Cafe Divan

A few weeks ago i re-visited an old favorite with friends from the old neighborhood at McLean Gardens: Cafe Divan.
A rare Turkish gem in a city filled with, lately, Belgian and small plate (Tapas/Mezze/Antojito) concepts. This is located on Wisconsin Ave, NW just across from the famous Georgetown's social Safeway, which is now being developed into a multi-use property.......read - Condos on upper Georgetown. The building it resides used to be a very small apartment building and Divan's spot used to be small breakfast and lunch joint and a frame shop in the back. The building is now a fancy Boutique hotel that is owned by the same person who owns Cafe Divan.
The restaurant is located in a very weird space as the building is literally in the shape of a Delta, so the dining room at some point gets narrower. The Decor is modern and has an Italian minimalist style furniture, yet cozy.
Unfortunately, due to space limitations, a Bar is not present; the space where they used to offer takeout separately in the back now becomes a small lounge. A happy hour place this is not, which is unfortunate......this means that Divan only attracts sit down diners and no casual neighborhood traffic.
The wine list...........as expected is......at least in my book.....a "forget it" list. House wines by the glass and nothing special.
The menu, however, is awesome! A few lamb dishes that are prepared daily (hopefully), and fresh tasting. Quite a few vegetarian selections as well such as homemade Hommus, grape leaves, etc...
The best item is only prepared on Thursday night, unfortunately, a healthy portion of lamb shavings that has been roasted spit style (gyro) that has flavors of garlic, salt, spices, just perfectly prepared. Served on a bed of rice. I always forget that each entree come with a small salad, so pace yourself.
The best appetizer to get is the Mezze platter....good to share......plenty for 2, enough for 3. It consist of Dolma (grape leaves stuffed with rice), Borek (phylo filled with feta and deep fried), hummus, and lentil kofte.
They also sandwich selections which tends to be smaller versions of their entree wrapped in flatbread.
Wood burning selections over thin crusted pizza made with pita/flat bread dough.

This is a great neighborhood restaurant, which unfortunately, is not a place one can actually frequent and hang out. Perhaps this is okay, but there seems to be an opportunity missed here......