“Project 2312” Starts Tonight at Pork Barrel BBQ

Local chef Will Artley will open his “pop-up” restaurant tonight adjacent to in Del Ray.

Pork Barrel BBQ co-founders Heath Hall and Brett Thompson, along with restaurant partners “Mango” Mike Anderson and Bill Blackburn, are loaning the unoccupied space to Artley for his special culinary venture. The limited engagement restaurant, dubbed Project 2312, will host 41 guests per seating from tonight through Monday, Feb. 6.

The pop-up restaurant is a first for Artley. Reservations were sold out within five hours of Artley tweeting the phone number to RSVP last week.

“It is a great honor for me to open Del Ray’s first pop-up restaurant and bring my cutting-edge cuisine back to the community I call home,” Artley said in a statement. “The opportunity to reconnect with my old kitchen crews and cook for the neighborhood that made me the chef I am today is just an amazing feeling!”

Artley is planning an a la carte menu including hot and cold appetizers, five to six entrées, craft cocktails, a limited wine selection and Pork City beer. The menu will feature, for example, Salt Roasted Beet “Cannoli” with whipped Citrus and Cobb Terrine with Crispy-Smoked Pork Ears, and a pickling bar including pickled sunchokes, green beans and baby carrots.

Artley is most widely known for his role as chef of Del Ray’s Evening Star Café.

“Chef Artley has become a great friend and culinary mentor of mine, and I’m excited Pork Barrel BBQ is able to support his passion for creating distinctive and delicious cuisine by playing a small role in his Project 2312 pop-up restaurant,” said Hall, with Pork Barrel BBQ, in a statement. “His passion for food is contagious, and I’m certain diners who have been lucky enough to snag one of the limited seats will leave with a bittersweet feeling satisfied by their meal, but disappointed in the realization it was most likely their first and last meal at Project 2312.”

Project 2312 is accepting walk-ins on a first-come, first-serve basis for seating at the bar. Customers who weren’t able to secure a reservation can also venture next door to with a special Meat Week Sampler Patter on Tuesday.