New California-Based Pan-African Restaurant Concept Opens in Foggy Bottom’s Western Market This Winter

Chef team returns to their roots, adding Caribbean and Cajun Creole flavors to the robust food hall options

Washington, D.C. — MRP Realty and Westbrook Partners, along with consultants Cana Development, are excited to welcome The Bussdown, a Pan-African kitchen fusing Caribbean and Cajun Creole flavors, to Western Market this winter. Founders and Chefs Solomon Johnson (AKA Chef Swoop) and Mike Woods perfected the California-based ghost kitchen business after spending an entire year only accepting take-out orders during the pandemic. This time allowed Chef Swoop and Woods to curate the combination of flavors in the exact way they wanted while honoring both of their backgrounds in Cajun Creole Southern and Caribbean. The duo is excited to bring their concept back to their hometown of Washington, DC.

Specifically, The Bussdown prepares all food with care using freshly sourced ingredients, including rice and beans from Marsh Hen Mill, an heirloom grain provider, as a way to teach people that there is always a lesson that comes from food. The Bussdown offers “soul food” with bold rich flavors and melt-in-your-mouth bites. The crafted menu is a mashup between the flavors they enjoyed growing up and their love for trying new spices, and boasts craveable fare from coconut curry chicken to sofrito shrimp to “gangsta mac” and even fried plantains. The new stall will join nearly a dozen other food and beverage vendors within the Foggy Bottom neighborhood’s marketplace.

Head Chefs Solomon Johnson and Mike Woods will bring their Pan-African kitchen to DC 

The duo behind The Bussdown has built a strong reputation, earning widespread acclaim after competing on The Food Network. Since then they opened a successful dine dining supper club and, last year, won Chopped 420, a contest highlighting cooking with cannabis, on Discovery+. Chef Swoop first started cooking with cannabis by baking infused cakes and brownies, but the show aims to de-stigmatize marijuana usage, both for medical and recreational use,  demonstrating a wider use for the plant in the kitchen, looking past common stereotypes.

Chef Swoop is more excited than ever to come back to DC and join the modern food hall in the heart of Foggy Bottom, stating, “Having the opportunity to be a part of such an amazing space like Western Market is like a dream come true for me. I was born and raised in the DMV, and I’ve been gone for so long. The support I get from friends and family supersedes the distance between us. We started the Bussdown in California, but DC feels like home for our pride and joy.”

To learn more about Western Market and the tenants visit westernmarketdc.com and visual assets from Western Market can be found HERE.

For press inquiries, or to schedule an interview with any of the tenants, please contact Shelby Jolly at shelby@lindarothpr.com.  

ABOUT WESTERN MARKET

A modern market steeped in history, Western Market is DC’s newest culinary hub. Located in DC’s iconic Foggy bottom neighborhood, Western Market at 2000 Penn stands across from the original Western Market, built in 1802 as one of the three marketplaces in Pierre L'Enfant's plan for Washington, DC. After renovations, Western Market reopened as a food hall in 2021, offering diverse flavors with more than a dozen locally-based innovators in food & beverage 

ABOUT WESTBROOK PARTNERS 

Westbrook Partners, founded in April 1994, is a fully-integrated global real estate investment management company with over 110 professionals strategically located in offices in London, Boston, Tokyo, New York, Paris, Washington, DC, San Francisco, Munich, Los Angeles and West Palm Beach. Westbrook has raised and invested approximately $14 billion of equity in over $50 billion of real estate transactions, comprising approximately 450 investments in major markets throughout the world. The Firm’s experience includes the operation and management of office, multi-family residential, hotel, retail, industrial and single-family residential development properties. Westbrook’s investment equity is committed by institutional investors, which include public and private pension funds, endowments, foundations and financial institutions. 

ABOUT MRP REALTY 

Founded in 2005, MRP is a real estate operating company focused on opportunistic and value-add investment headquartered in Washington, DC. Since the firm’s inception, MRP has been among the most active local investors in office, multifamily and land investment, deploying a total capitalization of $7.8 billion. MRP provides to its institutional capital partners a full array of real estate services, including acquisition/disposition, development/construction management, property management and asset management services, and financial reporting services. MRP focuses on strategic investment opportunities in both high-barrier-to-entry submarkets and high-growth submarkets. www.mrprealty.com

ABOUT CANAdev 

Founded in 2008, CANAdev is a full-service commercial real estate firm that specializes in retail placemaking. CANAdev defines, develops and activates places with a relentless approach to quality retail development, leasing and operations. Our team speaks the language of real estate. We have collectively developed over 42 million square feet of commercial real estate, including hotels, corporate headquarters, live music and sports arenas/stadiums, with a particular focus on guest experience. We are food and retail asset management experts. From our first food hall development in 2010, we have proven ourselves time and time again to deliver results in the planning, development and placemaking for large-scale high-profile retail experiences in marketplace and mixed-use developments across the United States. placemakingworks.com 

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