Last time we checked on Chef R.J. Cooper’s new restaurant in Merrifield, Va.'s Mosaic District, we needed a hard hat. Now, it’s open for lunch, brunch, and dinner. (So, anyone wanna buy a hard hat?) We gave the motorcycle-inspired restaurant a test drive and found the open kitchen as breathtaking as the designer Hapstak Demetriou Architecture & Design had predicted. One of the best seats in the house is actually at the bar, so you can be close to the action while sipping on top tipples from bar man and recent TV star Bryan Tetorakis.

We watched R.J. in action as he sent dishes out to a packed dining room, including a tasty lamb-neck entree with a side of truffle grits studded with foraged mushrooms. Some of his dishes were bold for the 'burbs, including a dish requiring you to assemble perfect bites of bone marrow and sea urchin atop squid-ink toast. Gypsy Soul is the latest restaurant to open in the Mosaic District, with more coming this fall.