Sweetgreen is set to give away salad, quinoa and rice bowls downtown this week to celebrate its latest D.C. location.
The fast-casual chain’s new eatery at 888 17th St. NW is scheduled to open tomorrow with free food from 4 to 6 p.m. It also will have complimentary bowls from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday.
But the gratis meals only are available to diners who RSVP online, as local blog PoPville was first to note.
“We’d love to offer you and a friend an exclusive tasting + sneak preview of sweetgreen before we open our doors to the public,” Sweetgreen says online. “Drop in for lunch or dinner on us before our official opening. All salads + drinks will be complimentary!”
Sweetgreen has about a dozen D.C. restaurants, including outposts in Logan Circle, Dupont Circle, West End, Foggy Bottom and Navy Yard.
Photo via Instagram/Sweetgreen
A fast casual salad chain apparently has plans to open a new location downtown.
Signs went up recently advertising a forthcoming “Golden Triangle” Sweetgreen in the former Unique Boutique space at 888 17th St. NW. A PoPville reader first spotted the signage earlier today.
The veggie-centric eatery slings seasonal salads and bowls made with ingredients like watermelon, kale, quinoa and chickpeas.
Sweetgreen currently has 11 shops in D.C., including ones in Logan Circle, Dupont Circle, West End, Foggy Bottom and Navy Yard, according to its website.
Great crowd at the Sweetlife Festival. ( Jennifer Sisto)
From Chelsea Rinnig. Email her at chelsea[AT]borderstan.com.
The Sweetlife Festival, now come and gone, provides such a great concept. With many young people attracted to the headliners and festival scene, Sweetlife captured the opportunity to promote local food, healthier options and sustainable practices on a large scale, hopefully setting an example for the festival circuit to follow.
Oysters a favorite to some. ( Jennifer Sisto)
The day began with some ominous clouds and light showers in the morning, clearing to sunny skies in time for a fantastic, soulful performance from Solange. Perusing the Food Forest, fresh strawberries from the Freshfarm Markets, KIND bar and Honest Tea samples, photobooths and sweetgreen salads provided a bright, light lunchtime. Festive youths flocked to the food trucks (including district natives Takorean, Pepe and the Big Cheese) and camped out on the green while the weather held up.
From the inside of the Pavilion, Gary Clark Jr. stole the audience’s hearts with a mesmerizing set of rock and roll and blues. Despite the pouring rain, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs kept the audience engaged and cheering as lead singer Karen O provided quite the show in a sparkly yellow short suit and fierce, studded leather jacket.
Great music. (Jennifer Sisto)
The rain cleared in time for dinner — I chose an oyster pancake from Toki Underground, where the chefs teamed up with Woodberry Kitchen and utilized every part of the pig you can imagine (including roasted head on the menu). Fully fed and having danced to a song or two at Holy Ghost! at the Treehouse Stage, I waited in the mud for Phoenix to close out the day. A set with many ups and downs, lead singer Thomas Mars ended on a high note, crowd surfing and then breaking the mike to throw it out to one lucky member of the audience.
At no other music festival could one have so many choices — from the usual fare of fries and chicken sandwiches, to chia pods, vegetarian falafel and even oysters (not a wise choice for the faint of heart or enthusiastic imbiber, however). Though teens tend to flock to this festival, opting for the Pavilion or VIP ticket provided another option for an older crowd to get up close with musical artists as well, and at least stay dry for most of the day. All in all, another success for the innovators at sweetgreen.
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From Chelsea Rinnig. Email her at chelsea[AT]borderstan.com.
Sweetgreen is sponsoring the Sweetlife Festival at the Merriweather Post Pavillion. (Luis Gomez Photos)
Return of the Sweetlife Festival
Sweetlife is back tomorrow, May 11, at the Merriweather Post Pavillion for another full day outdoors of top-notch musical talent and a food forest highlighting healthy snacks alongside the best of DC’s restaurants and chefs.
New to this years’ festival is a group outdoor yoga class before the opening act and an ecostore of sustainable and local products to help you get through the day.
While VIP and Pavilion tickets have sold out, General Admission tickets are still available to witness an impressive lineup. Phoenix, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Kendrick Lamar, Passion Pit, Gary Clark Jr., Solange and Lindsay Sterling headline the festival at the Mainstage. The Treehouse stage will feature additional acts like Holy Ghost!, Youth Lagoon and MS MR, to name a few.
Lastly, the 9:32 Club, sponsored by the 9:30 Club, will host guest artists like Nancy Whang of LCD Soundsystem, Mr. JPatt of The Knocks and others at a stage catered to those looking to dance off some of those festival day calories.
More Than Just Music
Speaking of food, plenty of salads, yogurt, wraps and sweetpress will be available to attendees for purchase at the sweetgreen café, along with snacks from locals like sticky fingers and Docezza. Toki Underground, Kushi Izakaya, DGS and food trucks Takorean, Pepe and the Big Cheese will also be on site throughout the day. Local breweries and vineyards will provide libations as well — so go ahead and have that extra beer — it won’t matter as much when you’ve had a salad for lunch.
Sweetgreen recently opened another Borderstan location this past week at 14th and W Streets NW, to add to the Dupont Circle and Logan Circle locations in the neighborhood. Three locals first opened a location in Georgetown in 2007 and since then, the business has expanded to Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Sweetgreen promotes sustainable practices, healthy living and organic, farm-fresh ingredients.
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From Laetitia Brock. Email her at laetitia[AT]borderstan.com. You can follow her at @FrenchtwistDC and on her own blog French twist DC.
Featured image of sweetpress by Laetitia Brock.
The last time I visited Manhattan, I couldn’t help but notice that juice bars had popped up everywhere. New Yorkers seemed to have replaced their unquenchable thirst for overpriced lattes with an unquenchable thirst for expensive cold press juices.
A new juice line, sweetpress, is available this week at the Logan Circle sweetgreen. (Laetitia Brock)
It was, of course, only a matter of time until the nutrient-laden beverage craze trickled down to the District. Yes, Java Green and a few other places have been offering a selection of fresh juices and smoothies but the trend truly hit the city last fall when we got a juice food truck (two trends in one — though the Juice Revolution food truck is currently on hiatus and when Puree Juice Bar opened in Bethesda, quickly followed by the Khepra Raw Bar in the back of health-food shop Dynamic Wellness on H Street NE).
Now the ever trendy arm-to-table organic salad restaurant group sweetgreen is squeezing itself into the juice fad by launching sweetpress, a new line of organic cold-pressed juices to be sold exclusively at sweetgreen locations starting this month. The roll out started Monday at sweetgreen’s Logan Circle shop on the 1400 block of P Street NW, where you can drop by and try one of the six available flavours throughout the week.
With the exception of the seasonal flavor (currently a summery watermelon, coconut water, mint combo,) the juices available all serve a purpose: to purify (kale, spinach, cucumber, apple, lemon, ginger), Energize (carrot, orange, grapefruit, ginger, cayenne), Satisfy (carrot, beet, apple, cucumber, spinach, lemon, parsley), detox (pineapple, apple, ginger, mint) or hydrate (cucumber, pineapple, pear, coconut water, lime).
All are available in 12-ounce bottles for $6 and $7 for the Purify variety. Of course, since new sweetgreens keep popping up all over the city, it’s only a matter before there’s some fresh cold-pressed juice available near you. In the meantime, check out the juicy new line-up at sweetgreen’s P Street shop.
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There will be a pop-up Food Truck Festival at Franklin Square on Monday, October 24. (Luis Gomez Photos)
From Ashley Lusk. Check out Ashley’s blog Metropoetrylis and find her on Twitter at @arlusk. You can email her at [email protected].
Whatever your politics, I think most people would agree that our food tastes better when you know it was grown and harvested in a sustainable and healthy manner. World Food Day, on Monday, October 24, celebrates just that, with events throughout the Borderstan neighborhood and around DC.
The Food Day movement strives to bring together all eaters — kids, schools, parents and work day professionals — to promote humane, affordable food choices. Food Day has an impressive list of advocates on their advisory board. They include Alice Waters of Chez Panisse, author Michael Pollan, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, and Nora Pouillon, chef and owner of Restaurant Nora, in addition to a host of members of Congress (including the two co-chairs).
The day is sponsored by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (with a large number of partner organizations) and the movement has six principles, which are listed on their website.
So what’s happening with World Food Day here in DC and in the neighborhood? Some specials and events kick off this weekend.
This Weekend: October 22-23
- Seasonal Pantry Celebrates Farm Fresh Eggs. Seasonal Pantry on 9th Street NW will have farm fresh eggs at a discount on Saturday, October 22 and Sunday, October 23 from noon to 7 pm.
- Ideal Food and Farming. On Sunday, October 23, Ideal Food and Farming is a public, outdoor educational event that will include speakers, large displays, videos, exhibitors, and food. The benefits of animal-free food and farming will be highlighted. The event is at at 1525 20th Street NW (Dupont Cirlce) and begins at 3 pm.
- Double Matching Dollars at Dupont Farmers Market. For the week of October 24-30, FRESHFARM Markets, including the Dupont location, is increasing the amount of free Matching Dollars from a maximum of $10 to $20 for shoppers using SNAP (Food Stamps/EBT) or WIC/Senior FMNP coupons. The Dupont Farmers Market is open only on Sunday mornings.
World Food Day: Monday, October 24
- Teaism in Dupont Circle. The R Street NW Teaism location will be offering a special food day dish starting at 11:30 am.
- Pop-up Food Truck Festival in Franklin Square. Chef-inspired food trucks will surround Franklin Square to serve well-sourced, sustainable, delicious food for lunch, beginning at 11 am.
- Sweetgreen stores in Logan Circle and Dupont Circle. These Sweetgreen locations will offer a Food Day menu item starting at 11:30 am.
- Food Day Veggie Food Giveaway. Find some delicious meat-free samples at Dupont Circle’s south Metro exit, beginning at 11 am.
- Benefit Concert in Honor of Food Day. Monument Productions presents Suckers, a Brooklyn-based band, at DC9 Nightclub. Proceeds benefit Common Good City Farm, music starts at 8:30 pm.
Six Principles of World Food Day
- Reduce diet-related disease by promoting safe, healthy foods
- Support sustainable farms & limit subsidies to big agribusiness
- Expand access to food and alleviate hunger
- Protect the environment & animals by reforming factory farms
- Promote health by curbing junk-food marketing to kids
- Support fair conditions for food and farm workers
News from Dupont-Logan-U Street (mostly).
From Michelle Lancaster. (So, what did I miss? Talk at me on Twitter @michlancaster.)
Lululemon Murder and Assault Investigation Continues
Investigators were back inside the Bethesda store where two female employees were viciously attacked and beaten, one to death. MyFOX reports that tips are coming in from the community and progress is being made in the investigation. Lululemon has offered a $125,000 reward for information in the case.
Sulaimon Brown, Tried for Attempted Murder?
The news is just not improving for Brown and by association, Mayor Vincent Gray, for whom he had recently worked. WUSA has obtained a report authorized by the Gray transition team detailing the information that Brown had once been tried for attempted murder. The amended due diligence report should have prevented Brown from obtaining a city job, but Gray associates say the firm failed to pick up this information.
Final preparations are being made today for the Saturday opening of sweetgreen at 1471 P Street NW. The store will open at 11 a.m. and Sweetgreen promises a “salad blaster” to the first 50 people through the door. (Luis Gomez Photos)
Local chain sweetgreen is opening its fourth store this Saturday in Logan Circle at 1471 P Street NW in the Metropole building. Sweetgreen specializes in locally grown organic food, including salads and yogurt.
According to a spokesperson for sweetgreen, the store’s market will be the most unique part of the store: “We are adding 3 ‘sides’ to our daily menu, all of them chock full of local, sustainable food. They will rotate based on what is available in season, but will always consist of a grain/legume side, a roasted veg side, and a protein side (like local Virginia-grown and produced tofu, or EcoFriendly Foods sausage.”
Inside, the Logan Circle sweetgreen’s decor will feature works by local artist Tang, whose work has recently been featured at Transformer Gallery (across the street from the store).
A fifth eatery is coming to the 1400 block of P Street NW: sweetgreen, at 1471. (Luis Gomez Photos)
The locally owned, “green” salad-wraps-yogurt shop, sweetgreen, will open its fourth location in the hood, at 1471 P Street NW, in the Metropole building.
This brings another eatery to the block that is home to Pitango Gelato, Commissary, Stoney’s and Logan Tavern.
