A longtime 19th Street hangout has a new name.
Rumors, the bar and grill at 1900 M St. NW, is now called “District Anchor.” Signs advertising the new name went up recently.
Patrick Morrogh, who owns Arlington’s crab-centric eatery the Quarterdeck, took over the business earlier this year. The plan is for the newly rebranded restaurant to serve seafood under the District Anchor banner during the day and sling drinks as Rumors late into the night.
So far, however, all that’s changed is the name. The restaurant will begin to roll out changes to its menu next spring, according to general manager Paul Kolokousis.
“We plan on being a crab house for lunch and dinner and continuing our DJ, dancing and drinks for late night in the Rumors tradition,” Kolokousis said.
Rumors is in for a change.
Patrick Morrogh, who owns Arlington’s crab-centric eatery the Quarterdeck, plans to lead a new restaurant called “District Anchor” at 1900 M St. NW, according to a recent filing with the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA).
The restaurant will serve crabs and beer in the same space as longtime 19th Street hangout Rumors sometime this summer, according to a source familiar with the change. But Rumors won’t close, the source said. Instead, employees will serve seafood under the District Anchor banner during the day and sling drinks as Rumors late into the night.
Rumors will be renovated soon but will not close during its remodeling period, the source added.
Morrogh did not immediately respond to requests for comment. We’ll update this story if we hear from him.
In honor of Pope Francis’ upcoming trip to D.C., Rumors (1900 M St. NW) has added a sandwich professed to be his favorite.
What does His Holiness like to eat? If the sandwich is any indication, the pope likes to pile chimichurri-marinated chicken breast, provolone cheese and arugula atop ciabatta rolls and top it off with a healthy scoop of “holy land” relish made with chopped tomato, cucumber, onions, shallots, parsley, garlic and lemon vinaigrette.
Mike Soper, the menu consultant behind the ‘wich, said creating the divine delicacy was a unique culinary challenge.
“We were just sitting around and thought, since the Pope’s coming and we’re right down the street from St. Matthew’s, let’s try something different,” Soper said.
The recipe was inspired by Pope’s background, and incorporates Argentinian, Italian and Mediterranean culinary influences, said Soper. He added that it also reflects the current pope’s humble nature.
“It’s really a simple idea, but it seems to hit the right spot and people love it,” Soper said. “It’s fun and creative. Nothing too crazy.”
Some of the proceeds from each sandwich sold will be donated to Catholic Charities to support its meals programs, Soper added.
And the sandwich has already snagged some church cred: Soper said Rev. Daniel Gill and Monsignor Ronald Jameson of the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle tried the sandwich and gave it their stamp of approval last week.
The Local News Now staff here in the office also dug into the sandwich earlier today to see if it lived up to the holy hype.
“I think the pope would like it,” said Borderstan editor Tim Regan. “Like Pope Francis, it’s surprisingly good.”
Eleanor Greene, sponsored content manager, said “the sandwich as a whole seemed summery because of the lemony cream sauce,” and HillNow editor Andrew Ramonas added that “the Holy Father might not be able to resist this sinfully tasty sandwich.”
But not all of our staff reviews were glowing. Borderstan and HillNow reporter Sean Meehan remarked that the sandwich “loses points for being very saucy, which could pose a risk if the Pope were to try to eat it while wearing his white robes.”
