Dear PoPville,

I spotted this plant a few nights ago along Florida Ave. while walking my dog. It immediately took me back to my childhood in the South with its wonderful lemony fragrance. Sadly, I never learned its name. From what I recall, it typically blooms at night, but it was also blooming this morning when I snapped this photo. Does anyone know what it is?? Thanks!”

Luke’s Lobster is located at 624 E St, NW. While they’ve been open a couple of months I finally had the chance to take a taste this past weekend. I’m not gonna mince words – this is the best lobster roll I’ve ever had in my life.

For those that know me, at times I can be a bit cheap frugal, so I take little pleasure in spending $20 (with soda, chips and tax) for lunch. It was worth every penny. While it’s a bit out of my price range for a regular lunch – whenever I’m absolutely craving a lobster roll this is where I’m gonna go.

You can see their full menu here. Has anyone tried some of the cheaper options like the crab or shrimp rolls? For other huge fans of lobster rolls – how do you rank theirs?

Back in early July King & I Pizza opened up at 847 Upshur St, NW. I’m happy to see that they’ve fixed up the space nicely with fresh paint and a new awning. I’m also told that the Gyro machine is in!

$5.99 for a gyro with fries sounds pretty good:

I took a walk through Rock Creek Church Cemetery (St. Paul’s Church by Rock Creek Church Rd and Webster St, NW and near the Old Soldiers Home grounds) and while I always admire the sculptures, I was taken with some of the “ordinary” headstones. So this’ll be an occasional feature highlighting some of those and other remembrances around town.

From 7th St, SE:

Petite Gourmet was located at 224 7th Street, SE by Eastern Market. A recent liquor license application says the place, Boxcar, will be:

“Classic American Bistro with recorded music. No Live Entertainment. Sidewalk Cafe with 12 seats. Seating capacity is 75. Total occupancy load is 99.”

Were there any fans of Petite Gourmet?

Photo of ‘Donut Juice’ taken be local band MOTHER frontman Casey

You can talk about whatever is on your mind – quality of life issues, a beautiful tree you spotted, scuttlebutt, or any random questions/thoughts you may have. I’ll open this thread every morning at 10am.

A couple of weeks ago a reader posted on the Cleveland Park Listserv:

“I heard a rumor that Ireland’s Four Fields (formerly known as Ireland’s Four Provinces) is closing. Folks said that the owner cannot pay the increased rent and they will be closing some time in August. This would not be like a one-week closing (see: Brickskellar), but permanently ending their time in Cleveland Park. Can anyone confirm this?”

Formerly Ireland’s Four Provinces (4Ps), currently Ireland’s Four Fields is located at 3412 Connecticut Ave, NW. Ever since the Cleveland Park listserv message went out I’ve been getting emails asking if I knew what was going on. After digging around I’d heard lots of names of potential groups interested in taking over the space. But I think I now have the answer. A source with pretty good knowledge tells me the Four Fields Irish Bar in Cleveland Park will be taken over by – McFadden’s.

McFadden’s currently has a location at 2401 Pennsylvania Ave., NW. Their Web site says:

“McFadden’s Restaurant and Saloon opened in the Washington DC area on St. Patrick’s Day 2003 and has quickly taken its place among the premier Irish Pubs/ Restaurants and citywide nightspots. McFadden’s is open for lunch & dinner with seating available for over 100 people. We have Happy Hour Specials Monday through Friday with a Live DJ spinning the hottest music Tuesday through Saturday nights.”

I’m told that Four Fields will close sometime in November and McFadden’s will take over after that. It is not clear if the space will close temporarily or what/if any renovations will take place. While this is unconfirmed scuttlebutt – it does seem very likely that the 4Ps/4 Fields is going to close. I’ll be sure to update when/if McFadden’s confirms that they are taking over the space and what their plans will be.

“This photo is from a bridge in St. Petersburg overlooking the Russian Winter Palace. It was taken close to midnight, about when it was getting dark there.”

“Dear PoP,

It’s not a great picture, but I was excited to see a tomato plant in the plaza by the farmers market. There were some flowers on it, so it should have tomatoes if it gets watered.”

That’s some serious resiliency. Awesome find!

While we’re on the topic, if anyone has some particularly good looking tomatoes or other vegetables starting to ripen on the vine, please send a photo to princeofpetworth(at)gmail and say what neighborhood your from. I was a bit jealous of the group I passed below in Capitol Hill

Great combination here. Also from Foggy Bottom.

I love this one from Foggy Bottom. It falls on a cool triangle lot and has a great coffee/mojito spot:

There also was a great note out front:

From an email:

“I’ve organized a fundraiser with several DC restaurants for the tornado victims of Joplin and Tuscaloosa. On July 27th, we’re all hoping to pack our bars and restaurants full. 10% of the night’s proceeds at each establishment will be donated to Hope4Souls, a division of Soles4Souls. The money raised will help the people of these two stricken towns need.

Some of the participating restaurants include:
Zest Bistro, 8th St., SE
Nage Bistro, 16th and Rhode Island, NW
Restaurant Marvin, 14th and U, NW
The Ugly Mug, 8th St., SE
Local 16, U St., NW
Mig Bar, 18th St., NW”

Don’t have any confirmation on this but a reliable source in the past says that a pet store has or is close to signing a lease here. The space is located at 1629 Connecticut Ave NW.

If true, think a pet store will do well here?

“Dear PoP,

Thought this might be interesting…these for sale signs just went up this week at 1851 9th St NW…used to be Maya Angelou Public Charter School…they cleaned out quick without much notice as far as any of the neighbors knew…”

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I put a call into the school but the phone went unanswered. Also on their Web site the contact us page brings up an error.

The building is listed for sale at $9,500,000.