Local restauranteurs and bar owners are set to read some of their nastiest online reviews at an eatery near 14th Street tomorrow night.
Compass Rose, located at 1346 T St. NW, is scheduled to host is second “Industry Reads Bad Reviews” event Wednesday, Dec. 21, from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.
The reading’s lineup includes many of the D.C. restaurant world’s movers and shakers: Smoked and Stacked’s Marjorie Meek-Bradley, The Passenger’s Tom Brown and Timber Pizza Company co-founder Andrew Dana, and others.
From a Facebook post about the event:
In the spirit of the popular (and purposely self-deprecating) segment “Celebrities Read Mean Tweets” from Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Compass Rose is hosting its second evening to toast the food and beverage industry’s harshest Social Media critics by taking their criticisms (reviews, tweets, Facebook posts, emails) and airing them out for everyone to hear.
We invite you to join us at Compass on December 21 after our The Compass Rose Holiday Market at 10 p.m. for “Industry Reads Bad Reviews II” with some of our favorite bar and restaurant folks performing a dramatic reading of their best (worst?) “bad” review. Service industry professionals are constantly under the scrutiny of everyone: their consumers, food critics–even one another. While constructive criticism is always welcome, we’ve all encountered the occasional review that is not based in reality, but merely a projection of simplistic negativity. Rather than allowing these blurbs of craziness to get us down, let’s reclaim the power through community and humor. We’ll laugh at ourselves and recognize that you truly can never please everyone.
Photo via Facebook / Compass Rose
A District ice cream shop is giving away sweet treats to patrons who donate to a local writing organization.
Ice Cream Jubilee, which has locations in Logan Circle and Yards Park, said it will hand over a “winter seasonal” milkshake to every patron who gives at least $5 to 826DC, a nonprofit focused on teaching kids about writing.
Patrons can choose from five ice cream flavors to create a seasonal shake. Those flavors include “boozy eggnog,” “maple rye pecan” and “pumpkin honeycomb.”
“We love encouraging people to act on their creativity, try new things, and even explore inventing their own flavor combinations,” said Ice Cream Jubilee founder Victoria Lai in a statement. “Ice Cream Jubilee stands behind 826DC’s mission to support kids’ creative writing skills and help them imagine and create a more magical world.”
Read the full press release below:
This holiday season, Ice Cream Jubilee is proud to continue its tradition of supporting local non-profits that support Washington, DC children learn and express their creativity. This year, we are partnering with 826DC, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6-18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.
“At Ice Cream Jubilee, our mission is to make people happy with our creative flavors of ice cream,” said Ice Cream Jubilee founder Victoria Lai. “We love encouraging people to act on their creativity, try new things, and even explore inventing their own flavor combinations. Ice Cream Jubilee stands behind 826DC’s mission to support kids’ creative writing skills and help them imagine and create a more magical world.”
Ice Cream Jubilee is delighted to present a fun and delicious challenge to Washington, DC ice cream lovers that supports 826DC’s writing programs: create your own ice cream milkshake with our winter seasonal flavors, and receive it for FREE with a donation to 826DC of $5 or more. Each milkshake creator can choose from 5 flavors for their creation: Boozy Eggnog, Maple Rye Pecan, Pumpkin Honeycomb, Salty Apple Cinnamon, and Bold Vanilla. We suggest a Pumpkin Eggnog milkshake or Caramel Apple milkshake.
Ice Cream Jubilee will also present a special prize to the milkshake creator who posts the most delicious looking and sounding photo of their creation on social media. This challenge begins on Tuesday, December 13 and continues through December 31.
Ice Cream Jubilee is also launching its seasonal hot drinks:
- Nutella Hot Chocolate – Three types of chocolate – melted dark chocolate, hazelnut Nutella, and cocoa – make this creamy, rich hot chocolate the best in the city.
- Earl Grey White Hot Chocolate – Our homemade earl grey lavender syrup sweetens our twist on hot chocolate, made with melted chunks of white chocolate and steamed milk.
- Hot Coffee Float – Amp up a cup of Zeke’s local roast by adding a scoop of any ice cream flavor. Bold Vanilla is a classic, while Pumpkin Honeycomb or Maple Rye Pecan adds rich, surprising fall flavors.
Ice Cream Jubilee proudly represents Washington, D.C. on multiple “Best Ice Cream in America” lists, including Food & Wine magazine, Thrillist, Tastemade, and TimeOut magazine. Ice Cream Jubilee’s flavors and the story of founder Victoria Lai has also been featured by NBC Nightly News, Travel + Leisure magazine, FoodNetwork.com, and More magazine.
Ice Cream Jubilee was named “Best Ice Cream Shop in DC” by the readers of the Washington CityPaper in 2015 and 2016 and has won the Editor’s Choice award in Washingtonian Magazine in 2014, 2015, and 2016.
Ice Cream Jubilee’s Logan Circle location at 1407 T Street NW is open from 12pm – 10pm. Ice Cream Jubilee’s Yards Park location at 301 Water Street SE is open from 12pm – 9pm.
Photo courtesy of Ice Cream Jubilee
A local purveyor of goodies and furnishings has moved to a bigger space on 14th Street.
Salt & Sundry, which occupied a storefront on S Street for about two years, opened a larger store in The Mission building at 1625 14th St. NW yesterday.
The shop sells assorted items such as candles, bar supplies, dishes and other home and pantry goods.
A new shop from Salt & Sundry owner Amanda McClements is slated to open in Salt & Sundry’s old space at 1401 S St. NW within the next week and a half, according to one of the store’s employees. The new business, dubbed Little Leaf, will specialize in cacti, succulents and stationary.
“Salt & Sundry’s little sister will give us more space to share the things we love — cacti and succulents, great quality stationery, desk accessories, handcrafted ceramics and more,” reads an online announcement posted to the store’s website in September. “We’re excited to grow and continue supporting makers and artists — both in DC and beyond.”
Salt & Sundry has one other store in Union Market. That location opened in 2012.
You can dance if you want to at Policy on 14th Street. Just as long as it’s not on a dance floor.
That’s what D.C.’s alcohol board found after investigating whether the bar “created a facility for dancing without Board approval” last December. The Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) released its findings in an order this week.
The problem first arose last year, when someone emailed regulators claiming that Policy (1904 14th St. NW) “was permitting dancing” and “did not have a dancing endorsement.”
In the District, bars or restaurants that want to have a dance floor or host dance-related events must obtain what’s called an “entertainment endorsement” to do so. There are multiple kinds of entertainment endorsements, and although Policy does have an entertainment endorsement that allows it to have a DJ, it does not have one related to dancing.
A plan to redevelop the building that holds Logan Circle’s Barrel House Liquor landmark has garnered early support from a panel of Logan Circle community members.
A development subcommittee of the neighborhood’s ANC 2F met last night to discuss a plan to turn the building at 1341 14th St. NW into a seven-story mixed-use development.
According to the plans, the new development would repurpose the building’s concrete barrel facade, which was boarded up after longtime tenant Barrel House Liquors moved next door last year.
As proposed, the redeveloped building would contain retail space, more than three dozen residential units and have entrances on both 14th Street and Rhode Island Ave. NW.
From Bonstra|Haresign Architects:
The new and renovated building will total 33,300 GSF above grade with a 3,250 GSF cellar under the eastern portion of the building. The ground floor will contain 2,720 GSF of retail, a residential lobby and four parking spaces. Floors 2-7 will contain 37 residential units. There will also be one residential unit, a small amenity terrace for the building residents, and screened mechanical equipment at the penthouse level.
Though the ANC’s committee was generally supportive of the idea, a small group of community members shared apprehension about the height and shape of the building.
“If you’re standing on Rhode Island Avenue… and then you have an 85- to 90-foot building, we’re very concerned about the mass and the size of the building,” said Greg Parks, who lives nearby.
Parks, along with four other community members, said they’d like the project delayed slightly to further discuss the design. But Parks stressed they weren’t totally in opposition to the plan.
“We support the development and concept but we do have some concerns,” Parks said.
Ultimately, the subcommittee voted unanimously to recommend that the ANC write a letter of support to the Historic Preservation Review Board. If ANC 2F during its general meeting next Wednesday votes to follow that recommendation, the matter will likely then move to the HPRB for further consideration.
Renderings via HPRB filing
A 14th Street purveyor of knickknacks, furnishings, furniture and local art will transform into a holiday bazaar later this week.
Miss Pixie’s (1626 14th St. NW) is scheduled to host its 4th annual holiday market event this Friday, Dec. 2, at 5:30 p.m.
More than 20 D.C.-based vendors are expected to fill the boutique with handmade goods and other artisan wares. Local businesses slated to attend the event include Typecase Industries, Brand Dave and Handmade Habitat.
Additionally, the holiday party will feature live jazz music, a raffle and food from nearby eateries such as Ice Cream Jubilee and Maki Shop.
Photo via Facebook / Miss Pixie’s
(Updated at 12:36 p.m.) The forthcoming Logan Circle men’s J. Crew store is due to open next Wednesday, according to a representative from the company.
The store, which is located at 1618 14th St. NW, will officially open on Nov. 9, a J. Crew representative said.
The store will host a grand opening party on Nov. 19 at noon to celebrate the opening, according to a “classified” brochure the clothing retailer mailed to a Borderstan reporter’s home yesterday.
The event will include complimentary professional portraits by a photographer along with “drinks, snacks and shopping.” Everyone who spends at least $100 will receive an unspecified gift, the retailer said.
A gym coming soon to Logan Circle has opened a pop-up workout space on 14th Street.
Cut Seven, which is due to open soon at 1101 Rhode Island Ave. NW, turned the former Timothy Paul space at 1529 14th St. NW into a temporary studio for fitness classes about two weeks ago, according to co-owner Alex Perrin.
Over the next two months, Perrin, along with her husband, Chris, will oversee training camp classes designed to give locals a “total body sports conditioning experience.”
“We have a lot of fun unique equipment that D.C. just hasn’t seen yet,” Alex Perrin told Borderstan. “We combine that with functional movement, interval training and total body workouts.”
Each workout focuses on one of seven major muscle groups. During classes, attendees crawl, tug on resistance bands and pull sleds, then come together for something called “seven minutes in heaven,” Perrin explained.
“It’s essentially a finisher,” she said. “A really hard challenge that the team brings everyone through. Everyone is cheering each other on and you feel really empowered and accomplished at the end of the class.”
And the gym isn’t just for those who want to “get cut,” either. People of all fitness levels can participate in Cut Seven’s workouts, Perrin said.
“You feel like you’re walking into a group of friends,” she added. “No matter how hard it gets in the workout, the team will bring you through.”
Classes cost $20 or $15 when purchased as part of a package.
Has this late-night cheesesteak joint near the intersection of 14th and U streets NW served its last sandwich?
J’s Steaks (1939 14th St. NW) was closed last night and earlier this afternoon when a Borderstan reporter visited the shop.
The business is also listed as “permanently closed” on its Google listing. Additionally, the eatery’s main phone line was disconnected when we called today.
Though it’s unclear when the business may have shuttered, an employee at next-door Boss Burger said the late-night restaurant has been closed for about two months.
We’ll update this story if we can confirm the closure.
Photo by Andrew Ramonas
(Updated at 10:20 a.m.) Ice Cream Jubilee is slated to arrive near the 14th Street corridor with complimentary Banana Bourbon Caramel, MarionBerry and other frozen treats tomorrow.
Ice Cream Jubilee is set to open at 1407 T St. NW at noon Saturday. The store will share the space with local bakery BakeHouse, which closed the retail portion of its business in May.
A news release adds:
A plan to begin construction on a new streetscape project along the 14th Street corridor has been delayed until next spring, according to District officials.
The District Department of Transportation originally planned to break ground this coming December on a new streetscape project that would span 14th Street NW from Thomas Circle to Florida Avenue. As planned, the project includes new “bulb-outs” that would let buses pick up passengers without pulling out of traffic, “cut-through” bike lanes, new crosswalks, street lights, bike racks and benches, among other improvements.
The purpose of the streetscape project is to increase multi-modal and pedestrian safety, comply with ADA standards and add new character to the corridor, according to DDOT. But crews won’t break ground on those new improvements and safety features until at least next spring, said DDOT project manager Rick Kenney today.
“We are presently delayed in receiving DC Water’s final plans, which has pushed our tentative start date to late spring of 2017,” Kenney said.
DC Water, which plans to switch service over to a new water main and install some new valves as part of the project, will finish its reviews and approve the final designs this week, according to agency spokesman John Lisle.
Once the work begins, DDOT estimates it will take about a year to complete.
A new restaurant could begin serving roasted chickens and fried plantains on 14th Street early next year.
New eatery “Chicken and Whiskey” could open at 1738 14th St. NW by the “end of February,” according to Star Restaurant Group managing members Stuart Damon, Kristopher Carr and Desmond Reilly. The trio laid out their plans for their forthcoming restaurant during an ANC 2F committee meeting last night.
But Chicken and Whiskey won’t serve “American cuisine,” as its alcohol license application noted. Instead, the restaurant will focus on pollo a la brasa.
“What we’re endeavoring to do is a brand new Peruvian casual restaurant,” Carr said. Enrique Limardo, executive chef at Alma Cocina Latina in Baltimore, will lead the restaurant’s kitchen.
Chicken and Whiskey’s specialty will be chickens that are brined for 12 hours and then roasted over wood coals, according to a sample menu. Other items on the forthcoming restaurant’s menu could include chicken sandwiches, shredded beef, fried plantains, watermelon salad and yucca fries.
The business will also include a “sophisticated whiskey bar” that serves “small batch, artisanal, sipping-style whiskeys,” Reilly said. The bar will also serve cocktails, canned craft beer and wine.
When it opens, Chicken and Whiskey will have a “vintage 1940s industrial” design, Carr said. Diners will eat and drink surrounded by painted brick walls, steel panels and treated wood.
The rumors are true. A shop known for its eclectic ice cream flavors will open a store near the 14th Street corridor.
Ice Cream Jubilee is moving into the space at 1407 T St. NW, founder Victoria Lai told us today. The store will share the space with local bakery BakeHouse, which closed the retail portion of its business in May.
“We’re really excited to be working together with them and to bring ice cream to the northwest D.C. neighborhood,” Lai said.
When the new shop opens this September, it will sell Jubilee’s menu of ice cream flavors along with “some new things,” she added.
Read more about the opening in a press release from Ice Cream Jubilee:
A luxury goods retailer plans to give away treats and freebies to local dog owners at its 14th Street store this weekend.
Employees at Shinola (1631 14th St. NW) are scheduled to give out “special dog-treat bars” and red, white and blue bandanas to four-legged friends who visit the store between 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27, according to a press release.
The Detroit-based retailer of watches and leather accessories will hold the giveaway in conjunction with National Dog Day, a self-explanatory celebration that occurs every year on Aug. 26.
This isn’t the first free event the store has held. Shinola also hosted a neighborhood block party with bluegrass music and food trucks in June.
Photo courtesy Shinola
It looks as though a new restaurant is in the works on 14th Street.
An LLC called “Chicken and Whiskey” has plans to open a to-be-named eatery at 1738 14th St. NW, according to an application recently filed with D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA).
Though little is known about the forthcoming restaurant or the LLC behind it, the application says simply it will serve “American food” and drinks.
Star Restaurant Group principals Stuart Damon, Kristopher Carr and Desmond Reilly are listed on the application as managing members behind Chicken and Whiskey, LLC. We were unable to reach them to comment on the opening.
The space at 1738 14th St. NW previously held Planet Pet, a business that closed last November but promised to reopen with a “new name [and] a new vibe.”
