Acclaimed Baltimore bakery and cafe Kneads continues to make good on its expansion plans in D.C., announcing today it’s taking over the high-profile space at the foot of the Thompson Hotel, which originally housed Danny Meyer’s Maialino Mare until the pandemic shut the glossy trattoria down.
The 5,500-square-foot setup will sport a pastry counter, full-service bar, large dining room, dedicated area for remote workers, and a sprawling outdoor patio under its new life as Kneads (221 Tingey Street SE). A light redesign set to start in September calls for a slight modification for the pastry counter and should open “pretty quickly” in October, a rep tells Eater. Look for all-day service, including breakfast, lunch, happy hour, and dinner, out of the gate.
At its Baltimore home base, Kneads’ top sellers include creme brulee doughnuts, pistachio baklava croissants, Basque cheesecakes, and seasonal selections like sundried tomato and roasted garlic sourdough. On the savory side, Kneads is known for orders of smoked salmon bagels, steak-and-eggs hash, towering JP Mac burger, avo toasts, pizzas, and cheesesteaks.
Kneads maintains three Baltimore locations, which include its Harbor East flagship. Kneads hasn’t yet debuted in D.C., though its previously announced Logan Circle locale, situated at a prime 6,000-square-foot corner in Northwest, is scheduled to open later this year, as is another in Chevy Chase.
Kneads fills a pastry hole left in the Southeast neighborhood by Mah-Ze-Dahr, the once-celebrated NYC bakery known for its croissants and cinnamon rolls that shuttered its Navy Yard storefront in 2024. And chef Michael Rafidi’s Levantine cafe, Yellow, also ceased operations here in recent years to go all in on its attached wood-fired hit Albi…