,” Battle-Brown said of the dinner menu.
She said The Hive’s breakfast and lunch offerings, to be served in the market space, will include breakfast sandwiches and waffles with fruit, as well as grab-and-go juices from Ms. Bee’s.
Brandi Battle-Brown outside her Ms. Bee’s location on Brookland Park Boulevard. (BizSense file photo)
Battle-Brown said she’d been planning to open a full-service restaurant sooner, but when she struck the deal with The Valentine, which included two years of free rent, those plans got delayed. She said she’s looking forward to having a full kitchen at her disposal.
“I don’t have a hood in Brookland Park, so I play around with a lot of the food but I’m cooking it on a hot plate,” Battle-Brown said.
She said she also wanted to open a spot that didn’t have seasonality, the way the juice bar does.
“My business at Ms. Bee’s is great, but we don’t live in California where it’s hot year-round,” Battle-Brown said. “So the juice bar only sustains itself nine months out of the year. I thought with a bar and grill I’d be able to sustain myself during the slow periods.”
The Hive is leasing the roughly 2,100-square-foot Jackson Ward space. Battle-Brown said it needs only some redecorating and she’s planning to open The Hive’s market in May and the restaurant and bar in June.
Similar to Saison, The Hive also will have some outdoor seating facing North Adams Street.
“We’ll have an area there for dogs with some fake grass and treats,” Battle-Brown said.
The Hive adds to other new restaurants in Jackson Ward that have recently opened or are in the works. Ethiopian coffee shop Buna Kurs opened in the former Saadia’s Juicebox last fall, and Mama J’s is expanding to the former Salt & Forge space.