3313 11th Street, NW
For tequila fans:
“As I’m sure you are already well aware, today is National Tequila Day! You’ve had your calendars marked for months, and today is finally the day! In honor of this important holiday, we’re offering 20 percent off our wide selection of tequila and mezcal all night long!”
1831 M Street, NW
Thanks to a reader for sending word from Mighty Pint’s facebook page:
“The Mighty Pint will be CLOSED due to venue maintenance until further notice. Stay tuned and we’ll keep you posted!
Feel free to contact us with any questions at: [email protected]. Thanks for your understanding. We have the BEST customers in the city!”
An email from Mighty Pint reveals a few more details:
“We are closed due to a major break in our mainline plumbing. We are unsure of when we will reopen due to the location, size, and construction needed to fix the break. We are working diligently with our Landlord to get the problem fixed as soon as possible. I’ll be sure to keep you and everyone else updated as we know more in the upcoming weeks!”
The Mighty Pint opened in the former Madhatter space on M Street back in 2010.
3632 Georgia Ave, NW
Park View Patio opened in the former Blue Banana space back in Oct. 2013. This can’t bode well:
2031 Florida Avenue, NW
From Veritas’ facebook page:
“It is sad to say that after almost 7 years, it is time for Veritas Wine Bar to say goodbye. Our last day will be Saturday August 2nd. Thanks to all our wonderful guests, amazing suppliers, winery friends, and our staff that have made it a great run. See you for a glass before we go!”
@barredindc hears it could be replaced by something called McClellan’s Retreat. Updates when more info is known on the replacement.
Were there any fans of Veritas?
looking east towards Connecticut Avenue
8th and Monroe St, NE
Brookland blowing up Vol. 72 – finally some good news from Brookland Pint – from a craigslist ad:
“Brookland Pint is preparing to open in Monroe Street Market! Conveniently located across the street from The Catholic University of America and directly adjacent to Brookland/CUA Metro stop on the Red Line. We will be a new American restaurant that focuses on community and neighborhood with a bit of a craft beer problem. We are currently seeking ALL FOH positions for a tentative opening day in the beginning of August. If you are a restaurant professional and have ever wanted to open a restaurant, here is your chance! Please respond with a resume and a good time to meet. We will also be accepting applications in person Friday, July 18th, from 12-4 and Saturday, July 19th, from 10am-2pm on site! Our address is 716 Monroe St. NE, 20017. Applicants who come in to apply in person should bring a pen and a hard copy of their resume.”
4611 41st Street, NW (just off Wisconsin Ave.)
From the liquor license placard posted out front:
“Addition of a 2nd floor rooftop summer garden. Seating for 36 with standing room 54 for total capacity load of 90.”
and next door Dancing Crab [we spoke about alternative crab eating options here] is still undergoing renovations:
and next door to Dancing Crab, the coming soon Bread & Salt is now hiring:
Their facebook page says:
“In bread, life is sustained; in salt, it is preserved. People have recognized this since ancient times, when women in the fertile crescent gathered around the village oven, baking their families’ daily loaves, simmering clay pots full of the fruits of the local harvest, and adding pinches of precious salt. The Arabic word “aish” means both “life” and “bread.” Roman soldiers were judged by whether they were “worth their salt.”
Over the centuries, bread 7 salt became synonymous with hospitality and communality. In many cultures bread & salt are still offered at housewarmings, representing hope that the newcomer’s pantry will always be full. In Russian, visitors to a home traditionally exclaim “Khleb da sol!” meaning bread & salt. In Mediterranean cultures, bread & salt are shared to seal agreements_more powerful than any written contract.
It is in this spirit we created Bread & Salt, A Neighborhood Eatinghouse. Here hospitality still revolves around the oven, from which emerge rustic loaves, flatbreads, and lay pots full of slow-cooked flavors. These are healthful, hearty foods to be shared by families and friends, meant not to be eaten on the run, but to be enjoyed together, either in our home, or in yours. the concept may be as ancient as bread and salt, but the setting is as contemporary as todays whole-grain loaf and pinch of Mediterranean sea salt.”
Buildout nearing completion, nice marble floors:
I can’t believe we’re already more than half way through July – so it’s time for favorite summer drink. I’m looking to switch up from my standard gin and tonic. I guess we should make this a three parter – What’s your favorite non alcoholic summer drink? Favorite summer cocktail from a bar? Favorite summer cocktail that you make at home? [For the ones you make at home please include the recipe if you have it.]
4300 Military Road, NW at Wisconsin Ave. Renderings courtesy Embassy Suites
Following the opening of Bryan Voltaggio’s Lunchbox comes more new for the Chevy Chase Pavilion – from a press release:
“The renowned hotel at Chevy Chase Pavilion has begun its substantial renovation build-out. The Embassy Suites at the Chevy Chase Pavilion, managed by Destination Hotels & Resorts, is embarking on a colossal $10.5 million property transformation that includes a structural conversion throughout the 170,000-square-foot, 198 two-room suite property offering an entirely new guest stay experience. Hotel officials announced today that construction has begun for the full renovation that is slated for delivery on October 20, 2014. Plans call for a newly designed open entrance, sweeping lobby, expanded restaurant and lounge, new bar concept, upgraded suites, renewed health club and enlarged public areas.
Designed by HVS Design and Jonathan Nehmer & Associates of Rockville, Maryland, the new Embassy Suites at the Chevy Chase Pavilion will take on an elegant and contemporary design aesthetic of large field graphite tile with glass and silver accents that will resemble an independent boutique hotel property catering to weekday business travelers and weekend family sojourners.
The Embassy Suites’ dining and bar areas are also undergoing a substantial transformation and will launch an original drinking and dining concept that has been expanded beyond hotel guests and open to the public. Named after the hotel’s admired sous chef Wilfredo Benavides, who passed away last year after a courageous battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease, Willie’s Bar is a brand new 2,000-square-foot, 22-seat bar featuring more than 100 top-shelf spirits, wines and local draft and bottled beers and a newly crafted small-plates menu. An additional 50 seats, also featuring Willie’s signature cocktails and menu selections, will be situated in the lounge area directly off the bar. In special remembrance and honor of Chef Willie, one percent of all bar proceeds from Willie’s Bar will go to the ALS Association – an American nonprofit organization that raises money for research and patient services related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. (more…)
From Petworth Citizen [829 Upshur Street, NW]:
“7:30-8:30pm: Author Event “Freakshow Without a Tent” by Nevin Martell
July 16 @ 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Fishing for piranhas in the Amazon, getting stoned at Fijian kava ceremonies, and witnessing the ancient ritual of land diving on Pentecost Island is the stuff of National Geographic cover stories – and Nevin Martell’s childhood vacations. His family’s globetrotting took them from the South Pacific to South America and many points nowhere in-between. Though their lifestyle choices were eccentric, the locations they visited exotic, and the people they met extraordinary, these escapades are firmly grounded in the trials, tribulations, and tribal rivalries that plague all families. Freak Show Without a Tent is a grandly hilarious memoir-misadventure that is equal parts National Lampoon’s Vacation, Romancing the Stone and Crocodile Dundee. The event will include readings from the book, a Q&A and signing. Books will be available for purchase.”
607 New York Ave, NW
Victoria writes:
“As summer torpor settles in are you picturing yourself lounging on a patio in Italy overlooking the ocean, sipping Prosecco and nibbling a delicious pannini while enjoying live music and fascinating conversation with artistic strangers who would not be out of place in a good Felinni movie?
Well, cancel the ocean and you’ve got all the rest at the Baldacchino Tent Bar. This temporary cafe/bar (now through July 27) is part of the Fringe Festival, going on now through July 27 at 607 New York Ave. (3 blocks from Mt. Vernon Square Metro.) Even if you’re not aware of, or befuddled by, the Fringe Festival, you can still enjoy some really delicious food and great selection of beers (plus full bar and named cocktails) with live music at an outdoor patio (with tented escape zones for thunderstorms, plus quick seat-wiping volunteers for apres-storm) for the next two weeks.
Seriously, it is a fun place just to go hang out with friends – perfect for a first date – and a great way to introduce yourself to Fringe Festival. But even if you aren’t “fringing” it is also just plain good food at plain good prices in a really cool setting. The performers in the festival all hang out here, and meeting people is super easy/weird/fun.
But the food? Unexpectedly good! Like most people in the arts, theatrical director Matty Griffiths has also worked extensively in catering and puts out an amazing menu for the festival.
A beef brisket sandwich ($8.00) is gorgeously tender, and smoked pork BBQ sliders on brioche rolls zing with cabbage & apple cider vinegar slaw. The Veggie Wrap ($5.75) has a delicious Feta cheese/peanut dressing and loads of stuff that is good for you but you don’t even have to notice because the feta/peanut dressing is SO damn good! There are chicken & veggie soft tacos for $6.75. and cheese paninis at $4.75 – ready to augment with Granny Smith apples or bacon for an extra buck.
There are 6 fancy beers with fancy names on tap for $4.50- 6.75, plus tallboy Stellas for $5.50. Prosecco on tap is $6.00 (plus you can see the empty bladders turned into cool light fixtures.) and rail drinks are $5.50. There are Happy Hour specials every day.
Really – this is why you live in a city! Go!”