James Alefantis quietly opened a wine bar on Connecticut Avenue, and nobody made a big deal of it
Buck's Wine Bar is 20 seats, no reservations, retail-price bottles, and a duck cassoulet on the chalkboard. That's the whole pitch, and it works.
In brief
James Alefantis quietly opened a wine bar on Connecticut Avenue, and nobody made a big deal of it
There was no press release. No grand-opening party with passed bites. No influencer preview night. Buck's Wine Bar just opened, quietly, in late October at 5027 Connecticut Ave NW, right next door to the restaurant that James Alefantis has run on that upper Northwest block for more than twenty years.
Twenty seats. A chalkboard. A self-serve water station. That's essentially it. And given how relentlessly conceptual new wine bars tend to be in this city, the branded glassware, the natural-only dogma, the QR code lists with tasting notes written like album liner notes, the low-key approach feels almost radical.
A space that finally found its purpose
Over the last few years, Alefantis had used the property next to Buck's Fishing & Camping as an ice cream shop and a private event space. Neither use quite stuck, at least not publicly. The ice cream iteration came and went. The event rental quietly kept the lights on. Now it has opened as Buck's Wine Bar, a cozy, casual 20-seat spot to grab a glass or buy a bottle.
Alefantis says he envisioned the kind of European-style bars where you just casually drop in before going to dinner. No reservations. No time restraints. You order from a counter, grab water from a self-serve station, and seat yourself at the wooden communal table that anchors the space, or at a handful of counter seats, or you stand.
This is not a destination wine bar in the downtown sense. It is explicitly, almost stubbornly, a neighborhood spot for people who live within walking distance of Connecticut and Nebraska, the intersection that has long anchored one of the city's quieter, more bookish stretches, home to Politics & Prose a few steps away and, now, an expanding cluster of Alefantis-owned restaurants.
The model: retail price, $25 to drink in
The pricing is what makes Buck's Wine Bar genuinely unusual. Rather than a traditional restaurant or bar markup, Buck's Wine Bar offers all bottles at retail price with a $25 corkage fee to enjoy them there, or at neighboring Buck's Fishing & Camping and Comet Ping Pong. That last detail is clever: buy a bottle at the wine bar, carry it next door to dinner. It turns the small adjacent space into a kind of bottle shop with a living room attached.
A chalkboard lists the night's specials, including at least six wines by the glass. The snacky food menu includes cheese, charcuterie, olives, and at least one heartier dish, like a duck cassoulet.
It is also the rare new wine bar not promoting itself specifically as a "natural" wine bar. As Alefantis puts it: "We are American food, but we can kind of do anything, because we're American." The wine list follows that same logic, no rigid ideology, just whatever's good and worth opening.
The block it's part of
Alefantis founded Buck's Fishing & Camping in October 2003, making it one of the longer-running independent restaurants in the city. Comet Ping Pong sits at 5037 Connecticut Avenue NW on the same block; Alefantis became the sole owner of Comet in 2009. He also opened Muchas Gracias, a Latin restaurant, in April 2020, and in 2025 added Honeys & Friends, an ice cream and wine shop.
Buck's Wine Bar slots into that constellation as the most stripped-down of his concepts. Where Buck's Fishing & Camping has been a neighborhood bistro for more than two decades with wood-charred steaks, a crisp wedge salad, and a canoe in the rafters, the wine bar next door offers exactly nothing that requires much commitment. Walk in, pick a glass off the chalkboard, eat some olives. Leave when you feel like it.
What to know before you go
Buck's Wine Bar is always open on Saturdays, and recently added Friday openings at 5 PM as well, but check Instagram for other opening dates. The space continues to be available for private events the rest of the week.
The address is 5027 Connecticut Ave NW. No reservations, no time limit, and no pressure to order a second glass. If you are already heading to Politics & Prose on a Saturday afternoon, the math is obvious.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
