Chinatown

³A Legacy of Mies and King²: New Documentary Premieres at the MLK Library Tonight

By Prince Of Petworth

mlk_library
9th and G St, NW

From the DC Public Library:

“Who: Francine Houben, architect, Mecanoo Architecten
Richard Reyes-Gavilan, executive director, DC Public Library

What: Present and discuss the new documentary ³A Legacy of Mies and King²

When: Wednesday, March 1; 6.30 p.m.

Where: Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library
901 G St. NW

What do you do with a library designed in the sixties by world-famous architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and named after Martin Luther King Jr.? This was the question Francine Houben, creative director of Mecanoo Architecten, had to answer when she was commissioned to modernize the District¹s central library.

The documentary ³A Legacy of Mies and King² follows Houben as she investigates the past and present to design the library of the future. Houben delves into library archives, meets contemporaries of Mies and King, speaks to current library visitors and participates in the District¹s Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade to understand how to give the library a new future.

The screening is part of the events celebrating the closing of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library.

A discussion with Francine Houben and DC Public Library executive director Richard Reyes-Gavilan will follow the screening.

###

About the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library Modernization (more…)

Another New Parking Rate Takes Effect in Penn Quarter Monday

By Prince Of Petworth

parking
“Penn Quarter/Chinatown pricing adjustments will occur within the red boundary, between H Street NW, 3rd Street NW, E Street NW, and 11th Street NW.” via DDOT

From a press release:

“Beginning Monday, February 27, 2017, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) will implement a new parking meter rate schedule in the Penn Quarter and Chinatown neighborhoods. This is the second quarterly parking meter rate adjustment as part of the Penn Quarter-Chinatown pilot project to improve parking availability through demand-based pricing.

The study area includes on-street parking spaces bounded by H Street NW, 3rd Street NW, E Street NW and 11th Street NW. The pilot aims to reduce the time needed to find parking, improve turnover of high-demand parking spaces, provide better parking information to motorists, and reduce congestion by adjusting prices based on observed demand for parking on a block-by-block basis.

Parking meter rates on individual block faces in this area will range from $1.50 to $3.25. As with the previous price adjustment, the rates on each block face will vary by time: weekday morning, weekday midday, weekday evening, and Saturday.

The table below provides a summary of the number of block faces that will have quarterly demand-based meter rate adjustments. Blocks identified for adjustments are shown in the figure below: (more…)

Zengo Closes in Chinatown, Circa Coming. (Circa also coming to Navy Yard)

By Prince Of Petworth

IMG_0285
781 7th Street, NW

Apologies for the delay in posting – and thanks to all who emailed and tweeted. I have no excuse except for the fact that I’m battling a bit of a fruit fly problem that is slowly driving me insane. But never mind that… Richard Sandoval’s Zengo closed last week and the Washington Business Journal reports:

“Circa, the neighborhood brasserie with several other locations around Greater Washington, will open in the Zengo space at 781 Seventh St. NW.”

zengo

You can see Circa’s menus here.

And on their website they have a coming soon slot for a Navy Yard location too (99 M Street, SE.)

King Cake Kolache Returns Saturday at Hill Country!

By Prince Of Petworth

kolache
courtesy Republic Kolache

From an email:

“This Saturday Republic Kolache will be bringing back the King Cake Kolache (our collaboration with Chef David Guas) for the Mardi Gras season. Last year this ended up being a fairly massive hit (both weekends we sold them were record sales days– & the second weekend we ran through over 1100 kolaches at American Ice in a couple hours!)

We’ll be selling them at our Hill Country popup this Sat & Sun (8-11a), then each Fri-Sun after that up through Mardi Gras weekend (i.e. last day 2/26).

They’ll go for $4/ea. Given the mayhem last year we’re recommending that folks pre-order to make sure we don’t sell out!”

hill-country
410 7th Street, NW

Z Pizza closes in Penn Quarter/Chinatown

By Prince Of Petworth

IMG_9743
806 H Street, NW

I think the fact that I keep forgetting to post this is telling (thought they had really good reviews when they first opened) but Z Pizza closed a few weeks ago. Z Pizza opened in the old Blimpie’s space at at 8th and H St, NW back in 2011. Ed. Note: Damn, remember Blimpie’s?

Not clear who’s coming but a major renovation has already started:

IMG_9744

Stay tuned:

IMG_9745

Sephora coming to Penn Quarter

By Prince Of Petworth

32539150875_bf096be16a_z

Thanks to a reader for sending word. My sources tell me that “Sephora is a French chain of cosmetics stores founded in 1969.”

32416258731_07f54bd364_z

Flashback before demo:

10th and F Flashback

And Today:

10th and F

Next DC Record Fair is Sunday at Penn Social

By Prince Of Petworth

Print

“The DC Record Fair returns to Penn Social on Sunday, January 29, 2017!

43 record dealers from up and down the East Coast will bring their finest LPs and 45s to Washington, DC’s only record fair. All genres—from dollar bin miracles to much sought after holy grail items—and everything in between. DJ’s and drinks too! Presented by Som Records, The Vinyl District, and DC Soul Recordings.

11AM-Noon $5 Early Bird Admission, $2 from Noon-5PM.”

“Does anyone know what happened with these buildings?”

By Prince Of Petworth

IMG_2401-1

“Does anyone know what happened with these buildings? How long they’ve looked this way and if there’s any plans to incorporate them into a building project? They’re on the 400 block of 8th Street NW. They look like something from a film studio backlot.”

Ed. Note: We’ve spoken about these buildings a few times in the past – it’s beautification for a utility. Anyone remember – if it’s a pepco station front or something like that?

You can see all forum topics and add your own here.

View More Stories