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An Update on The Q&A Cafe: Taping Today and May 9

We're actually taping an episode of The Q&A Cafe today, but it's in studio and without an audience. It's a spring/summer preview of fashion, food and the arts for DC. I'll let you know the air date asap, but it's likely to be this Friday, April 26. The guests are colleagues from Washingtonian, discussing their beats: Kate Bennett on fashion, Sophie Gilbert on the arts, and Jessica Voelker on food and restaurants. 

Our next Q&A Cafe taping at the Ritz Carlton Georgetown is on Thursday, May 9, when the guest will be Christopher Kennedy Lawford, grandson nephew of JFK, as well as an actor, author, activist, drug addict and alcoholic, who has been in recovery for more than two decades. He has quite a story to tell. 

Seating begins at noon, the fee is $38 covering all costs of lunch, soft beverages, tax, tip and dessert from Georgetown Cupcake. For reservations please call the hotel directly at 202.912.4100 and speak with Esmaralda Prifold or email her directly. 

Hey Georgetown, A Deal Has Been Done For a Second 7-11

FABLED GEORGETOWN CORNER, WHERE "DOC" DALINSKY HAD HIS PHARMACY, APPARENTLY WILL NOW BE 7-11

UPDATE ON WEDNESDAY OCT 31: "Carol, your note about 7-11 is correct…its unfortunate because it lacks vision and reflects the absence of a strategy by the owners of the properties around that intersection. While markets change and the quaintness of the past is replaced by mass-appeal commercial, it doesn’t have to be this bad. Will keep you posted on what else I hear, but this one gets chalked up to a lack of trying on behalf of the property owners…." - another golden source

(Note to whiners, I am not pissed of about this. I will buy lottery tickets there, hopefully one that wins.)

My source on this is golden and so I'm going with it: apparently the Donohue family has done a deal to lease their building at Wisconsin and O to the 7-11 chain. Work already has begun on the interior. Everyone seems to like to look for signs that Georgetown's charm is a thing of the past, and this latest development will probably be included on that list, along with reports of a TJ Maxx, Target and a bowling alley at Georgetown Park mall, and the new mega Nike store on M Street. But, the times they are a changin'. 

This building once was home to "Doc" Dalinsky's pharmacy, one of the most popular Georgetown hangouts of true Washington insiders: Ben Bradlee, David Brinkley, Joseph Alsop, Art Buchwald, to name a notable handful. They would come in for their morning papers, especially the Sunday papers, and dish and jive with "Doc," then amble down to Martin's Tavern for eggs benedict and a brew or a bloody. The building authentically represents a bygone era when unique "ma and pa" shops and chic and pricy boutiques lined Wisconson and M Streets and the side streets. Georgetown also was home to the city's best restaurants, cafes and bars. 

Those days are not coming back; that scene, in various iterations, has moved on to other parts of town, and it's debatable whether the reason is that Georgetown's leadership handed the village over to developers, or having no subway, maddening parking issues, or simply changing times. It's probably a combination. 

I've noticed this, though, over the last decade or so of massive change: most of the big chains don't last because the average consumer, the shopper who has to fill an SUV with necessary goods, would rather park in a lot at a mall than drive around cramped Georgetown streets for 30 minutes, looking for a parking space, only to return to the car to find a hefty pink parking ticket, which is DC's way of saying "thank you for your sales tax dollars." It doesn't compute. 

As for the 7-11, if what I was told is true, it will be the village's second, joining the established 7-11 on P Street at 27th, which is currently being doubled in size. But having two 7-11's in Georgetown is precedented: there was one at the corner of Wisconsin and Q that closed a few years ago. 

Georgetown NIKE Store Update Updated

SIGN IN THE WINDOW OF THE GEORGETOWN NIKE STORE

TUESDAY UPDATE: After I posted this story, Nike responded with a Tweet: "Nike Georgetown opens 10/25. Your official destination for all things Nike in the nation's capitol." This can only mean round-the-clock construction, but now we have a date. (Their construction company should do home renovation, which never gets done on time).

I have no insidery information, only photos, but you know what they say about photos, and a photo I took inside the old Barnes & Noble building, soon to be Nike, indicates it must be racing to meet a Fall 2012 opening. Here's what I saw:

INSIDE WHAT WILL BE THE GEORGETOWN NIKE STORE

Technically, they can open on December 19 and it still qualifies as fall. Whenever the store opens it will be debated in Georgetown, where the whole idea of a monster-sized Nike store is controversial, but especially because it fills the former space of a well-regarded bookstore, the last of any size in the neighborhood. In this form the Nike store concept feels very 1990. NikeTown was cool but is out of date with the intimacy trend in retail shopping. People seem to want less monster and more hands-on. But every chain store that opens in Georgetown, alas, seems to land here about five or more years after the peak of its trend. I don't know if that's developers who lack trend radar or landlords who are too intransigent and greedy to get deals done in a timely fashion. 

Thankfully we still have a lot of modestly sized and independently owned stores that chug along, year afte year, forecasting the trends, riding a long with them, remaining relevant. 

Full disclosure: I practically live in Shox. But I don't need a giant Nike store in my neighborhood to get my Shox. There are about a half dozen places to buy Shox in an easy distance from Georgetown and each of those stores has parking right out front. 

If anyone has a legit hard date for the Nike store opening, please let me know.

More Bad News For Georgetown Park Mall

WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE INSIDE GEORGETOWN PARK MALL AS IT UNDERGOES A REBOOT

Today the Washington Business Journal reported that Vornado has done a deal for T.J. Maxx to be the "anchor" store for Georgetown Park Mall. Earlier, Topher Mathews had reported this might happen, but who wanted to believe it? We'd heard they went after Target, and thought maybe it was a joke, but no; their concept for Georgetown apparently is downmarket. We, as a neighborhood, may just have to roll along with it. 

Anyone who has lived here for 20-30 years has watched the mall go through many changes. It opened up with bright possibility. There was a good department store plus a lot of smaller shops that were useful and benefited the neighborhood. But then serial bad management entered the picture and, over time, the stores became less and less relevant -- to Georgetowners as well as suburban shoppers, foot traffic and tourists. 

T.J. Maxx may be a fine enterprise. I don't know. One friend said their business is designer clothing. Are we talking designers as in Prada and Carolina Herrera on Madison Avenue or H&M knock-offs? The important question is: Is it a good fit for Georgetown? Will it do the kind of business here that will keep it operating, or will it be just another place holder that opens, struggles, fizzles and closes? Through all the vissictudes of the past decade commercially, what has endured are small stores, not monster stores; Georgetown serves boutiques, not big box; the message is unique, small, special, innovative, sole proprietor. Most of those big M Street stores won't be here a decade hence. They have no staying power.

I'm told Vornado is struggling to find tenants. I hear this from people who are connected but don't want to go on the record. So far, Vornado won't speak to reporters. At least not to WBJ, Topher or me. When this happens it usually means there are no answers to the questions, or turmoil on the inside. I've heard both. Simply put, where's the transparency when it comes to issues related to this mall?  Hopefully CAG and the ANC, and other village leaders, will push for some answers. 

It's a cycle. This will pass. Vornado will come and it will go, but like all the other non-Georgetown developers, when it goes it will take a piece of Georgetown's heart.

A Peek Inside Georgetown Park Mall

A question posed often among Georgetowners and to Georgetowners is "what's going on at Georgetowm Park mall?" No one really knows. The owners, Vornado and Angelo Gordon, couldn't be more tight-lipped. I've tried to talk to someone at Vornado for a while, to no avail. Several months ago, I was offered one of the bosses, but that went away. Then I made some of my own pokes at the PR department. Nada. One executive did contact me to say another executive would be in touch. Mas nada. People who are only on the sidelines of the renovation project have given me their two-cents, but they are observing and speculating.

A friend who is in there sometimes said, "you should see it. There's nothing there. The whole insides are torn apart."

So, I took a peek today. The photo above is what I saw. The whole insides aren't entirely torn apart, but the place is definitely stripped of its Victorian trimmings, store fronts and some store spaces.

Until Vornado unzips its lips, that's all we know.

Georgetown (Hearsay) Update: Citronelle, the Guards, the Mall, the New Hotels & More

AN ANNOUNCEMENT THAT'S UNCERTAIN, EXCEPT FOR THE PART ABOUT BEING CLOSED. ADJACENT LA MADELEINE IS ALSO CLOSED.

This is meant to compile everything I've written, so far, about the closing of Citronelle restaurant, plus bits and pieces about other commerical goings on in Georgetown. Admittedly it is derived from a mix of credible information, hearsay, and the occasional "official" statements" - the latter reliably obtuse. I'm no authority, I just live here. 

A LOOK INSIDE THE EMPTY, RELATIVELY CLEANED OUT CITRONELLE BAR. 

Yesterday, Saturday, I talked to a man who told me an interesting story. He said he was friends with a woman who represented a company that wanted to buy The Latham Hotel a few years ago. Her company spent a year doing their due diligence, he said, surveying the building from top to bottom and to each corner. At the end, they walked away, because they felt the foundation was in "questionable" condition, there were mold issues, that the hotel would need a wildly expensive structural renovation. Granted this is hearsay, but it backs up some of the other scuttlebutt out there, that rather than a bad flood the hotel had long-term plumbing issues. He said the last time he talked with the woman she said, "the building needs to be torn down." That's funny, because it's not that old. About the same age as The Four Seasons, meaning circa late 70s, early 80s. (I remember when there was a gas station at that location.) But there's nothing new about relatively new buildings in DC aging too fast. 

THE EMPTY DRIVEWAY AND CLOSED FRONT ENTRANCE TO THE CLOSED LATHAM, PLANS TO RENOVATE AND REOPEN IN JANUARY.

WHAT WILL BE THE CAPELLA GEORGETOWN HOTEL, COME JANUARY

One block over, the Capella Georgetown hotel is going up at seemingly record speed. Their target opening date is January 2013, which makes sense due to one word: Inauguration! What delights me is the planned rooftop pool. I've never understood why all Georgetown hotels didn't build rooftop pools. The Capella won't have a lot of rooms and they will be expensive, qualifying it as a "boutique" hotel. At the sister hotel in New York, The Setai, room rates today began at $545 for a standard. Earlier there were rumors that Citronelle would move to the Capella, but they got shot down by Michel Richard's very own people.

Another thing, this man said he knows a couple (regulars at other Capella hotels) who got a hard-hat tour of the Georgetown site. They were told during their tour (this is deep hearsay) that Capella is closing deals to buy the adjacent townhouses on 31st Street, which they plan to turn into their highest-end suites. 

And then there's the dear old Monticello, in the same block as The Latham. It is undergoing a major renovation and hopes to reopen in December in a much more upscale mode. I say hooray all around. Maybe this competition will inspire The Four Seasons to soften its edges and The Ritz to step it up with their already handsome public rooms by creating a statement restaurant, which is the piece that's missing in Georgetown's most authentic feeling and best looking hotel. 

On Tuesday, after wrtiting about the closing of Citronelle, and with some skepticism about the official reason (extensive flooding), I received this email from Citronelle: Hey Carol,  Saw your Tweet about Citronelle this morning.  Please let me refer you to Chris Daly, of Daly Gray Public Relations, who handle the communications for the Latham Hotel. Also copied here is Michael Damian, the General Manager of the Latham Hotel.  They may be able to give you more information about the status of the building.

I replied: I want to see the "extensive flooding" damage. Can we make a date?

I'm still waiting for that date.

Also, an FB'r wrote to say she'd heard Citronelle signed a deal to move to Washington Harbor. My initial reaction? If true, ugh, because Washington Harbor has never amounted to much, especially in the culinary department, except for the brief time Warner Leroy was there. It's a meat market. Beautiful views wasted on barely average restaurants. That said, in the right space, removed from those other places, Citronelle could give the waterfront some high end cred. 

EARLIER CITRONELLE REPORT

GEORGETOWN PARK MALL ...CLOSED FOR MAKEOVER AND (HOPEFULLY) TENANTS

Further along M Street we have the shuttered dinosaur known as Georgetown Park mall. Yesterday evening I heard that Saks Fifth Avenue has pulled out. I didn't even know they were in. I'd heard Bloomingdales was in, then out. I have no idea whether the Saks tip is true. (Turned out not to be, to the best of my knowledge. I called four different people at Vornado, but none returned my call. I did contact Saks corporate in NY. Saks said they have no store plans for Georgetown Park.)  Advice for Vornado: put something in that serves the community, for a change. Build it (grocery, hardware, useful department store, electronics) and we will come. If you have us you at least have a base to hold you during tourist droughts. 

That said, I don't envy Vornado (well, I envy their money but not Georgetown Park Mall). I wouldn't want to be the owner in 2012 of an interior mall. Kind of the retail equivalent of a great collection of VHS tapes. I think outdoor malls have a pulse, but interior malls have a dreadful, last century, toes up feel to them. But maybe they will surprise us and create something astonishing.

WORK UNDERWAY AT GOOD STUFF EATERY ON M STREET

A New York pizza parlor is apparently going into the Old Cellar Door building at the corner of 35th and M. Spike Mendelsohn has started construction on his Georgetown edition of Good Stuff Eatery. I love this place TOO much, by too much I mean too many Toasted Marshmallow milkshakes. Around the corner, next door to the original Georgetown Cupcake, Luke's Lobster is about to open. That location is the site of one of the darker moments in Georgetown small business history, when some in the community, and notably Mayor Fenty, shut down a business in an ugly way, largely because the neighbors didn't like having rowdy college kids eating pizza in the wee hours. See, nobody told the homeowners they were moving in near a college campus. Regardless, opponents of Philly Pizza found a missed stitch in the owner's license and practically went after him with torches and pitchforks. The owner wasn't without fault, but it was not Georgetown's finest moment. Luke's Lobster should do well, however.

THE FUTURE HOME OF LUKE'S LOBSTER

No one knows what will happen to The Guards, which closed this week, but the owner has made clear to friends that he wants out of the restaurant business. He's 60, done, and wants to move to Florida. The Guards has a gorgeous interior and lots of possibilities for a thriving rebirth by any name (knock knock Mark Politzer.) Please, whoever has a say in this, don't let the interior be gutted. And what's happening at Garrett's? There appears to be some second story construction going on, but no permits to indicate whether the work is related to a new tenant or simply necessary maintenance. That space has been empty too long. The landlord should recruit an innovative, business-savvy operator or chef and give him or her some support. I'd love to see Derek Brown at that corner. 

When he opened Bandolero, Mike Isabella told me he wants to lead a restaurant reival in Georgetown. Those words warmed my heart and tummy. It can't happen soon enough. We need cool, not crass; good & great, not average; community, not tourist trap; original, not chains (certain fast food excepted). This can be done...with a little help from landlords and banks. With the right investor attitude, they'll get their money back pritty-pritty fast.  

News of Jamie Stachowski

Charcuterist Jamie Stachowski knows how to make a bang. His propane tank exploded with a BOOM - and lots of smoke - at the farmers market. No one was hurt, but everyone was stunned; the block of farm stand operators and customers went silent. But when he wasn't blowing things up Jamie told me he's set a definite opening date of "this Wednesday" for his new food shop at Griffin Market, the corner of 28th and P Streets. "No matter what," he said, which means "we'll open with whatever we have." Exciting news for Georgetowners. 

On NYSD Today: A Getaway to Manhattan

MONDAY, MARCH 26: FALLEN CHERRY BLOSSOMS ON 31ST STREET

Last week I got out of town for a night. Took the train to NYC for food, wine, friends and shopping. Here's the story today on New York Social Diary. 

And at Washingtonian today, please check out my experience at a lovely Japanese Tea Ceremony. 

Cristophe Is In Town!

And this is the result. Lucky me. Happy hair. If you have the time, I recommend a visit to his salon. 202.785.2222.

Blow-Out Closing Sale at Antiques of Georgetown

One of Georgetown's most venerable and well-edited antiques shops, Antiques of Georgetown, is closing at the end of the month. Owner Bill Donohue has everything in the store on sale at half price, meaning at cost or less. There are some real steals, such as this handsome book case above. The sale price? About $3300. There are lamps, decanters, glassware, chests, a lovely sideboard, chandeliers, chairs, books, paintings, porcelain, rugs, andirons, sconces. If you happen to be in the market for any of these items, give Bill at call at 202.965.1165. He's open today and all next week. The address is 3210 O Street NW, just off Wisconsin.

Bill is also looking to rent the building, if you should be or know a potential tenant. 

Tina Alster's Christmas Kicks

WHAT SANTA BROUGHT TINA ALSTER: A NEW PAIR OF LANVIN'S

Hohoho. Christmas presents take all forms. So, this afternoon at a festive holiday party I could not resist aiming my camera at the feet of Dr. Tina Alster, wearing her new Christmas kicks. Fresh off the lasts at Lanvin, these are serious stilettoes. I'm not one, (I prefer to own shoes rather than fondle them) but I offer this up on behalf of foot fetishists everywhere. These are not Georgetown heels nor are they sensible Washington pumps. These are kick ass, kiss my feet, know your place, serious business shoes. Three cheers for Dr. Tina, and Merry Christmas.

Georgetown's Hottest Holiday Shopping Spot?

LINED UP AT SPORT ZONE, JUST AFTER DAWN, ON THE EVE OF CHRISTMAS EVE

Which Georgetown store had the longest line this holiday, with shoppers lined up pre-dawn? The winner is: The Sport Zone. In the wee hours of this morning, people started to line up, wanting to get the early chance at a pair of new Michael Jordan athletic shoes, the XI Retro "Concord" for $175. (btw, they are good looking.)

Apple is the only other Georgetown store that gets this kind of action.

LINED UP ON M: SKIPPING BREAKFAST FOR A PAIR OF JORDANS INSTEAD

The new Jordan dropped at midnight, but Georgetown being Georgetown, Sport Zone didn't do that Walmart kind of thing of opening all hours. Fortunately for kicks fans, the rain was gone and the air was mild. Happy last full day of shopping.

Spotted In Georgetown: Kathleen and Chris Matthews

CHRISTMAS BROWSING AT BROOKS BROTHERS: CHRIS AND KATHLEEN MATTHEWS

Like so many others this weekend, Kathleen and Chris Matthews spent some time walking around Georgetown. I ran into them Saturday at the Brooks Brothers store, where we had a nice catch up. Chris, as you might expect, was very entertaining as he talked about nutty Donald Trump and his failing debate. How long before he decides to call it off? I asked. "About two hours," the political expert said. Kathleen added, "you should have Chris do another Q&A." There's no question he's an audience pleaser, but I said, "it's exhausting. We spend so much time fighting each other for the wheel." They both laughed, Kathleen knowingly. Chris has appeared on the show four times and, I would gladly have him back anytime. He's my favorite sparring partner.

Kathleen, who runs communications for Marriott Corp., talked enthusiastically about the new hotel going up in Austin. Since I'm mad for Austin, that's good news. She also recalled a Christmas story she did for WJLA, when she was anchor there, about a group of young people who were basically squatting in the ruins of the old Georgetown factory incinerator smokestack on South Street. Now it is part of the Marriott family as the Ritz-Carlton Georgetown.

We talked for about 20 minutes, as various customers stopped by to meet Chris, make a comment about "Hardball" or his new book, "Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero."

B&N Becomes Nike? The Continued Ruin of M Street

THE RACKS, THE BOOKS AND THE DAYS ARE DWINDLING AT GEORGETOWN'S B&N

If you stop in the Georgetown Barnes & Noble these last days of the year you will notice a big sale and fewer books and book racks. It's all coming to an end. I remember being upset about the demise of Francis Scott Key Books, and railed against B&N and other chains for being the cause. Now I'm mourning the loss of B&N. During the summer we lost Bartleby's. There's still tiny Bridge Street, but the owner has hinted he hopes to move to New York. What kind of neighborhood doesn't have a book store? Or, put another way, what kind of neighborhood has more athletic shoe stores than book stores?

The rumor is that Nike will go into the B&N space. If this were 2000 that would be cool. It would be new and fresh, but now a Nike store is very a decade ago and, besides, we already have shoes. We have the very good The Running Company, an indie, and then okay but not great chains, City Sports and Sports Zone. Do we need a multi-story emporium of athletic shoes? No. But if we have to have it here why can't it be in the mall? There's a simple reason. I don't think any of these mall stores want to be in malls anymore. They want to be back out on the street, in the air, among the foot traffic. Malls are the Pac Man of shopping, and the mall owners are stuck with that fact.

Just the same, I will miss B&N. I used it in so many different ways. First, of course, to buy books and magazines and CD's, and similar last century stuff. Before a trip I loved to go in there to find books that would help me plot my course. And maps! It was good for a cup of coffee. It was good as a place to meet someone. When my son was younger we loved spending idle time there, wandering and shopping, and enjoying the story-telling time in the children's section. That's quite sentimental for me.

Woe be Georgetown. I know in the commercial corridor it feels bigger in its britches than ever before, but the britches are polyester and don't match the rest of the outfit. Yes, polyester lasts forever, but it goes out of fashion and gets discarded quickly. Good luck. 

HOLIDAY FAVES TO GIVE & HAVE

• • 
    
    
  • ALL THESE PLACES ARE IN OR NEAR GEORGETOWN, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF HALE GROVES AND ST. JUDE'S. IN MOST INSTANCES ONLINE ORDERING (**) IS AN OPTION:
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  • Anything Red Truck Bakery (personal picks: Bobby's Breakfast, Havana Fruitcake, Bourbon Cake, Double Chocolate, Quiche)**
  • Georgetown Cupcake Holiday Flavors (personal picks: Gingerbread, Christmas Caramel, Choclate Egg Nog)**
  • Yule Log From Patisserie Poupon
  • Stocking Stuffers From A Mano (personal picks: cocktail napkins, books, ornaments, William Yeoward, candles, jewelry, sweets)**
  • Stumptown Coffee, freshly ground, at Baked & Wired (personal picks: cookies, pies, Strawberry cupcake, layer cake, granola)
  • Wine from Bacchus Wine Cellar (let Bassam choose to suit your tastes)**
  • Authentic Coca-Cola from Sprinkles
  • Movie Passes from Loews
  • A Lance Etchison Facial at Blue Mercury
  • Georgetown Pilates classes
  • HoneyBell Oranges from Hale Groves**
  • Chocolates from Fleurir**
  • A FOUR SEASONS massage
  • Burratta from Cowgirl Creamery
  • Fresh Steamed Lobster from Cannons
  • Chocolate Covered Pecans at Morgan's Pharmacy (also soaps, scents, cards)**
  • Christmas Ornaments from St. Jude's

 

Memo to Georgetown: Check Out Foggy Bottom

 FOGGY BOTTOM'S VERY COOL NEW BLOCK, WHICH SHOULD MAKE GEORGETOWN A LITTLE ENVIOUS

Have you walked over to Foggy Bottom lately? To the block that once was George Washington Hospital, then a hole in the ground, and now apartments, offices, and a quite cool collection of bistros, markets and, especially, an innovative Whole Foods Market. As I wandered the amazing new Whole Foods I wondered, "why isn't this in Georgetown? Why isn't this in Georgetown Park?" It makes Glover Park Whole Foods feel out of date. How? All kinds of new ways to shop, a lot more self-serve, and food concessions -- almost like food halls, but better -- with everything from Kaz Sushi Bistro to made-to-order grilled burgers. The only thing missing is self check-out. The check-out system is a little controlling, but still functional, like Trader Joe's.

Here are some pics:

 







The store has two levels. I didn't get downstairs, because the main level has everything I'm after -- lots of fresh food, ready to go. They also have a parking garage. The garage entrance is on 22nd Street. You go through one gate, down to the 3rd level, and through another gate, which is two too many gates, but you get 90 minutes free parking (with a receipt) and after you've gone through the drill once you'll have the system mastered. 

 INSIDE "BURGER, TAP & SHAKE," WHERE THE BURGERS START AT $6, THE SHAKES AT $5 AND THE FRIES AT $3

Out the door and around the corner are other interesting places to explore, and the folks at Vornado should take a look, if they haven't already. Why not fill Georgetown Park mall with a range of interesting eating places? Chelsea Market is the prototype. Georgetown is so needy in this regard. We have Dean & Deluca, which too often feels a day away from closing, but we are behind the curve in the restaurant scene, and if we're not careful we'll become known as a mecca of tourist traps and unchallenged group ownership. 

This one block has Burger, Tap and Shake, a bar and burger joint; Devon & Blakely, which appears to be a hip sandwich and salad concept, but a little weird up in the gills about photos being taken ("No, No. Take your camera out of here. No photos. No photos!") ...not exactly modern in a cell camera world. Later I inquired with the manager, who said it was due to fer the look would be copied somewhere else. (I think I saw "this look" 5 yrs ago in LA, but whatevs). But moving on, there's Circa, with an all day menu, and Mediterranean Roti. Lots of outside seating. Also a Sweetgreen, with seating.

These places are easy walking distance from Georgetown, but I wish they were all in Georgetown.

Across the street (on K between 22nd and 21st, north side) is a great new burger place, Bobby Flay's Bobby's Burger Palace. I say "great" and "new" based on one visit, but my burger was delicious, cooked just the way I like it, with some crunchy char on the meat, and the lettuce, tomato and onions tasted freshly cut. My strawberry milkshake was very good, not too thick, not too sweet; the french fries -- sweet potato -- were still hot and crispy, not soggy. I hate cold/soggy fries, but get served them all too often. 

AL FRESO DINING AT ROTI

 WHITE TABLE CLOTHS AT CIRCA FOGGY BOTTOM

Face it, 95 per cent of the time you order fries in a restaurant they are frozen. There are exceptions. But most restaurants serve frozen fries, just as they serve frozen fish, lobster meat that arrived at the restaurant in a plastic bag, not alive and in its shell, and burger patties that come pre-cut. Budgets robbed restaurants of freshness. But there are ways of dealing with frozen fries that maintain their integrity, ways of cooking them, especially using fresh oil - not oil that's been around all day and also used for the calamari. Better yet, cook them twice! (I always ask for well done). If you order a lobster dish, ask your server. "Is the lobster meat from a fresh steamed lobster in your kitchen or from lobster in a bag?" 

But I digress.

Check out Foggy Bottom. I hope Vornado will, too. I also hope Vornado will consider immersing itself in the community a little more. Come to the events. Speak to CAG and the ANC, make yourselves available, get to know people, have an intimate lunch with the local bloggers like Topher Mathews at The Georgetown Metropolitan, Beth Solomon at Georgetown Dish, Shaun Courtney at Georgetown Patch. Maybe have lunch in Foggy Bottom. hahaha.

The New M Street?

We know commercial M Street is going through changes, trending toward more mall stores. Still, I burst out laughing at the sight of this mannequin in the window at Calvin Klein. The Georgetown of Dorcas Hardin is gone, baby, gone.  Is this what the rebranding campaign means with the slogan, "Come out and play in Georgetown?" Hahaha. More hahaha. The complete package? An Anthony Weiner homage? CK's bf? Wishful thinking? 

Better be careful, it could scare the little children (and some adults).

Trunks!

I'm in the market for some storage trunks. I'm getting rid of STUFF but also trying to put some things away in safe keeping. My friend Myra Moffett yesterday sang the praises of trunks. She has five children and so I give her creds as an expert. This evening I started to surf trunks and there are so many many choices. Do I want cedar or steel? The cedar look more attractive but perhaps the steel are stronger? Do the cedar keep away moths? The steel come in colors like blue, red and green. Do I want medium or large? I think large. I think two large trunks will get the job done.

If I google "trunks" in Washington it comes up empty. I so hoped I would find a "trunk showroom." Ha. But can this city really be without a trunk depot? My online choices are diverse. The large cedar trunk is here. The colorful steel trunks are here. The basic black trunks are here. And then, of course, Amazon has trunks, too. 

My weekend task: to become a trunk expert.