For Fatima Popal, Sunday brunches and family dinners were the foundation of her childhood. Plates of stewed eggplant, bowls of aush and fragrant qabuli palow were staples in her family’s kitchen, where mealtime was not about balance sheets but connection, laughter and visions for the future. That same togetherness continues to drive the work she does as Chief Financial Officer of The Popal Group, the family-run hospitality company behind several of Washington, D.C.’s most acclaimed restaurants. She explains that her work is guided by one core principle, “Our employees work with us, not for us.”
Today, Popal plays a key role in managing the business side of the family’s expanding restaurant portfolio, which includes Lapis, Lutèce, Pascual and the wine-focused newcomer Maison Bar à Vins. Alongside her mother Shamim, her brothers Omar and Mustafa and her father Zubair, a seasoned hospitality director, she has helped transform personal culinary traditions into a prominent hospitality brand that has become a fixture in the capital’s dining scene.
The foundation of the family business began long before there were restaurant concepts or award nominations. Her parents fled Afghanistan in the 1980s, eventually settling in the U.S. and building a life centered around family and education. All the while, food remained an anchor, with her mother continuing to prepare the dishes she grew up with in Kabul, refined by techniques she later learned while living in the United Arab Emirates.
While Popal did not initially plan to enter the restaurant industry, her path wasn’t fully defined when she graduated from George Washington University. She says, “I began my career in business development at a Canadian company specializing in smart board technology, before ultimately pivoting to help build what would become my family’s restaurant group.”
When plans to open their first restaurant, Cafe Bonaparte, a French creperie in Georgetown, came together in 2003, she stepped away from her corporate role at just 23 to take on full-time management of the restaurant, running day-to-day operations and navigating a steep learning curve while her brothers balanced other full-time careers and supported her in the evenings. She explains, “It was easier for me as someone fresh out of college to take the risk.” She describes the restaurant’s environment as “a true family operation,” working alongside her mother in the kitchen, with her brothers waiting tables and her sister-in-law managing the bar.”
The family opened Napoleon Bistro in Adams Morgan in 2006 and Malmaison in Georgetown in 2013. Throughout these years, she remained deeply involved in the restaurants while also spending meaningful time in Afghanistan. Beginning in 2005, her experiences included an identity-focused trip to coach girls’ basketball in 2007 and curriculum development work with a German-Afghan media organization in 2009. After completing her graduate degree from Georgetown University in 2011, she spent an extended period living and working in Afghanistan—experiences that further shaped her perspective and leadership approach.
In 2015, when the family decided to replace Napoleon Bistro with Lapis, their “long-overdue Afghan restaurant,” they turned to the person who had long been the best and only cook in the household: Shamim. According to Popal, Shamim was hesitant at first, saying she only cooked for her husband and children, but eventually embraced the role and built the menu around family recipes and memories of Afghanistan.
Since its opening in 2016, Lapis has retained a Michelin Bib Gourmand each year and has become a beloved neighborhood spot and cultural hub, where Shamim continues to lead the kitchen. In 2018, The Popal Group expanded with The Berliner, a German beer hall at the Malmaison location. The Berliner closed in 2022 but is expected to reopen at a new location in late 2026.
At Lutèce, a refined French neo-bistro, The Popal Group established a lasting creative partnership with married chefs, Matt Conroy and Isabel Coss, who joined the group in 2020. In 2024, this duo helped bring Pascual to life, presenting an elevated interpretation of Mexican cuisine with Coss and Conroy as executive chefs. The Popal Group’s latest concept, the James Beard Award-nominated Maison Bar à Vins, reflects another phase of their evolution.
Housed in a historic Adams Morgan brownstone, the French-inspired wine bar pairs a menu of Conroy’s creations with a cellar of more than 1,000 wines, many sourced from organic and biodynamic producers. The restaurant adds a convivial, social dimension to the group’s portfolio, equally suited for a quick drink or a full dining experience.
Behind all of these ventures remains the familial ethos that continues to define The Popal Group. Each member, whether relative or collaborator, moves with purpose in their own lane, from the kitchen to operations. Yet what binds everything together is the spirit of the dinner table. In many ways, the restaurants Popal helps run today are simply an extension of her family table, welcoming a city to share in the same warmth she grew up with.
To learn more about the family’s history and restaurants, visit The Popal Group’s website.
