Local Briefing: CHRS Preservation Café, Sneak Attack DC at Big Chief, & a Whole Foods Preview

The Capitol Hill Restoration Society has an interesting Preservation Café coming up that could help you answer some questions about your home's past. Architectural conservator Justine P. Bello will deliver a talk, entitled “Antique or Modern: Identifying Original Architectural Details in Your Home," and it could add some useful tools to the arsenal of anyone looking to play house detective. The invite teases with questions like "Is that transom over your door a 1890s treasure or a 1980s addition? Can’t tell your cast iron from your mild steel? And what color did people paint their houses in the 1920s, anyway?" This free event is Wednesday, March 15 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the downstairs meeting room at Northeast Branch Library, 330 7th Street. The venue is handicapped accessible.

Sneak Attack DC will take over Ivy City's Big Chief (2002 Fenwick St.) Saturday, April 1 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sneakerheads will gather to buy, sell, or trade their favorite sneakers. General admission tickets are $10.00 (plus a small fee) ahead of time, or $15 at the door.  You can also reserve a vendor table for $70 (plus a small fee), and that price includes early entry vendor set up (10 a.m.) and three general admission tickets. Capital Chicken & Waffles will cater the event, that will also feature a full bar.

I was one of many locals who joined guided pre-opening tours of the new Whole Foods at 600 H St. They Whole Foods team was still in the process of setting up when I walked through, but the space looked great. There's going to be a lot to draw people into the 40,000 square foot store, and you might want to plan your first visit on opening day (Wednesday) to take advantage of door buster deals they'll be running.

In the background to the right you can see that a portion of their cheese section is dedicated to local products, and that's something you'll find in other areas of the store as well. Erik Bruner-Yang of Maketto has a counter for his Paper Horse venture that will offer a Chinese diner style menu. Though you'll definitely have the option to take your prepared food from their home to enjoy, you might also want to check out their second floor lounge area. It's got a variety of seating options, plus a 16 tap bar that will launch with all local brews.

The beer taps for the second floor lounge are microphones

You'll find all the usual Whole Foods attractions like an olive bar and prepared foods, as well as extensive meat and seafood offerings. The store will have a huge beer selection, with a lot of cooler space that was ready to stock when I visited. One very cool thing you'll find at this Whole Foods is bread baked from spent grain used to produce beer at Atlas Brew Works (2052 West Virginia Ave.) They offered samples of the bread as part of the tour, and it's definitely a loaf you'll want to pick up. 

The store will open at 9 a.m. this Wednesday, but show up early for the bread breaking ceremony (8:45 a.m.) that Whole Food uses in lieu of a ribbon cutting.