B. Smith is located in Union Station at 50 Massachusetts Ave NE. Their Website says:

“B. Smith’s at Union Station features a combination of Cajun, Creole and Southern cuisine. Located in Washington, DC’s Historic Union Station, B. Smith’s grand Beaux Arts style dining room with its 30-foot ceilings, period chandeliers and turn of the century elegance, is a national landmark and has been called one of the most beautiful dining rooms in America. Specialties of the house include Swamp Thing – a mixed seafood dish over southern style greens in a mustard based seafood sauce; Grilled Lamb Chops with mint-flavored au jus; Fried Green Tomatoes and Spicy Cajun Jambalaya. In it’s own separate space, the bar at B. Smith’s serves as a gathering place for Washington’s political movers and shakers, celebrities and people who just want to have a good time.”

You can see their menu here. Any fans? Any must order items?

“Dear PoP,

Any news about the commercial spot at 512-520 florida ave, NW Between 6th and 5th?? Everything I read back in September sounded like it was going to have something by the new year! I’m dying to know what ends up there!”

Last night @LeDroitParkDC tweeted:

“Shaw’s Tavern at 520 FL Ave NW scheduled to open in June. Wood oven pizza, pastas & tavern classics on the menu.”

Left for LeDroit shares a floor plan and writes:

The restaurant, slated to open in mid-June, will seat 65 – 70 people inside and 15 – 18 people on a sidewalk patio on the 6th Street front. On Florida Avenue near the eastern end of the building, the restaurant will feature a special door just for take-out pizza orders.

Inside, however, the restaurant will feature a variety of entrées priced from $12 – $18.  Mr. May distributed a tentative menu.

Left for LeDroit wrote earlier in the week:

“we are told it will be similar to Clarendon’s Liberty Tavern”

Anyone ever been to Liberty Tavern?

More updates as progress continues on the space.

Lots of readers have been writing in about the following press conference:

WASHINGTON– On Wednesday, March 23, fired workers will present management at the Columbia Heights Chipotle with a letter demanding that they treat their workers like they treat their product: with integrity. The workers, who were suddenly terminated from the Columbia Heights Chipotle, are demanding the payment they should have received had they been allowed time to attempt to resolve the paperwork issues cited by management as the cause for their termination.

Workers, advocates, and DC council members will participate in a press conference in front of the Chipotle restaurant in Columbia Heights. Councilmembers will also announce their intent to introduce legislation that protects the fundamental rights of all Washington’s workers.

WHAT:

Press conference to denounce Chipotle’s mistreatment of workers.
· Jim Graham, DC Council Member
· Michael Brown, DC Council Member
· Workers fired from Columbia Heights Chipotle
· Emily Tulli, employment policy attorney, National Immigration Law Center
· Community Leaders, advocates, and union representatives will be available to conduct interviews.

WHEN:

Wednesday, March 23, 2011
12 – 1 p.m. EST

WHERE:

Columbia Heights Chipotle
3113 14th Street NW
Washington, DC
Columbia Heights Metro (Green and Yellow lines)

BACKGROUND:

At the D.C. Columbia Heights Chipotle, a dozen workers were fired in one day — March 9th, 2011. They were taken into the back room during a 30 minute break and replaced with new employees before they could return to work their next shift. Many long-time workers — some who had worked at Chipotle for six years — were literally tossed out in the cold. They received no warning and no respect.

While it works to be an ethical company, Chipotle is setting a dangerously low standard for how it treats long-time employees. The workers were fired ostensibly due to errors found in their employment paperwork. These workers, many of whom had been loyal employees at DC-area Chipotle restaurants for years, were not given the opportunity to correct their paperwork, nor were they provided with notice that their termination was imminent. Mass firings have also taken place at the Woodley Park and Chinatown Chipotle restaurants, and firings at other area Chipotle restaurants are feared.

“My name is Mike Lenard and I am the Owner and Operator of TaKorean as well as the Assistant Director of the DC Food Truck Association (DCFTA). I know there has been talk between here and Food Truck Fiesta about some of the events that went down yesterday. I appreciate PoP for giving me the opportunity to explain what happened.

During lunch service yesterday (Tuesday), I was approached by a Metro PD officer who had received a call from someone around to the Metro Center area saying that we were operating without a “site permit.” Currently, food trucks are not required to have site permits under Dept. of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) regulations. The officer was either misled or misinformed about vending regulations and opted to shut me down until he could find an answer to the situation. All of my licenses and paperwork were completely in order and with me the entire time, as they are every time we’re out.

I made a call to the Vending/Special Events coordinator at DCRA, Sam Williams. I contacted him so that he could call the officer’s precinct clarifying the DC regulations concerning food trucks. After that MPD Officer Steinbach, the MPD vending expert, was dispatched to the scene. Once Officer Steinbach arrived, he explained the regulations to the first officer, and we were allowed to re-open without further incident.

Unfortunately, I was not the only truck that experienced this interruption in service yesterday. I later learned that two other food trucks experienced very similar situations in the Farragut Square area. I know that it is frustrating for both the food trucks as well as the law enforcement agencies to see precious resources like time and energy get wasted on these calls.

Both myself and the rest of the DCFTA know this is just one part of a larger, on-going conversation that we’re looking forward to participating in as our industry continues to grow and prosper during the next several months and years.

We’re excited to be a part of such a vibrant metropolitan area, and I can assure you that you’ll be hearing more from those of us at the DC Food Truck Association soon. On behalf of myself and the other food truck vendors that make up the DCFTA, we thank you for your overwhelming support, and appreciate Prince of Petworth for giving me the opportunity to clarify yesterday’s situation at Metro Center.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user yostinator

I got an intriguing tweet from @KJinDC7 yesterday afternoon:

“@PoPville The most amazing restaurant is coming to DC.”

[You can follow PoPville on twitter here.]

It was linked to a Craigslist ad for Cafe Rio, Mexican Grill. The ad from Salt Lake City says:

“Cafe Rio, Mexican Grill is continuing its growth across the country!! We are expanding and we are looking for great people to help us as we open the Washington DC market for Cafe Rio.

Candidates MUST BE interested and willing to relocate to the Washington DC area.

Cafe Rio managers are WORKING MANAGERS, responsible for ensuring that “Every Meal is a Masterpiece” by cooking, preparing and serving our award winning food. Successful candidates will undergo extensive training on all positions in the restaurant in the Salt Lake area before relocating to Washington DC.”

Their Website says:

Cafe Rio serves the most delicious, award winning food that will leave you craving more!!

We’re up with the sun, squeezing limes and scooping out avocados, baking our fresh desserts and making our signature sauces and salad dressings by hand. We’re not complaining, though. It’s just what we do – kind of like hand rolling every tortilla from scratch, and buying only USDA Choice meats.

With no freezers or Microwaves in our restaurants and no artificial ingredients in our foods, it is simply the highest quality, freshest food you will find anywhere.

You can see their menu here.

Anyone ever eat at a Cafe Rio out west?

I’ll be sure to update when an exact location is announced.

Photo by PoPville twitter follower @meikled_john

From yesterday’s elephant walk in front of the Capitol. Your captions in the comments and winner (free PoP t-shirt) picked Friday.

From a press release:

A spontaneous PopUp Shop will enliven a vacant retail space in the middle of 18th Street from Mar 27- Apr 10. The Very Cherry AdMo Shop “PopsUp!” packed w/ all original artisans. Ready for locals & visitors, day & eve, to grab that unique find from indie artists and local biz. Organized by Adams Morgan Main Street.
***Sunday March 27 – Sat April 16
***2421 18th St NW (formerly Caribou/Uptowner)
***Sun-Thurs: Noon till 9pm; Fri-Sat: 11am till 10p

Themed highlights include a Shishi Dog for Opening Ceremony and Cherry Ribbon Cutting on
Sunday, March 27 at 3:00pm, a Kabuki Dance Troupe, origami and decorative Kimonos. Patrons can shop
numerous unique items for family, friends, colleagues and kids for everything from wearable art,
accessories, jewelry, to fine art, paintings, photography and sculpture. According to Janet Lugo-Tafur,
Executive Director, “We are proud of the focus on nearby neighborhood and local DC artisans, and that
everything is made directly by the artist.” The retail show/shop will rotate as different themes, artisans and
activities are highlighted, as well as related local businesses.

The “Very Cherry AdMo Pop Up Shop”2421 18th St NW, Washington, DC 20009 will feature
Cultural & arts exhibits, demos, and performances for both kids & adults. Sample unique retail & art finds at
this spontaneous shop which activates a vacant retail space. Plans are to be open to the to the public,
March 27 till April 16: On Sun-Thurs: Noon till 9pm; On Fri – Sat: 11am till 10pm. Partners include: Craft
Mafia DC, DSLBD, PN Hoffman, AMP-BID, Duplex Diner, Casa Oaxaca, and Wok& Roll.

I noticed so many sweet transoms this week. It’s my record for one weekend – 17 sweet transoms. But don’t worry I promise I won’t post them all this week. Which do you prefer out of these two? I vote the one above.

One of my all time favorites from Mt. Pleasant. Hell this is one of my all time favorites from the city.

“Dear PoP,

I wanted to pass along a letter that you have probably already seen. Brandon is one of the co-owners of DC Brau and has been working to not only start a business in DC (a daunting task by itself) but also to get legislation passed to allow manufacturers the same ability to provide tastings that grocery stores and liquor stores have. The legislation has a hearing date before the Council on March 31st. This seems like a no-brainer bill that will go a long way to allowing these new breweries (we’ve got a few others in the pipeline besides DC Brau) to thrive, make profits, create jobs, and pay taxes in DC. Even if you aren’t a beer lover, supporting this bill means supporting one of the few products made in DC by DC residents.

If you want to testify or submit testimony, contact Benton Heimsath at bheimsath@dccouncil.us.

If you don’t have time for testimony, a quick note/call of support to your councilmember would be extremely valuable:

Ward 1: Jim Graham, (202) 724-8181, John De Taeye (Legislative Director), jdetaeye@dccouncil.us
Ward 2: Jack Evans, 202.724.8058, jackevans@dccouncil.us
Ward 3: Mary Cheh, (202) 724-8062, Jeremy Faust, jfaust@dccouncil.us
Ward 4: Muriel Bowser, 202-724-8052, Rob Hawkins, rhawkins@dccouncil.us
Ward 5: Harry Thomas Jr, 202.724.8028, Ayawna Webster, achase@dccouncil.us
Ward 6: Tommy Wells, 202-724-8072, twells@dccouncil.us
Ward 7: Yvette Alexander, (202) 724-8068, J.R. Meyers, jrmeyers@dccouncil.us
Ward 8: Marrion Barry, (202) 724-8045″

Hello,

I am writing you this morning as the co-owner of a small start up brewery located in Washington DC. DC Brau Brewing is the first “production/package” facility to be located inside DC in over half a century. It was our choice to be located within the District. We knew that some aspects would be challenging, especially since there has been no local protocol for businesses like ours in such a long time.

Most breweries across the country offer tours of their facilities and a small tasting of their product. Usually a business is required to get an annual tasting permit to do this. After reviewing the District’s laws, we noticed there was no such provision for businesses of our type. Tasting permits are available for grocery and off premises establishments but nothing for manufacturers. This prompted us to work with an attorney to write the “Brewery Manufacturer’s Tasting Permit Amendment Act of 20ll”. I have attached a copy for your review. This bill would give us the same tasting rights as grocery stores and other off premise accounts.

As a new business we are doing everything we can to succeed. We know having a tasting room will allow us to appeal to a broader market, generate beer tourism interest and give us the same chance to succeed as our counterparts in the surrounding states.

The hearing for bill (B19-118) will be March 31st at 10am in room 412 of the John A. Wilson Building (1350 Pennsylvania Ave, NW 20004). DC Brau will come to testify. Please put out the word – Anybody who wants to testify or submit testimony should contact Benton Heimsath at bheimsath@dccouncil.us.

Thank you for your support.

Cheers!

Brandon Skall
CEO
DCBrau Brewing Company LLC

We took a look at DC Brau back in early March.

Lots of exciting changes coming to Barracks Row on 8th St, SE. Yesterday we learned about more Bike options and I forgot to mention next door to City Bikes is some progress on the Hello Cupcake at 705 8th St, SE:

And last weekend I noticed some workers on the 2nd floor of Lola’s at 711 8th St, SE. Stay tuned for lots more news from that strip in the coming months.

“Dear PoP,

Emily, who lives on Biltmore St, NW has been missing since yesterday morning. Her husband, family and friends are frantically trying to find her and could use all the help possible. A police report has been filed.”

Flyer attached below:

EHH flyer(2)

UPDATE: A reader writes:

“Actually I just got an update (WMATA finally allowed tracking of her SmartTrip card). Her last activity was at Georgia Ave and W St. at 12:42 yesterday.”

“Only her card was used there.
Still last confirmed sighting was when she left for work at 6:45am.”

Update: Found and recovering!

This is a wild one from just off H St, NE. I’ve never seen one with a different style top like this before. Any fans?

If you have any fun or interesting animal/pet photos or news please shoot me an email to princeofpetworth(at)gmail(dot)com with ‘Animal Fix’ in the title and say what neighborhood you’re from or upload to the PoPville flickr pool. I can’t guarantee I’ll get them all posted but I’ll do my best.

“In honor of the upcoming warm weather, Miss Scarlett enjoying one of her favorite pastimes, swimming and running wild along the banks of the Potomac.

We live in Adams Morgan.”

Nautilus cat

“Ren. Hunkered down and trying to get through the winter. Bald in the winter really bites.”

And while we’re talking about cats:

“Dear PoP,

Thought this might be of interest for your readers. It’s a study from the American Bird Conservency that was done in the DC suburbs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/science/21birds.html?ref=us
http://www.abcbirds.org/newsandreports/releases/110314.html
It shows that cats are the #1 killer of grey catbirds. It’s important to note that this particular bird species not particularly rare or in any way endangered – http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/147687/0

But cats do not discriminate.  If they’re killing catbirds, it means they’re killing other birds, including other native birds and some rare ones too.  That’s the motivation behind the Cats Indoors campaign – http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/policy/cats/index.html

I happened to be at a cookout friday night at a friend’s on Spring Rd. between 10th and Rock Creek Church Roads.  A car with Maryland tags pulled up in the alley and the driver filled bowls for the strays in the alley.  My friends said that the cat food is a boon for rats.  There certanly were a lot of cats in the alley too.  I doubt that those particular cats kill many threatened or endangered birds but what do folks think about people feeding strays, particularly people from out of the neighborhood? Personally, I would be livid if this were my alley.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user houseintherear

This rental is located at 1301 15th Street, NW:

View Larger Map

The Craigslist ad says:

“Here at Miramar Apartments, we offer 24-hour emergency maintenance, fitness center, and business center with internet connection, rooftop sundeck, courtyard garden, cable ready, and an on-site laundry facility for your convenience. Heat and water are included in the rent and, our residents pay gas and electric. We do not allow pets.

All of our apartment homes come with hardwood flooring, large walk-in closets, beautiful finishings and features that combine timeless quality with a modern flair.”

This studio is going for $1423 – sound right for this location?