Ivy and Coney’s Hanukkah Bar Started as a Joke. Now It’s a tradition.

The first year that the Shaw bar Ivy and Coney launched its Hanukkah pop-up, it was really meant to be a joke. “We were ribbing our buddies at Drink Company, who had a wildly successful Christmas pop-up bar three blocks from us,” says Ivy and Coney co-owner Josh Saltzman. In that early iteration, Saltzman taught his business partner, Chris Powers, how to make his grandma’s latke recipe, and they decorated just a small area. But it soon became clear they’d stumbled upon something special. “The response was overwhelming,” says Saltzman. “This joke is turning into a real thing that people are going to expect of us.” Nine years later, “Chai-vy and Cohen-y” remains Washington’s only dedicated Hanukkah bar.

The pop-up has evolved to take over the entire bar, though the latke recipe still comes