Apero

The address at 2622 P Street NW is a historic Georgetown row home, and Elli Benchimol has fitted two separate concepts into it. Apero occupies the ground level and operates as a nightly selection of champagne, wine, cocktails, and French fare alongside a rotating selection of sustainably farmed caviar. La Boheme, upstairs, runs a modern American tasting menu of four or six courses with wine, cocktail, and beverage pairings. The two rooms share a kitchen and a sensibility but present as distinct experiences.

Benchimol grew up in Northern California’s wine country and spent two decades running an industry tasting group in Washington before opening the P Street address in 2022. That background shaped what Apero became: a place where the wine program is the primary text and the food is written around it rather than the reverse. The champagne list is specific enough that the restaurant has been named to the Comite de Champagne USA’s top ten best restaurants for champagne in the country, for 2023 and 2024 both. The Wine Spectator gave it the Grand Award for 2024 and 2025. The Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington named it Best Wine Program for 2024.

Michelin listed Apero in its first year of operation and again in 2023 and 2024. For a restaurant that opened in 2022 in a row home on a residential P Street block, that trajectory is unusual. The recognition reflects both Benchimol’s wine expertise and the kitchen’s capacity to produce food at the level the wine list demands.

The caviar service is a defining element of the Apero experience, available nightly in a rotating selection of sustainably farmed varieties. It pairs with champagne in a way that the menu treats as a natural combination rather than an extravagance, and for guests who are visiting specifically for the wine program, the caviar is the food item most worth ordering alongside a glass.

La Boheme upstairs is the format for guests who want the full tasting menu experience, four or six courses with pairing options that extend the wine logic of the downstairs room into a more structured meal. Reservations for La Boheme require more advance planning than a seat at Apero’s bar or tables.

The P Street address puts Apero on the quieter east end of Georgetown’s residential blocks, a short walk from Dumbarton Oaks and the Oak Hill Cemetery. Street parking on P Street is available most evenings. The restaurant is closed Monday and Tuesday. For a first visit, a seat at the Apero bar with the caviar service and a bottle from the champagne list is the straightforward way to understand what Benchimol built. The cocktail program at Apero extends beyond the champagne and wine list to include original preparations built around the same principle: restraint and provenance over novelty. The bartenders’ knowledge of the wine list is specific enough that a question about any bottle on the menu produces a real answer rather than a recitation from a sheet. The seasonal French food at the ground-level bar, which includes items like gougeres, charcuterie, and preparations built around the caviar service, is designed to extend the evening at the bar rather than to constitute a full dinner. La Boheme’s tasting menu upstairs is the format for guests who want a complete meal; the two experiences are genuinely distinct.