Welcome to Union Station – Meet Our Chef!

You already know Scramble is a clean, safe, fun place for kids to play. But there’s another secret to our success that might surprise you – great food and drinks!

From the very beginning, we’ve always believed in giving families as many reasons to spend time at Scramble as possible. And since we’re foodies, delicious family-centered meals (plus a coffee or glass of wine for mom and dad) were high on our list.

With the launch of Union Station Cafe and an expanded menu at our new Scramble Parkour location, we think our food is reaching new peaks! It’s no longer a secret; it deserves to be celebrated!

(Today’s post continues an ongoing series about why we’re so excited about our new Scramble Parkour location. The first post introduced the parkour concept. The second post highlighted JollyHeap soft magnetic blocks.)

WHAT’S NEW ON THE MENU?

As we said, we’ve expanded the menu at Union Station to include delicious pasta dishes, including baked penne with beef and pork meatballs and spinach/ricotta ravioli. There’s also five incredible new pizzas to try! You now have some amazing family meal options to consider at Union Station Cafe.  

These items join our regular menu, which features handheld sandwiches & half-smokes, popular favorites like tacos, pizza & quesadillas, and small-batch roasted coffee service from Open Seas Coffee. The emphasis at Union Station Cafe is on food that’s rapidly prepared, reasonably priced and – most importantly – really good!

ABOUT UNION STATION CAFE

Union Station Cafe is a casual family dinner / business lunch restaurant located in the Village at Shirlington shopping center at 2900S Quincy St. You’ll find us inside the entrance to Scramble Parkour, around the corner from the downstairs staircase.

Liam LaCivita, our consulting executive chef, says he wanted Union Station Cafe to capture the “city vibe” of the Washington DC metro area. That includes the restaurant’s street-art-inspired murals and a menu that emphasizes DMV flavors.

“When we were thinking about the menu, the first thing that came to my mind was concentrating on the DMV’s great food traditions. We wanted all the things that DC are known for: pan-grilled half-smokes, authentic crabcakes, homemade relishes, and mambo sauces,” he says.

When we tried Liam’s menu, we knew it was too delicious to be for Scramble customers only. That’s why we’ve opened Union Station Cafe as its own standalone destination – this is food you must try!

 THE MAN BEHIND THE MENU

Liam has been cooking since he was a teenager himself, starting at age 15. He comes from an Irish-Italian family that appreciated food; his brother is also a chef. After schooling at the New England Culinary Institute. Liam became a private chef traveling between Nantucket and Ft. Lauderdale. Eventually, he opened several famous restaurants in the DMV area, such as Liberty Tavern, Lyon Hall, and Bar Civita.

As the father of four children, Liam has also experienced what it’s like to be a parent visiting Scramble. Creating a family-friendly menu is a challenge he relishes: “You want to start with the surefire hits –things everyone can enjoy that can be prepared quickly and properly. Then we dial it up with what we can achieve through fresh, seasonal ingredients. For example, our bruschetta pizza with ripe tomatoes in the summer.”

How does he know when he succeeds with a dish? “Of course, it’s first got to be something the kids are going to enjoy. But they’ll eat quick and then run to play. The parents are going to linger with the food – and when I see that, I smile,” he says.

 “Over my career, what people would say, my food has been focused on flavors that make sense in a bold way,” says LaCivita. “It’s not 'confusion fusion.' There’s not going to be flowers on the plate or tiny portions. It’s going to taste great and be full of flavor!”