Local Link Round Up

RnR-Golf-DC-2011-11 (47), a photo by Moravsky Vrabec on Flickr.

Ivy City News: Housing Complex contemplates the future of the Crummell School (check out the nice video).

H Street Eats:

Scoutmob suggests that you try Toki Underground (2nd floor of 1234 H Street). WAMU reports on the hot commodities down at the Big Board (421 H Street). Metrocurean talks food and beer parings with Granville's (1238 H Street) Teddy Folkman. Cloture Club enjoys brunch at Liberty Tree (1016 H Street). Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema reminds us to not be that guy who no shows/no calls when he makes reservations. The Post writes up Chupcabra (the new food truck venture from the Sticky Rice (1224 H Street) crew. DC Taste Buds tries out a birthday dinner at the Atlas Room (1015 H Street). Eater interviews a chef who loves Ethiopic (401 H Street). Young and Hungry dug the peking duck feast at Toki Underground (2nd floor of 1234 H Street).

H Street Arts:

Examiner.com writes up Theatre Alliance's Black Nativity (at the H Street Playhouse December 3rd through 31st). Mindful Melissa recalls the arts cars from the H Street Festival.

Neighbors Save on a Game Roast at Watershed

Pheasant on Brownsea, a photo by slideshow bob on Flickr

NoMa's Watershed continues supper series continues with a hearty, festive game roast, featuring community-farmed, regionally-sourced fowl. Menu highlights include country style pate with toasted pistachio, cider-brined roasted game hen, pheasant and port wine cherry sausage, roasted new potatoes with rosemary, and chablis roasted pear with whipped armangnac vanilla cream. Come for happy hour, beginning at 5pm in the lounge, and stay for supper at 7pm. Watershed's Game Roast will also feature brews from DC Brau and live music. See the full menu online.

Special NoMa Neighborhood Offer: For NoMa neighborhood residents, bring a friend and you can both enjoy the Game Roast for $75 (the normal price is $75 per person).
When: Friday, December 9 at 7:00 pm
Where: 1225 First St. NE (Second floor of the Hilton Garden Inn)
Reservations: Reservations are required. Please call Watershed at 202-534-1350 and mention that you are a NoMa resident.

Streetcar Meeting 12/6

DC Streetcar Front, a photo by Mr. T in DC on Flickr

Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 7pm, Mayor Vincent Gray and DDOT Director Terry Bellamy will participate in a public meeting at the Atlas (1333 H Street) to update the community on streetcar progress. Don't miss out on the latest news. Read more on Streetcars for DC.

District Cuisine Reviews Pho Bar & Grill

The combination pho

Local blog District Cuisine hits up the newly opened Pho Bar and Grill (1360 H Street). They give it a positive review overall, but point to a few service issues, and note that the restaurant does not yet have its liquor license. I was in recently, and the manager told me that they would have the license very soon. I would agree with the preference for round eye steak pho. They did not have banh mi when I visited, but were working on introducing them.

Two Fatal Overnight Shootings

One of these occurred on the northwestern most corner of Trinidad, and the other was in Carver-Lanmgston. The explanation from MPD is below. I hope everyone else's Thanksgiving was safe and fun.

Last night (this morning) about 12:37 am, two men were shot in front of a convenience store in the 1200 block of Mt. Olivet St. NE, near the intersection of West Virginia Avenue.

One of the victims, an 18 year old, died of his wounds. The second victim survived.

This morning at about 10:25 am, a 22 year old man was shot and killed near an alley in the 700 block of 19th St., NE, just off Benning Road.

There is no other information available to the public at this time. Detectives are investigating both cases.

If there is anyone in the community who has any information on either incident we ask that you call 727-9099 and report it.

Andy Solberg
Commander, 5D

There's also the following report (from Trinidad), which I assume was non-fatal.

SHOOTING///0042 HOURS///1200 BLK SIMMS, NE// NO LOOKOUT DO NOT TAKE ACTION CALL 911 W/EVENT #I201106121231

Sent on: 11/26 00:54

Central Applies for Liquor License

A new tavern by the name of Central has applied for a CT license at 1200 H Street. They plan to serve Mediterranean style fare. Max occupancy of 40, with seating for 30. They also plan to have a sidewalk cafe with seating for 40. This is from the owner of Souk. Full application after the jump.
Read more »

Relax, It's Almost Thanksgiving

Hilleast, Northeast DC, a photo by I Coleman on Flickr.

MPD Apprehends Mugging Suspect on H

Earlier this morning Prince of Petworth relayed a reader report of a shooting in the 1200 block of H Street. This report was, thankfully, false. What did happen is that MPD apprehended a mugging suspect and recovered a gun. No shots were fired, and no one was injured. DCist covers the story. The earlier portions of this story appear below the official response from MPD (after the jump).

Read more »

Open For Thanksgiving

from Flickr user riptheskull

Here's the start (I'll update as I learn more) of a list of local spots open on Thanksgiving.

Confirmed Open:

Capital City (1050 Bladensburg Road): Open from 7am until noonish. Serving chiecken and waffles, turkey dinner, and turkey sandwiches.

Argonaut Tavern (1433 H Street): Opens at 7pm (downstairs only, and kitchen closed)

Smith Commons (1245 H Street): Open.

The Pug (1234 H Street NE): Opens at 9pm.

Sticky Rice (1224 H Street): Opens at 7:30pm. No food. Drink specials include $5 Jameson shots and $2 PBRs.

Little Miss Whiskey's (1104 H Street): Opens at 2pm for a potluck. Email them to tell them what you are bringing reservations[at]littlemisswhiskeys.com

The Big Board (421 H Street): Opens at 7pm. Serving fried turkey legs, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and gravy.

Confirmed Closed:

Sova (1359 H Street)

Rock and Roll Hotel (1353 H Street)

H Street Country Club (1335 H Street)

Toki Underground (2nd floor 1234 H Street)

XII (1123 H Street)

Taylor Gourmet (1116 H Street)

The Atlas Room (1015 H Street)

Ethiopic (401 H Street)

Please feel free to leave updates in the comments.

More Action at Hechinger Mall?

Empty Lot, a photo by M.V. Jantzen on Flickr.

A reader writes in with the following:

"I notice that there’s construction in the old National Liquidators building in the space formerly occupied by H [and] R Block. Wondering if you have any idea what’s going in there. Has the Ross Dress for Less spawned a retail renaissance?"

Anyone have any good info on this one?

Photos From Community Day at Joe Cole

Better late than never, right? Here are a few photos from Community Day at Joe Cole Community Center. The event wasn't well publicized, so turnout was small. I thought people might be interested in the beautiful new park.
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A Thursday Night

An Update from Dangerously Delicious Pies

I checked in with the folks down at Dangerously delicious Pies, and here are some of the recent developments:

We have our online store up officially for folks to order their Thanksgiving Pies and leave the burden of baking up to us this year! A percentage of sales will be donated to a local elementary school as we did last year with Maury Elementary! We are also joining forces with Anthropologie to feed the Black Friday frenzied shoppers from 9am to 3pm. Also as you may or may not know we are officially serving beer and wine now and will be introducing a Wino Wednesday deal very soon! we stayed true to our Baltimore roots and serve up our staple cheap go-to Natty Boh at 2 for $5 everyday! We also offer Flying Dog beers out of Fredrick, Md. and Heavy Seas also out of Baltimore among a few select other beer options.

Smile at Somebody & Say Hello

An instructive capture from Frozen Tropics Flickr pool user philliefan99. 2000 block of Benning Road.

H Street Bakes this Sunday

Fussing over Crunkcakes, a photo by Madame Meow on Flickr

H Street Bakes is happening this Sunday, November 20th from 11:30am-2:30pm at H Street Country Club (1335 H St). H Street Bakes is a monthly pop-up bake sale featuring bakers from H Street and the neighborhoods surrounding it. This month, bakers will include Kim Moffatt (Oatmeal awesome pie, Bourbon pecan pie tart, spiced pumpkin cheesecake, sweet potato tart), Crunkcakes (boozy cupcakes), biscuit (artisan breads, croissants, and other savory options), and others.

Save 43% at the Argo & Help Brainfood

The H Street Cares campaign continues with savings from the Argonaut (1433 H Street). $20 for $35 in food and drink.

Quiet Night

New Specials at the Argonaut

Argonaut (1433 H Street) Happy Hour 5pm-7pm

1/2-price glasses and bottles of McWilliams Shiraz and Lagaria Pinot Grigio
1/2-price draught beers [excludes high octane or limited beers]
$3 rail drinks

Daily specials after the jump.

Read more »

Help a Needy Family Have a Happy Thanksgiving

easy-turkey-thanksgiving, a photo by MinimalistPhotography101.com on Flickr.

Feeling generous? You might want to help a local family enjoy a quality Thanksgiving. If you want to help out a needy family in Trinidad you can donate through the Trinidad Neighborhood Association. $35 buys a full Thanksgiving dinner for a family of four or more, but you can donate any amount. Just click the "donate" button on the site.

H Street Cares About Brainfood

Enjoy saving money, and helping out a great cause? Then you'll love Deals for Deeds H Street focused week that benefits the charity Brainfood. From the Deals for Deeds website: "Brainfood is a nonprofit youth development organization that uses food and cooking as tools to teach life skills and healthy living to teenagers in a safe, healthy and positive environment." This year's goal is to raise at least $6,000 for the cause. Current H Street Cares deals:

$30 for $50 at Granville Moore's.

$20 for $35 at Toki Underground.

Or here's a referral link that will take you to all the current deals (more H Street Cares deals will pop up all this week).

HSGS: Murry's Site Sells for $10 Million

H Street Great Street reports that the Murry's site (north side of the 600 block of H Street) has sold by real estate pro Jerry Schaeffer to Insight Property Group LLC for $10 million. Housing Complex has a nice map showing the site, which is actually far larger than just the Murry's. Expect a sizable mixed-use project.

More on Xclusive's Concept

A promo video for Taste Lounge


Chris Nwaeze interviewed at Taste Lounge

The contact name on the ABRA application for Xclusive (a new restaurant coming to 707 H Street) is Chris Nwaeze. Until very recently Mr. Nwaese owned a place called Taste Lounge. It looks like Xclusive is basically the same concept with a different name. In the second video he talks about the food, target audience (25 and older for men, and 22 and older for women), and atmosphere at Taste Lounge (previously located at 1812 Hamlin Street NE). He also had a Taste Lounge in Baltimore for a few years, but I don't think it's open now. Here's a few reviews of Taste Lounge. Info from their facebook page after the jump.
Read more »

Xclusive Restaurant & Lounge Coming to H

707 is the gray dollar store in this 2006 photo

Xclusive Restaurant and Lounge (707 H Street) is described as an upscale international restaurant serving an assortment of American, African, and Caribbean dishes. The applicants seek a CT (tavern) license with an entertainment endorsement that would allow them to offer live jazz and reggae, as well as a dj, and dancing. They plan to charge a cover. Total occupancy of 199, with seating for 99. There will also be a summer garden with seating for 14. It will be located next door to the planned Po Boys Kitchen.

Full application after the jump.

Read more »

1st Look: Aldi

A reader writes in describing his first experience at the new Aldi grocery story that opened up for a preview today (grand opening tomorrow) at 901 17th Street.

I thought you might want to put on your FT blog that Aldi supermarket had its grand opening today. The prices are comparable or better than Safeway prices. The produce looks pretty good, and the selection is decent. It's obviously a much smaller space than Safeway, so it gets congested inside. They also require customers to bag their groceries in a baggage area near the exit (another opportunity for congestion). The only other downside is that they do not accept credit cards - only Debit, Cash or EBT (food stamps).

Having said that, the good things about the place are the prices, friendly workers (though they are not the workers who will continue there) and the competition it might spur with Safeway. I'd encourage your readers to check it out!

Local News Round Up

hoop it up, a photo by m hoek on Flickr.

DCist covers the ribbon cutting at the new Aldi at 901 17th Street (behind Hechinger Mall, and across from the Developing Families Center. The Aldi officially opens tomorrow, but they'll be giving out free samples of some items until 3pm this afternoon. A few blocks to the west the Rock and Roll Hotel (1353 H Street) is preparing to open its rooftop deck. NBC4 has the full story. By the way, did you know that the Hotel has a new iPhone app?

Is Ward 5 getting a bunch of marijuana cultivation centers? It looks likely, and this DCist map lays it out. Housing Complex's Lydia Depillis argues that this is not necessary cause for concern. Oh, and we might get a dispensary on H Street. A while back I mentioned that local clothing design house Durkl might move its headquarters to H Street. According to an interview in the Washingtonian that could still happen, but Dupont and U Street are also possibilities. Will Chow still come to H Street. A couple of years back a team looking to open a restaurant called Chow at 1110 H Street applied for a liquor license. They then abruptly fell off the radar. Now there's a report over on www.DonRockwell.com that it's still on. Apparently Chris Willoughby (of Jin) recently told someone that he plans to open Chow as a dumpling and karaoke bar.

Editor's Note

Sorry for the anemic postings this week. During a recent storm my Comcast cable wire got knocked down and was lying on the ground in the alley. Despite repeated calls, Comcast failed to fix the issue and about a week and a half later the wire became tangled in the wheel of a passing car (ripping it off the pole, and out of my wall). So, I don't currently have the internet at home, and that's cutting into my research and posting time.

Weekend Arts Round Up

Weekend East City Event Round Up: Fall Open Studios Edition

Friday November 11

Art Works Studio Gallery (7pm to 9pm)

Described as “painting expressed as pure joy”, Laurie Breen’s Still-Lives-Accumulation of Meaning is a collection of colorful yet complex mixed media pieces. The accumulated layers of media, which include words, force the viewer to reconsider his/her relationship with the subject-matter. For additional details, click here.

Art Works Gallery is located at 3711 Rhode Island Ave Mt. Rainier, MD

Read more »

American Voices / Global Songs

American Voices / Global Songs

American Youth Chorus

Saturday, November 19, 2011 at 7:30 pm

Atlas Performing Arts Center

American Youth Chorus, Congressional Chorus' diverse ensemble of talented young people, will kick of its fourth season performing an array of songs from many different time periods and corners of the globe.

Travel around the world as these young people sing songs ranging from witty 16th century French chansons to folksongs from Inner Mongolia. American works range from the 19th century music of Stephen Foster to the late 20th century settings of African American spirituals and edgy 21st century works.
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Joe Cole Community Day Tomorrow

Come celebrate the new Joe Cole Park (1200 block of Morse Street) during a community day tomorrow (1-3pm). Visitors can enjoy free hamburgers, sporting events, a moonbounce, and much more.

Eater Digs in to Toki's Holiday Plans

Carving up our duck, a photo by einalem on Flickr.

Eater talks to Toki's Erik Bruner-Yang about his wishes to prepare peking duck for the holidays.

Art in the Alley Photos

Last night was Trinidad's first Art in the Alley event. The organizers plan to do it again in the spring. The event drew a good sized and jovial crowd that enjoyed the art, music, and refreshments. A local dj added to the festival atmosphere. There was even a neighborhood based licensed massage therapist giving free massages. We hope to have more artists (amateur and professional) exhibit their work next time around. More photos after the jump.
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New Young's Deli Menu

The little Korean deli on the edge of the Florida Market has reopened under new management. They no longer serve Salvadorian food. They do have some basic American food, which is perfect if you want to bring along a friend who doesn't like Korean food. That menu has things like pancakes, egg and cheese sandwiches, steak and cheese, and fried chicken. I've reproduced the Korean menu below.

Monday-Saturday

5am-3pm

325 Morse Street NE (Florida Market)

202-548-0060

1. Spicy seafood soup and rice $7.99

2. Fried rice (seafood, chicken, or kimchi) $7.99

3. Bulgolgi (thinly sliced beef with special sauce) $8.99

4. Kimchi stew, sliced pork, tofu, vegetables $6.99

5. Beef short rib and vegetable soup $7.99

6. Spicy pork sliced thin and cooked with onions $7.99

7. Spicy beef soup $7.99

8. Ramyun (ramen) with rice $5.99

9. Dumplings $5.99

There's also a daily Korean special, but it's only written in Korean (so I can't read it).

Chupacabra Food Truck Launches Tomorrow

A chupacabra is a mythical beast known to suck the blood of livestock. @ChupacabraDC, the other hand, is the Twitter account for the new DC food truck Chupacabra that launches tomorrow with a full stock of tacos for your enjoyment. Chupacabra will offer both traditional, and not so traditional tacos (think turkey tacos complete with stuffing). There will definitely be some tasty vegan taco options. The truck comes to us via two of the partners in Sticky Rice (1224 H Street), so I suspect we'll see them on the H Street Corridor sometime soon. The same owners have discussed opening a taco stand right off H Street, so this may be a way of testing the waters and building demand first.

Artist's Reception Saturday

Artist’s Reception: Saturday November 5 from 6pm to 8pm

Read Eric Hope’s interview with Steven Pearson by clicking here

We are all subject to a flood of information on a daily, if not hourly, basis via a variety of technological means- emails, text messages, Facebook, Twitter, online newspapers, countless websites, as well as television and radio. With such a wide array of information from so many sources, one is obligated to discern what is true, verifiable, and good; and what is false, speculative, inflammatory, and bad.
Steven Pearson is interested in how our ability to receive and assimilate a myriad of information on a constant basis can be reflected in a 2-dimensional format. In his paintings, he employs complex compositions and an autobiographical visual language consisting of codes and symbols. Each painting possesses a layered history- as new statements are juxtaposed next to or on top of earlier ones, the paintings begin to suggest the manner in which we store memories or assimilate and make sense of information. Some shapes are strong and vivid, while others become broken and incoherent, only suggested by the pentimenti left as a visual reminder of their previous existence.

Read more »

Hikari Sushi Applies for Liquor License

Sushi, a photo by eviltomthai on Flickr.

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE REGULATION ADMINISTRATION

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

Posting Date: November 4, 2011
Petition Date: December 19, 2011
Hearing Date: January 3, 2012
License No.: ABRA-088224
Licensee: Matsutake National Inc
Trade Name: t/a Hikari Sushi & Sake Bar
License Class: Retail Class C Restaurant
Address: 644 H Street, NE
Contact: Edward S. Grandis, Esq., 202-234-8950
Read more »

Weekend East City Event Round Up

Weekend East City Event Round Up: November Super Saturday Edition

Friday November 4

G Fine Art (6pm to 8pm)

Right next door to Conner, G Fine Art presents Iona Rozeal Brown Open.ed- Harmonious Diatribes l Works in Progress from the Stage. Brown has created her own ode to graffiti, incorporating illuminated manuscripts, inspired texts as well as abstracted figurative forms on wood panels and paper. For additional details, click here.

G Fine Art is located at 1350 Florida Avenue NE

Read more »

Destination Abricots at the H Street Market

Here's an easy way to help out kids in Haiti while you do your shopping at next Saturday's H Street Farmers Market (you can also bring items to Ginko Gardens on Sunday):

Destination Abricots is collecting for children ranging in ages 0 to 18 years:
Basic needs: clothes (summerand light Fall clothing only), shoes, underwear, rain gear, school bags, lunchboxes, toiletries etc., and Sunday clothes.
Educational needs: musical instruments, table games, art materials for drawing, embroidery etc.; early reader books, comic books, teacher's edition books, and English / French, and Spanish / French dictionaries.

Sporting equipment: soccer and basketballs, goal nets and basketball hoop rings, sporting gear for these games like jerseys, shoes and socks.

Read more »

VP Biden Does H Street

Notice an uptick in traffic on H Street tonight? Blame it on Vice President Biden. Former Secretary of Defense William Cohen’s wife (noted journalist, author and playwright Janet Langhart Cohen) wrote a play, and lots of local VIPs were there to enjoy it. The play, Anne and Emmett, imagines a conversation between Anne Frank and Emmett Till. From the Atlas website:

Anne and Emmett is an imaginary conversation between Anne Frank and Emmett Till, both victims of racial intolerance and hatred. Frank is the 13-year-old Jewish girl whose diary provided a gripping perspective of the Holocaust. Till is the 14-year old African-American boy whose brutal murder in Mississippi sparked the American Civil Rights Movement.
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How Was Your Halloween?

Untitled, a photo by I Coleman in the Frozentropics Flickr pool.

I wasn't home to greet trick or treaters as I attended Scena's Poe double header at H Street Playhouse on Halloween, but I was curious about the experiences of others. A friend who lives on Morse Street (1200 block) told me that he had 85(!) trick or treaters this year. Did others experience a boom in trick or treaters? I'd be interested to see the overall trends (i.e. did most people have more/fewer visitors than in years past, and where were the biggest changes). Also, if you had smashed pumpkins, or other problems, where did they occur?

Whiskey Tasting at the Pug

The Pug is located at 1234 H Street.

Local Link Round-Up

These days H Street is in the news so much it can be hard to keep up with it all. Here's some of the local coverage you may have missed:

Eats

The Hill is Home has a post from a writer who will definitely be returning to the Big Board (421 H Street). Toki Underground (2nd floor of 1234 H Street) is getting press left and right. Here are some of people talking: The Limited Edition Magazine, Dear Lord the Cheese, and My Pork Barrel. DCentric joined the chatter about the Ben's Chili Bowl owners buying on H Street.

Local History

The Hill is Home digs into interesting history at the Atlas Performing Arts Center (1333 H Street).

Transportation and Government

Housing Complex doesn't think all those buses will fit at Union Station. Greater Greater Washington is starting to feel better about the Ward 5 redistricting plan.

Pizza in the Flickr Pool

Liberty Tree Pizza, a photo by Mr. T in DC on Flickr.

GOG: @DCWeek Brings the Pop-Ups

An example of DECOY's style

Going Out Gurus write about the efforts of @DCWeek for Digital Capital Week. Two happy results for us are local pop-ups. The Parlour, which will be located above the Big Board (421 H Street), will feature local music paired with local beer, classes, and panel discussions. The Home (1629 L Street) is a fashion pop-up curated by Birds of a Pleather. Some of the offerings include bags and hoodies from DECOY, ties from Derringer Friday, and Crunkcakes in case you get hangry while treking around.

Eater: Toki's Erik is a Wok Star

Eater has a nice interview with Erik Bruner-Yang of Toki Underground (2nd floor of 1234 H Street) and the temporary pop-up Tacos Impala.

Dealfind: $15 for $30, or $40, at Souk

Dealfind has vouchers where $15 can get you $30 worth of food and drink at Souk (1208 H Street). Make it $40 if you redeem it Monday-Wednesday.

Horace & Dickie's on WP's Iconic Eats List

Horace and Dickie's (809 12th Street) made the Washington Post's short list of iconic eats. These are unique places that the Post deems local institutions and good bets for taking out of town guests.

Submit to Art in the Alley

Would art look better here than car doors? I think so.

Are you a visual or performance artist (professional, or amateur)? If so, please consider submitting your work to Art in the Alley. Art in the Alley seeks to bring local art to local spaces (you do not need to live in Trinidad to submit your art) by creating a pop-up art gallery in the alley. The event takes place 5-9pm Saturday November 5th in the alley between the 1200 blocks of Florida and Morse. Submissions accepted until the last minute. Please send all submissions to istandakimbo[at]gmail.com.

Joseph H. Cole Park Now Officially Open

The new park on the former site of the Joseph H. Cole Recreation Center has finally opened, and it looks terrific. There's a small field for soccer or other sports, and nice playground, and plenty of green space to run around, or just relax. The park is located on the north side of the 1200 block of Morse Street, in Trinidad.