Welcoming Justin Shine to Kneads Bakeshop Logan Circle

We are thrilled to welcome Justin Shine to the Kneads family as General Manager of our upcoming Logan Circle location. If his name sounds familiar to anyone who has spent time around Washington, DC’s restaurant and hotel scene over the past decade, that is no coincidence. Justin has built his entire career in this city, and we could not be more excited to have him lead the next chapter of Kneads’ story here.

A Decade Built in Washington, DC

Long before Kneads had a presence in Washington, DC, Justin was already a familiar face in some of the city’s most talked-about kitchens and dining rooms. He got his start in DC hospitality at the Sofitel Hotel Washington DC, directing multiple food and beverage outlets at once and helping grow that business by 23 percent. From there, he moved onto the floor at Mintwood Place and into leadership at Cork Wine Bar & Market, the kind of hands-on years that come from actually running a room rather than managing one from a distance. Somewhere in between, he also spent time in digital project management and regional marketing with The Doyle Collection, the kind of detour that gives a person a wider view of how a hospitality brand actually works, not just from the floor but from the business side too.

DC’s restaurant and hotel world is smaller than it looks from the outside. The general managers, floor managers, and chefs who have spent a decade in it tend to know each other, or at least know of each other, and Justin has spent that decade in rooms that matter: an international hotel brand, an established DC wine bar, a well-known neighborhood restaurant, and a full-service restaurant he helped turn around. That is not a resume line. That is a network, and it is one Justin brings with him to Logan Circle.

Most recently, Justin served as General Manager of Perry’s Restaurant, right here in DC, where he held full P&L ownership of the business, from the budget to the bar. He scaled annual revenue from under $1 million to approximately $3 million, delivered 6 to 8 percent in year-over-year cost reductions, and built a catering program that grew monthly revenue by about 30 percent. He also did something harder than any of that: he took Perry’s staff retention from roughly 20 percent to 87 percent, in an industry where people walk out the door more often than they stay. That number says as much about how Justin treats people as it does about how he runs a business.

He holds an MBA from Medaille College and a communications degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo, though he would probably tell you most of his education came from the floor of DC’s dining rooms.

A decade of earning trust across this city’s hospitality scene, paired with a proven ability to run the business side of a restaurant well, is exactly why we are so excited to have Justin leading Logan Circle.

Why We’re Excited for This Next Chapter

Opening a brand-new Kneads location means building a team, a culture, and a guest experience from the ground up, and that is no small task. It takes someone who has done it before, who knows how to hire well, train well, and keep a team together once the excitement of opening day wears off and the daily work begins. Justin has spent his career doing exactly that, and now he gets to do it in a city he already calls home, surrounded by people he has already spent years working alongside.

He will not be building Logan Circle alone. Justin joins Executive Chef Brandon Sumblin, whom we introduced to readers earlier this year, to round out the leadership team for this new Washington, DC cafe. Chef Sumblin will lead the kitchen, and Justin will lead everything else: staffing, service, and the daily rhythm that turns a new cafe into a place people come back to. Together, they are the team we trust to bring Kneads to DC for the first time, and we could not have picked two people more ready for it.

Kneads started as a family business, built on the belief that a bakery does more for a neighborhood than sell bread. That idea only works if the people running the room believe it too. When we talk about what makes someone right for Kneads, retention numbers like Justin’s are part of the answer, but so is the fact that he has spent ten years choosing to stay in this city, investing in its restaurants, its staff, and its neighborhoods long enough to actually know them. That is the kind of person we want representing Kneads on day one in Washington, DC.

What’s Coming to Logan Circle

Kneads Bakeshop’s new cafe will sit at 1460 P St NW, right in the heart of Logan Circle, one of DC’s most walkable, rowhouse-lined neighborhoods. We have not locked in an opening date yet, but the plan is a full-service concept built around the same artisan breads, pastries, coffee, and scratch-made baked goods our Baltimore guests already know, alongside catering, dine-in seating, and an outdoor patio. Part of what drew us to this particular block was simple: the charm of the building itself and a spot just steps from Whole Foods, in a neighborhood where a morning coffee run has a way of turning into a daily habit.

For our Baltimore regulars making the trip to DC, expect the same feeling you get walking into Harbor East or Canton, just with a Logan Circle backdrop. For DC locals meeting Kneads for the first time, we hope Justin and Chef Sumblin’s cafe becomes the kind of place you stop into on the way to work and end up staying for longer than you planned.

Logan Circle will not be the last stop, either. Kneads has plans in motion for Chevy Chase and Navy Yard as well, making this one of three Washington, DC area cafes taking shape right now alongside our established Baltimore locations at Harbor East, Canton, and Cross Keys.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the new Kneads Bakeshop location in Logan Circle?

The address is 1460 P St NW, Washington, DC 20005.

Who is the General Manager at Kneads Bakeshop’s Logan Circle location?

Justin Shine, a Washington, DC hospitality veteran who previously led teams at Perry’s Restaurant, Cork Wine Bar & Market, Mintwood Place, and the Sofitel Hotel Washington DC.

Who else is leading the team at Kneads Bakeshop Logan Circle?

Justin will run the cafe alongside Executive Chef Brandon Sumblin, who leads the kitchen.

Has Justin worked in the DC area before joining Kneads?

Yes, his entire career has been built in Washington, DC. He has spent the past decade working across the city’s restaurant and hotel scene, which is part of why we are so excited to have him leading a brand-new DC location.

We could not be more excited to welcome Justin to Kneads, and we cannot wait for Washington, DC to meet him. Keep an eye on our locations page for updates as Logan Circle gets closer to opening day, or stop by one of our current Baltimore cafes to get a taste of what’s on its way to DC.