And with the addition of this sweet section of their sign, I have nothing more to add to Park Road’s newest Peruvian Chicken spot, Senor Chicken…
On a totally unrelated note, man Sunday was beautiful and I realized while I’ve admired Rock Creek Park before, I’ve never appreciated the actual creek. It is looking fantastic:
This home is located at 1113 Lamont Street, NW:
The flier says:
“You Can Expect End unit Federal, 6bdrms/4.5bths, Renovated, Chef’s Kit, Granite/SS/Lrg Cabinets, Scrn’d & Open Porches, Gated Prking, Custom Lighting, Hrdwds, High Ceilings, Lrg Wndws, 4 Decorative FP’s, Arch details thru out, Mult exposures, Fnc’d front & back grdns, LL income unit.”
More info and photos found here.
I’m a pretty big fan of this section of Lamont as it is so close to all the goods on 11th and 14th Streets, yet the block seems really quiet. And the house itself is pretty damn sweet as well. This one falls just under the technical $1 million price tag required for house porn but I thought it was worth taking a look. What do you think of the house itself? It’s yours for $985,000.
Just saw this from MPD:
“On November 13, 2009, at approximately 2200 hours, an accident occurred at 13th & Girard Streets, NW. The driver in this case struck a total of 6 cars, including four parked cars and two that were occupied. The driver of the striking vehicle suffered a broken leg and one other person was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. It was discovered that the striking vehicle was stolen and the driver of that vehicle, a 15-year old male, was apprehended and placed under arrest for a number of felony and traffic charges.
The officers handling the scene were Third District Officers Jonathan Amigo, Thomas Dunn, Jesus Perez, Jared Rothman, William Hamm, and MPO Darryl Arrington.”
These incidents sadly seem to be relatively common on 13th Street.
On a related note when I did a quick search of 13th and Girard I found this great historical photo from Flickr User rockcreek:
He writes:
“A slightly blurry shot of the Army and Navy Academy – a prep school – at 13th and Girard (then Princeton) Streets, NW. From A Statement of Some of Advantages of Beautiful Columbia Heights (1904).”
As Tynan Coffee & Tea marks its first month in business, we want to take this opportunity to say thank you to our guests. We are grateful to receive so much input regarding our new shop. From the outset, we have sought feedback to improve the customer experience and we appreciate the many thoughtful and constructive comments that we have received. A number of important points were made in the recent Prince of Petworth posting and the corresponding comments and we would like to update you on our efforts:
Customer Service: This is an extremely important issue for us and we feel strongly that we have an experienced and friendly staff. As with any new endeavor our approach is evolving as we attempt to provide an enjoyable experience. We will continue to work towards providing exceptional service to each and every one of our guests.
Customer Feedback: We encourage all of our guests to provide feedback to us at the [email protected] email address that is posted throughout the shop and on our website (www.tynancoffeeandtea.com ). We check this account daily and make every effort to respond to each person. Your input is extremely beneficial to us and we ask that you continue sending your comments and suggestions.
WiFi Policy: A number of questions have been raised about our internet policy and we apologize for any confusion. We are very happy to offer free internet service. In order to provide the strongest signal, we password protect access so that usage is available to only those in our shop. While guests do need to request a second ticket from a barista when their initial hour expires, we do not require a second purchase.
Based in large measure on guest feedback, we have revised our WiFi policy as follows:
Monday through Friday: Free service is available all day
Saturday and Sunday: Free service is available from 3pm to close
While we are gratified by how many people enjoy being in our space, we felt compelled and were urged by many of our guests to limit WiFi on the weekends in order to accommodate other customers looking for space to sit and eat.
Lighting: We agree with many of the comments that we received regarding the lighting. Just last week we replaced all overhead lights with softer bulbs. We hope the change provides a warmer environment.
We have truly enjoyed becoming a part of the Columbia Heights community and we look forward to continuing to grow and improve. Our goal is to provide an outstanding customer experience, both through our offerings and the environment that we create in our space. We sincerely hope that you will stop in for some coffee, tea or food and please do not hesitate to let us know what you think.
Jim & Brian Sullivan
Tynan Coffee & Tea
1400 Irving Street, NW
14th & Irving Streets at the Columbia Heights Metro
Thanks to all the readers who sent in her column from this morning’s Washington Post titled: Columbia Heights still has far to go. She concludes the piece with this:
“On Thursday, as Oscar’s family was preparing his funeral arrangements and kids stayed away from the playground, the Prince of Petworth blog posted a reader’s complaints about the neighborhood. The reader, who has lived in Columbia Heights since 2002, was devastated by the lackluster service at the sleek new coffee bar half a block from the building where Oscar was killed.
“I ordered latté and it was a disaster. The latté smelled and [tasted] so bad I only had one sip and that was it,” he complained. He was also frustrated that there was never room to sit in the little shop.”
You know it’s a shame she decided to take the easy way out by taking an unrelated post out of context. Regular readers of this blog know that we regularly talk about serious issues, including crime, quality of life, schools etc. This site discusses 75-100 posts a week. Yes, some discuss coffee shops. They too are a part of our community. But it’s not like we didn’t and don’t discuss the horrible crime that exists in our communities. PoP readers, the same ones who complain or enjoy coffee shops, also donate countless hours volunteering at schools, libraries, mentoring programs, churches etc.
Her decision to include that quote is like me picking up the Post on the day after the Fort Hood massacre and quoting a piece from the sports page lamenting the state of the Dallas Cowboys. Yes, Fort Hood and the Cowboys are both in Texas but that doesn’t mean that the two items are related.
Columbia Heights does still have far to go and so does the Post’s coverage of this great and diverse neighborhood.
I’ll add a note written to the columnist by a reader who sums up the situation far better than I:
“Your column today would have been really good if it wasn’t for the intentional deception you added at the end to portray newcomers as shallow self-absorbed yuppies. PrinceofPetworth’s blog had a section dedicated to this murder where people listed all sorts of ways they are involved in trying to reduce crime, but your article referenced a separate issue about service at a coffee bar as if it was related to this event.
Never before have I lived in an area where newcomers and old timers alike are working together so hard to improve a community. Some of the same people who frequent coffee bars are working with groups like Mentoring Works, In the Streets, and DC Youth Power Network. In this area of Ward 1 black/white rich/poor are working together in a lot of creative ways to improve life for everyone living here, rather than move out to the suburbs where they can live in peaceful bliss. I really resent that you chose to lay insult to our diverse community rather than explore the positive ways people are working to improve the situation around here.
Cliff Valenti
Charman, ANC1A”
A week ago a tenant of the Allegro wrote in inquiring about the foreclosure and whether or not it would have an impact on the residents. The Washington Business Journal reports that it sold for $77.5 million to FCP:
“FCP was founded by two former managers of the real estate fund at The Carlyle Group, Esko Korhonen and Lacy Rice. The company has dabbled in office and retail properties but has hung its hat to this point on residential developments in Montgomery County and Prince George’s County. The Allegro is one of the company’s first residential projects in D.C. “We think it’s a great project really and we’re really very excited about it,” said Stephen Walsh, FCP senior vice president of capital markets. Walsh said the company had no immediate plans to reposition the building. “Obviously it’s renting up right now so there is no current plan,” he said.”
This home is located at 3621 New Hampshire Ave, NW:
The flier says:
“ALL OFFERS DUE TUESDAY 11/24 BY 12:00! STURDY, SUNFILLED, HUGE TOWNHOME WITH 3 BEDROOMS, DUAL STAIRCASE, POSSIBLE INLAW SUITE IN BASEMENT! ORIGINAL DETAILS, WOODWORK, POCKET DOORS! PARKING, HUGE YARD AND SO MUCH MORE, HOUSE NEEDS TLC!!!”
More info and photos found here.
Well, it definitely needs some TLC but I think this is a pretty solid location. Given the work needed do you think $228,000 sounds reasonable?
There have been a lot of comments over the last few weeks about Tynan Coffee & Tea at 1400 Irving Street, NW. There have been positive and negative comments. But I figured I’d make a new post after receiving a letter from a reader sent to the owners. It is very negative and I’m wondering what the overall sentiment is. I know that the owners will read this post so if you have suggestions def. make them. What’s your overall feel of the place so far? Following is a lengthy letter written from a reader to the owners of Tynan:
“I have visited your store for a total of 4 times, hoping the next trip will be better than the previous, but sad to say I was deeply disappointed.
I am a very active member of the Columbia Heights community since 2002. I love the neighborhood and am very excited about all business that opens up. I specially enjoy coffee shops and was very happy for Tynan Coffee & Tea opening. I send tons of emails to my friends and family (lots of them) about your business and was at the store the 2nd day it opened with my partner. Our initial reaction was that it was a beautiful space, a bit bright, a kind of space we would like to come frequently. We were not able to get seating that day so we got our lattés (skim with No foam) and left the store.
2nd trip was with my sister and her boyfriend. There were some seating by the fireplace. My sister loves fireplaces so they sat there as I proceed to order for everyone. 1 Coffee drink, 1 pumpkin spice latté, and 1 chi latté. The barrister women proceed to make the specialty drinks. I noticed that she was scooping powder out of the cups as she was trying to (I guess) get the right amount. I thought that was weird since drinks should have a pre determined measuring to get the right flavor/taste. I then saw her use the same spoon to mix both drinks without rinsing it in between. She then proceeds to cover both drinks with tops, but she realized she did not know which drink was which so I heard her say to herself “I don’t know which one is which…” followed by.. “I don’t care.” I was amazed by what I heard so I said to her, Excuse me? She did not even bother to look up to explain herself or anything, she just asked the male barrister guy to come and help her. She explained to him that she could not tell which drink was which. He opened the top from one of the cups, brought a small cup, poured some into the small cup, proceed to taste it, and decided which one was which drink, put the top back on (without refilling the cup with more milk) and handed it to me. During the whole time, neither of them seems concerned with what just happened, didn’t care less, and didn’t say I am sorry or anything like that. At this point, I am not happy, but did not want to spoil the experience to my sister and her boyfriend so I kept my cool. I went to get napkin and by then I have no clue which drink is which. I used the small strew to test both drinks, both tasted the same to me. I went back to the barrister guy and requested they do both drinks again, he did it correctly, and that was the end of that.
3rd visit, my partner and I went for latté. I ordered latté and it was a disaster. The latté smelled and tested so bad I only had one sip and that was it. The latté took on an Oder of some “skin condition cream” I never know what it is, but I know I do not like the smell whenever someone who had it on is near me. I really did not want to go back to the barrister lady to ask her to remake my drink since this would have been our 2nd interaction about a bad/incorrect drink. I really did not need the latté that much so my partner and I just decided to leave. Continues after the jump. (more…)
From an email:
“Please join us to experience the award winning Chairman’s Reserve Rum from St. Lucia and great new fall cocktails tonight at Room 11 from 5-8. You will get to meet the importer of this rum and learn how it’s produced and how well it works in cocktails.
Cheers,
Dan Searing
Partner/Bar Manager
Room 11
3234 11th St NW”
Thanks to all who wrote in about this meeting. From the email:
“The Columbia Heights Community Marketplace, a volunteer organization, is working on bringing back the farmers market to Columbia Heights! The idea is the market would include a farmers market with produce, etc, fun and entertainment as well as booths for community service organizations! We’re having a community meeting this Saturday to solicit community feedback, ideas and hopefully participation in this exciting effort!
Please join us for a PLANNING MEETING about the Columbia Heights Community Marketplace!
When: Saturday, November 21 10am-12pm
Where: SCORE Educational Center, 3233 14th Street (On the Civic Plaza – by Juila’s Empanadas)
Why: To learn what our vision is, to have your say in what the market should be like and to get involved”.
I think we’ve briefly discussed this before but do you think a Farmers Market would be successful on the new Columbia Heights Plaza?