Chef Rob Sonderman’s gift lies in elevating the comforting into the sublime. That’s what he did with slow-smoked meats as the pitmaster at critically acclaimed Federalist Pig in Adams Morgan and with fried chicken at Honeymoon Chicken in Petworth. Now he’s aiming to make his mark on Capitol Hill by tackling two other classics, fried wings and rotisserie chicken.
On Dec. 6, Sonderman will take to the patio of forthcoming Little Engine on Seventh Street SE, across from Eastern Market. The pop-up will operate the first three weekends of the month (taking off the 26th and 27th), catering to shoppers visiting the holiday market across the street.
His ambition for Little Engine, which he expects to open permanently in mid–January, is the same as it was with his previous restaurants: “Take a relatively humble cuisine that’s for the masses and just try to dial it up as high as I can while still keeping it a family-friendly, affordable price point,” Sonderman tells The Post.
That strategy kept him busy during his nearly decade-long run with Catalogue, the local hospitality group run by restaurateur and real estate developer Steve Salis. Sonderman parted ways with the company this summer and says he left on good terms but had, perhaps, some personal regrets.
Catalogue announced at the beginning of 2025 that a second Honeymoon Chicken location would be opening in an Alexandria apartment complex by “early 2026” at the latest, which made sense to Sonderman. “I definitely feel like Honeymoon was sort of immensely scalable,” he says of the three-year-old venture. But at least so far, Federalist Pig hasn’t similarly branched out, even though Salis alluded to the possibility in 2017 (“There’s a chance that you might see some additional Federalist Pigs,” he told Post food writer Tim Carman at the time). Sonderman understands why that never came to fruition, however. Maintaining the quality of award-winning barbecue at different locales, he says, “takes so much more training” than other fast-casual eateries.
That’s why he and new business partner Jeff Zients, an alumnus of the Obama and Biden administrations who was also an early investor in beloved bagel shop Call Your Mother, are excited about firing up something that doesn’t require “24 hours’ worth of prep to do every day.”
But they’re also not cutting corners.
Sonderman says the rotisserie chicken will be brined for 48 hours; seasoned with salt, cumin, garlic powder, herbs and other proprietary spices; and cooked for 90 minutes. The bird will be featured in platters ($11 to $17), housemade salads or wraps ($14), family-style meals ($38), and combos with fried wings ($19). Wings will be dry-brined and deep-fried to order with the option for in-house saucing or dipping sauces on the side. Those looking for an alternative to any of the above are welcome to swap in fried oyster mushrooms, which Sonderman says are dredged in a gluten-free coating.
Accompaniments will include sweet corn-scallion hush puppies, blistered snap peas with zesty salsa macha and mint, Szechuan Brussels sprouts, Moroccan-style carrot-herb-feta salad, seasoned potato wedges (with optional chicken drippings), and grilled flour tortillas. Condiments include garlic-parmesan (his favorite), Buffalo, sticky Szechuan peppercorn, peach mustard, Thai peanut, guava glaze and salsa macha. There’s also a “sweet and smoky” dry rub, as well as dressings including herb ranch, chunky blue cheese, jalapeño-lime vinaigrette and “full-throttle hot sauce.”
That hot sauce is sparked with red Scotch bonnet peppers, red habaneros and dried chipotle peppers “because I just can’t completely leave smoke behind,” Sonderman says, adding that the wing sauces “will also be offered as finishes on the rotisserie chicken.”
Although the official opening is still a month off, Sonderman is already obsessing about daily specials — listing “spit-roasted lamb shoulder,” “rotisserie chicken birria” and “Cali-style burritos” as likely guest stars at the counter-service spot.
And even though he is looking forward to not facing a flame-belching smoker every day, Sonderman left the door open to dabbling in barbecue from time to time.
“I’m not saying it’s never going to happen at this concept … but maybe not before this summer.”
(250 Seventh St. SE. Entrées $11 to $38.)
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