Alara

Alara opened on February 5, 2025 at 1303 Wisconsin Avenue NW, taking over the space that had most recently been the High Street Grill and before that the long-running Paolo’s Ristorante, which operated at this Wisconsin Avenue address for decades before closing. The new restaurant is the concept of restaurateur Hakan Ilhan, who named it after the Turkish word for beautiful water fairy, and it brings modern Mediterranean cooking to a Wisconsin Avenue address that has historically been a significant dining destination.

The cuisine is organized around the eastern Mediterranean arc from Turkey through Greece to the Levant, which is one of the more fertile and internally varied culinary regions in the world. Turkish cuisine, which has deep Ottoman roots and spans the range from the rice-based pilafs and grilled meats of Anatolia to the seafood preparations of the Aegean coast, provides one reference point. Greek cooking, with its emphasis on olive oil, fresh vegetables, and the grilling and brining techniques that the Mediterranean climate developed, provides another. The Levantine table, which covers the mezze culture of Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine and includes the hummus, labneh, kibbeh, and the salads that have become familiar outside the region, contributes the third major thread.

The beet labneh that has appeared in the restaurant’s opening menu exemplifies the modern Mediterranean approach: labneh, the strained yogurt that is a staple across the eastern Mediterranean, presented with roasted beets in a preparation that uses a classic regional ingredient in a contemporary plating. The braised lamb shank, which is among the most important celebratory preparations in Turkish and Middle Eastern cooking, appears with the long-cooked tenderness that the dish requires and the aromatics, often including cinnamon, allspice, and bay, that give Middle Eastern lamb braises their distinctive flavor.

The former Paolo’s space at 1303 Wisconsin is a significant dining room on the Wisconsin corridor, with the physical presence that the prior long-running restaurant built into its reputation. Ilhan’s contemporary Mediterranean positioning gives the space a new identity at an address that Georgetown diners remember well.

The phone is (202) 506-3446. Reservations are available online. Hours run from 11am Sunday through Thursday and from 10:30am Saturday and Sunday, with late night service until midnight on Friday and Saturday. The previous occupant of the 1303 Wisconsin Avenue space, Paolo’s Ristorante, operated for more than two decades as one of Georgetown’s most consistent Italian restaurants before closing. The address carries the memory of that long residency for Georgetown’s established dining community. Alara’s arrival in the space introduces a culinary tradition that is distinct from the Italian format the address previously housed, which resets the customer’s expectations rather than inviting comparison. The contemporary Mediterranean positioning, which spans Turkey, Greece, and the Levant, gives the restaurant a kitchen scope that can develop over time as the culinary team refines its understanding of these traditions for the Georgetown market. Reservations are available online and by phone at (202) 506-3446.