Friday, March 25, 2011

Le Grenier Comes to H Street

IMG_3311
This is an old photo, but the building in question is the 2nd one in (with the for lease sign).

A modern French restaurant seeks to set up shop next to Nouveau Fleur flower shop. They've just applies for a CR (restaurant) license from ABRA. Full details after the jump.



NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

Posting Date: March 25, 2011
Petition Date: May 9, 2011
Hearing Date: May 23, 2011

License No.: ABRA-086724
Licensee: Style Concept Studio, LLC
Trade Name: Le Grenier

License Class: Retail Class “C” Restaurant
Address: 502 H Street NE
Contact: Simon Osnos 703-356-8233

WARD 6 ANC 6C SMD 6C05

Notice is hereby given that this applicant has applied for a license under the D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Act and that the objectors are entitled to be heard before the granting of such on the hearing date at 10:00 am, 2000 14th Street, NW, 4th Floor, Washington, DC 20009. Petition and/or request to appear before the Board must be filed on or before the petition date.

NATURE OF OPERATION

A restaurant with Modern French Cuisine. Food service for all ages. Taped back ground music. Capacity Load is 60. Sidewalk Café with of seating of 4.

HOURS OF OPERATION & ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE SALES/SERVICE/CONSUMPTION
Sunday through Thursday 11 am – 12 am Friday & Saturday 11 am -2 am

HOURS OF OPERATION & ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE SALES/SERVICE/CONSUMPTION FOR THE SIDEWALK CAFÉ
Sunday through Saturday 11 am – 11 pm

32 comments:

David Garber said...

seriously?? could H Street be any more dynamic with the diversity of places moving in? this is great... street continues to become a vastly different and more interesting place.

@HStreetDC said...

I've been told that it's the owners of Le Chat Noir in Tenleytown.
http://lechatnoirrestaurant.com/bienvenue.htm

Unknown said...

Always excited to hear about a new French restaurant.

Jason H said...

Great! H Street is so on fire!

Campy said...

Great day for west end of H street! Construction barriers were removed today all the way up to about 6th or 7th, nice to see the street WIDE open!

Metro Mutts said...

New neighbors! How exciting. I hope they have a take out menu...

fatty said...

I don't know if that block can take another gourmet restaurant. New City Pizza and Taste of Jamaica already have that market locked up.

Rayful Edmond said...

Wouldn't it be more appropriate if it was located above the flower shop?

Dave B said...

MODERN food with TAPED music?

dave said...

Cafe seating for 4!!! Party over here!!!

Anonymous said...

more importantly, is it family friendly?! I got kids now!

John said...

Fatty,

Taste of Jamaica is actually very good. Have you tried it? I haven't been to New City Pizza.

Anonymous said...

Assuming that they are the same owners from Le Chat Noir, this will be a great addition. Le Chat is a nice, simple place -- a good fit with the neighborhood.

Anonymous said...

Taste of Jamaica and New Citi Pizza are solid and AFFORDABLE takeout options on H -- and therefore ESSENTIAL.

Anonymous said...

Dropped by Taste of Jamaica the other day and could not distinguish their beef patty from 7-11's. I think I'll go with 7-11, since it's the EXACT same but half the price.

Anonymous said...

This is amazing news! Wouldn't it be amazing if they sold late night crepes, so I could swing by there after picking up a slice at New City?

Tom A. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tom A. said...

This is great news!

Has there even been a decision capping the number of restaurants and bars on the street? H street is quickly becoming more and more a place for evening and night activities only. The "fear" of the neighborhood becoming the "Next Adams Morgan" seems to be coming to fruition. I can imagine the "hipsters" moving on to the next hot area in 5 years or so, to then have the neighborhood overrun with drunken frat boys.

I have nothing against drunken frat boys, per se, but a vibrant neighborhood has retail activity all day long, not just after 9pm.

Of course, I have no idea how to *create* a diverse retail area. I'll leave that to the experts... or people who like to comment on FT....

6th street said...

I am very excited to see the western end of H getting some love. WELCOME!

10th St said...

Agreed with Tom. More restaurants are fine with me, but parking, late night noise, drunkeness have increased greatly of late. We still need to get rid of some more vacant buildings and I've got nothing against anyone who has come to H Street to open a business to date, but eventually we are going to want to do something to keep it from becoming 13 blocks of places to drink.

MD Ave said...

Want Retail?

Encourage (or at least do not battle against) residential density along H.

Those apartment and condo buildings will help quite a bit. Bonus if some daytime office space is mixed in/maintained.

Kiki said...

Tom and 10th,

Last week somebody posted a great summary of what needs to happen before we get the non-restaurant services. Nodding to the fact that there are currently businesses that run during the day, it will be some time before the vacant store fronts get filled with retail. At least, not until there is the resident foot traffic to support them. If you look at U St., there is little in the way of thriving retail. I've watched two or three independent new stores open and close over the past 3 years up there. It's an area that is still transitioning.
So keep your fingers crossed for one or two of these apartment buildings to come in and keep showing the businesses that took a chance out on H your love and I will try not to complain about Union Station Metro getting so clogged with all of the new residents.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
fatty said...

I was just trying to be funny. I love New City Pizza. They have the best carryout deal in the area. And their cheesy bread is great for soaking up a hangover. I've only tried taste of Jamaica once. It was fine, but I prefer the Jamaican place on the 1300 block for curry chicken.

DCJaded said...

Totally random question, but what places are actually open for lunch on H? I would bike over there to grab lunch more often if I had an idea what would be open other than subway.

Campy said...

I'm sure others can add to the list:

Taylor Gourmet
Khan's
Argonaut (Wed-Fri)
Sticky Rice
Star & Shamrock
DDP
Horace & Dickies
Liberty Tree (Tues-Fri)
Inspire BBQ?

Anonymous said...

Yes, Khan's is open now.

inked said...

Campy & DCJaded:

add Ethiopic (Weds-Fri),
Sova,
Taste of Jamaica,
and countless carryouts.

Anonymous said...

Drunk frat boys? Give me a break, what a ludicrous comment.

Alan Page said...

I patronized the bookstore that was located where Toyland is now once. It's sad that more diverse retail struggles. I think as the streetcar comes closer to being online, more retail investment will come.

Anonymous said...

@Jaded I've never had food from Sidamo, but they seem to have a pretty decent lunch menu.

Anonymous said...

I just went to dinner on H St.We decided to try the new French restaurant Le Grenier (spare room which means that the place is filled with junk from Marshall’s – stacks of suitcases and lots of ugly prints), and I can report that I had the worst meal ever. How could they go wrong with FRENCH ONION SOUP? They did – The broth tasted like spaghetti sauce. I thought Clamato, thickened. We each had two sips. I decided not to make a scene – last time I told a waiter that I really didn’t like something – he brought the damn chef out to talk to me – not what I want to do during a meal, explain myself to a chef.
Our salads were weird and the restaurant is so dark I couldn’t even see what I was eating. We also ordered crepes – mine had very mushy butternut squash and non-vegan cheese the other had SALT and some vegetables. Also, the “modern” French music was so loud that I couldn’t bear it, and fortunately, the couple next to us told the waiter that it needed to be turned down – that’s when I heard that it was modern French music – I hated it. So, it was just a terrible waste of $80 – my wine wasn’t good either.