Well, good luck to them. This is a tough space for a business since it has no street presence and is below ground. Cafe Arte is going to have to play a pretty strong game to survive.

That space is awful. Totally underground and poorly ventilated. I don’t think an business could survive there.

Just to give you a little more information about Cafe Arte (it’s my husband’s business), here’s the website: http://www.cafeartedc.com and a link to a 356 degree photo of how he changed it since it was Pitazzi: http://360.io/wSCZfz.

My husband teaches salsa and had a small dance studio in Chile that he left when we moved here three years ago. He hoped to build something similar here — and maybe broaden the endeavor. The combination does sound a little random, but hopefully when you read a little more about the business, it will start to make sense. The idea is a cafe with a cultural focus — a place to take classes or workshops in dance, photography, music, etc… and also a place to unwind and relax with a coffee or dessert before or after classes. And the good news is, the ventilation was fixed.

We’ll be open for coffee and dessert at the end of this week and for classes next week. Hopefully you’ll swing by to check it out.