“Dear PoP,
Moroni Bros. at Decatur St. & Georgia Ave. has extended their bar space. Looks nice. It’s so new, the finish is still a little tacky to the touch. I spoke with Denis, the owner, about the changes. He said they will have five beers on tap. Just thought the neighborhood would like to know.”
Moroni & Brothers is located at 4811 Georgia Ave. NW and has some of the best pizza in the city. Do you like the idea of an expanded bar area?
Engine Company 12 To be Located at 1626 North Capitol Street, NW
Following is a letter written by BCA regarding Steven May’s open letter to the community discussing a potential delay in the opening of Engine Company 12 at 1626 North Capitol Street, NW.
Bloomingdale Civic Association’s Response to Steven May’s “Open Letter to the
Community”Neighbors,
The Bloomingdale Civic Association (“BCA”) has read Mr. Steven May’s “Open Letter” dated
today. While the BCA looks forward to working with Mr. May as he works toward the opening
of Engine Company 12, it is necessary to clarify a few things about the BCA.First, the BCA fully supports Bloomingdale-area businesses and their efforts to serve the
Bloomingdale community. This includes supporting restaurants that seek liquor licenses.
Recently, we supported the applications of Big Bear Café and Boundary Stone, and we hope to
support future applications from businesses that will add value to our community.Second, our policy concerning support of liquor licenses is that we consider all requests for
support during a duly noticed public meeting after the business owner has filed the license
application. Big Bear Café and Boundary Stone followed this process and the BCA supported
them. The principal reason for this policy is that Bloomingdale residents deserve to know what
the business owner is asking them to support and the official record of that information is found
in the filed and accepted application (acceptance occurs before the licensing board issues the
placard for posting). In fact, Bloomingdale residents already have approached us regarding
Engine Company 12’s intended use of the patio. While Mr. May has likely discussed this issue
in prior meetings, the use of the patio will be governed by the request in the application and the
terms of the license.Third, the BCA is not delaying Engine Company 12’s opening. To be clear, the liquor licensing
process does not require that a letter of support from a civic association (or ANC) be obtained
prior to the submission of a liquor license application or at anytime thereafter. Likewise, there
is no requirement that such letter must be submitted with a liquor license application. We were
pleased that Mr. May sought our support and offered to consider his request once he filed the
application. Any claim that the BCA is the cause of Engine Company 12’s failure to open for
business on July 1, 2011 is disingenuous – at best. Even if the liquor license application was
filed today, in a best case scenario, the application could not be approved and issued before July
1, 2011. Further, I have found no support in the District’s regulations and through a call to the
licensing board for Mr. May’s claim that not acquiring a letter of support prior to the submission
of an application would cause a delay in application process. Therefore, assuming that the lack
of a liquor license is the only reason Engine Company 12 is unable to open on July 1, 2011, the
blame for not opening on time would seem to fall at the feet of the person(s) responsible for
filing the application in a timely fashion.Continues after the jump. (more…)
According to their Web site:
In Spring 2011, Chef/Owner Mike Isabella will open Graffiato, an Italian-inspired restaurant in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, DC. The 120-seat spot will allow Chef Isabella to interact with guests while he crafts comforting dishes from seasonal produce and house made meats, hand-rolled pastas and marinated vegetable accoutrements. The two-story layout will feature an open butcher’s bar on the second floor and a large wood-fire oven tucked behind a U-shaped counter with 15 barstools on the first floor. Both stations encourage dialogue between the guests and chefs.
Chef Isabella will serve seasonal, artisanal pizzas and small plates inspired by the food he grew up eating in New Jersey prepared by his Italian American grandmother. With heavy influence from Chef Isabella’s Mediterranean and Latin culinary training, Graffiato promises to be anything but a traditional Italian eatery. Roasted potato gnocchi, tender pork ribs, bone marrow with cured lemon, and veal cheeks parmigiano are a few of the anticipated wood-oven dishes. Warm made-to-order fresh-stretched mozzarella and spiced red beets with pork fried almonds are sure to be popular first plates. When the kitchen closes, the oven will stay fired to feed Washingtonians looking for a late-night bite.
Food, wine and beer will be sourced domestically, and often from the East Coast. Look for unique cocktails, barrel wine and Prosecco served straight from a tap.
While they’ve only opened a week or so ago – I’m dying to know if anyone has checked them out yet? Senart’s is located at 520 8th St SE on Barracks Row. You can see their menu here.
What’s the early word? (We’ll come back for a proper judging after they’ve been open a bit longer.)
“Dear PoP,
This is Alberto Sissi, I am opening a lebanese shawarma and falafel quick served restaurant, the name comes from the two words combined “Shawafel” we will be serving chicken, lamb and beef mixed shawarma the traditional way which is made from scratch. we will be buying all our meet from local farmers cutting it,marinating it, and then skwered on the vertical spit same goes for the chicken shawarma. we will be serving spreds such as hummus and baba ghanoug. salads tabouleh and fattouch,for vegeterian option we will be serving a coliflower sandwich that is topped with lettuce, tahini sauce, pickels and fries inside the sandwich. for the night goers the french fries sandwich should be satisfying it is a signature sandwich that we will be offering, topping remain a secret.Our hours of operation will be opening every day at 11:00am and closing sun,mon,tue at 9:00pm and weekend open till 3:00am.
My expertise in the restaurant business comes from a long journey with Jose Andres and Think Food Group their excellent customer service and attention to details taught me how to treat a guest and make them come back, also on the cooking side i was given intense training in the shawarma making at Rimal restaurant in Paris (rimal.fr) which is owned by the Khoury brothers, Growing up in Lebanon and moving to Washington I come to realize that not one place offers the real shawarma that’s what made me decide to be a pioneer in making people relate to the countries they lived in or visited through the experience they will get at Shawafel.”
Sounds awesome! Looking forward to hearing what folks think in a few weeks. Shawafel will be located at 1322 H st NE.
Back in early March ’11, Banana Leaves was devastated by a fire in north Dupont at 2020 Florida Ave, NW (just east of Connecticut Ave.) You can see the severity of the damage from the fire from these photos. I’m happy to report that a complete gut renovation has begun. There will be an extensive redesign that will take about 6-8 months to complete. I’ll be sure to update as progress is made.
Great news!
From a press release:
Chipotle, (chi-POAT-lay), the popular quick-service restaurant chain that, according to The Washington Post, “has long been a pioneer in bringing sustainable and organic food to the masses”, will start dishing up its award-winning gourmet burritos, bowls, tacos and salads to the public on Tuesday, May 17 in the Districts Glover Park neighborhood. The restaurant is located at 2338 Wisconsin Ave, NW directly across from the park’s south side. This is the ninth Chipotle to open in DC.
Casa Blanca is located at 1014 Vermont Ave NW (just north of K Street.) I never noticed this small space before but sometimes these small spaces are the best. Any fans? Any must order items?
Side note: Further up Vermont Ave a reader writes: “a Verizon blackberry phone on Vermont and S St. NW this morning, Wednesday, at around 7:45. I would like to return it to its owner but can’t unlock it to check any numbers.” If you know the owner email me at princeofpetworth(at)gmail
The next “Adams Morgan” scare tactics come to H St, NE, Bloomingdale, Logan Circle, Columbia Heights T Street NW. My favorite part is “New York investor”…
“Dear PoP,
I live on the 1400 block of T Street, site of the proposed Post Office Bistro. Some alarmist neighbor slipped me this flyer last night, which makes a litany of exaggerated claims about the restaurant and states that “EVERYONE ON THE BLOCK NEEDS TO OPPOSE THIS AT THE MAY ANC MEETING” tonight (emphasis in original). I generally stay out of these fights, but this flyer is so absurd that now I want to support the restaurant at tonight’s meeting.”
For those who missed the the post about the new bistro looking to come to the old post office building at 1407 T St, NW, the liquor license application said:
“Casual and relaxed bistro restaurant serving an extensive Saturday & Sunday brunch with and total occupancy load of 259. Request a Sidewalk Café with 56 seats and Summer Garden with 14 seats. In addition, requesting an Entertainment Endorsement featuring recorded music and DJ.”
Thanks to an eagle eyed reader for sending word. She writes,
“jimmy john’s coming to downtown DC! Finally, I won’t have to go to Alexandria for my Vito fix!”
She spotted a Craigslist ad for assistant managers:
DO YOU ROCK?!? Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches is looking for KICKASS Assistant Managers for our newest location in downtown DC at 14th and L St.!
We offer great wages, benefits and bonuses! Three week out of state training is required. Assistant Managers will have the opportunity for promotions to General Manager and Area Manager with superior performance.
Never heard of us? Jimmy John’s is unlike every other sandwich chain in the country; we specialize in Super-Fast, High-Volume sandwich execution! As an Assistant Manager you will manage store operations while producing sandwiches freaky fast! This high-speed execution has earned us the reputation of “Subs So Fast You’ll Freak!” and “Americas #1 Sandwich Delivery”.
The ad may sound goofy but they make great sandwiches. You can see their full sandwich menu here. Any other Jimmy John’s fans?
Located across 14th St, NW from the recently opened Zoup.
