Olivia's

Beefsteak Dupont Now Open

A second location of Jose Andres' vegetable themed Beefsteak restaurants has opened in Dupont at 1528 Connecticut Ave NW. This self-described "veg-centric" restaurant has a well-received twin location in Foggy Bottom. The food is great! Lot's of vegan options, of course. Menu here.

7-Eleven Opening in Dupont

A tiny 7-Eleven is opening in Dupont. The ubiquitous open-all-day convenience store is setting up shop at 1645 Connecticut Ave NW, near R Street NW. The interior appears to be fairly narrow, but 7-Eleven seems to be able to merchandise almost any space into a successful store. This particular storefront used to be inhabited by a Five Guys restaurant.

New Church, Residential for 18th & Church St NW

Corner of 18th and Church St today. The current church is to just off to the left of the photo.

Developer CAS Riegler and Dupont's St. Thomas' Parish Episcopal Church are close to finalizing plans to build a 56 unit residential development and new church at the corner of 18th and Church Streets NW. Redevelopment plans for the land at this corner have been active for several years, but the project looks to have cleared major hurdles of design, zoning, and financing to the point of moving to the pre-construction phase.

St. Thomas members currently meet in what was the parish hall. The parish hall comprised much of what remained after the original church building was destroyed in a 1970 arson fire. The area where the sanctuary once stood still belongs to the church, but currently operates as a park that is open to the public.

All of that area would be filled by the new development, which would result in 56 residential units (comprising about 2/3 of property) and a new church (comprising 1/3 of the property). The residential portion would be adjacent to, but separate from the church. The church portion would be the westernmost third of the property fronting 18th Street NW. The new building would rise 70 feet tall, making seven floors, in addition to an underground parking level. 

If you live nearby, the ANC2B is hosting a public input session for all manner of construction related issues on this Wednesday, October 7.

The following images are from a preliminary submission to the Board of Zoning Adjustment (submitted August 28, 2015). The architects are Hickok Cole Architects, who also prepared these images.

Rendering of viewpoint looking southeasterly at project from 18th St NW. Image by Hickok Cole Architects.

West elevation (fronting 18th St NW). Image by Hickok Cole Architects.

South elevation (fronting Church St). Image by Hickok Cole Architects.

Francesca's Opening in Dupont

Clothing and accessories store Francesca's is coming to Connecticut Ave NW. This is a chain I had never heard of, but they have over 600 stores across the U.S. This will be the third in DC, after stores recently opened in Union Station and Georgetown.

Francesca's is a mid-level price point women's clothing boutique-type store. They carry a lot of dresses in the $40-$50 range, but also carry accessories and home goods like cat-shaped coffee mugs, mugs printed with quotes about cats, cat spoon rests, cats watches, cat key chains, cat bottle stoppers, cat owner's manuals, cat umbrellas, cat picture frames, and of course, these cat socks.

Francesca's will be located in a 1,500 sq ft space at 1143 Connecticut Ave NW. This address was previously home to Godiva Chocolatier. The store should open for business before the end of 2015.

Massive Addition to Hilton Hotel

The Washington Hilton hotel is getting a massive addition. But, the ongoing construction won't result in a single new hotel room. Lowes Enterprises is building a new apartment building on the site of the Washington Hilton, which is located at 1919 Connecticut Ave NW, near Dupont Circle. Lowes was part of a group that purchased the hotel in 2007. The purchasing group renovated the entire hotel (1,070 rooms) in 2009, but Lowes is the sole owner and builder of the new 225,000 sq ft residential addition.

The new building is currently slated to have 194 rental units, a wine bar, fitness center, business/work center, rooftop recreation area, and some shared amenities with the hotel. Delivery was originally planned for 2015, but based on the eye test (this is just my personal guess), that could very well happen in 2016.

DC Bike Party Back for Spring

DC Bike Party, the monthly, rolling music party, is back for spring 2015. This month's theme is half cherry blossom, and half Funk Parade. The National Cherry Blossom Festival is in full swing, of course; and news just broke last week that the 2015 Funk Parade would be allowed to take place on U Street NW later this spring. The ride is this Wednesday, and as always departs from Dupont Circle at 8:00 PM. Obviously, you need to bring a bike! 

From the organizers:

"DC Bike Party (DCBP), The District’s biggest group bike ride, will kick-off it’s 2015 season on April 8th during the third annual Cherry Blossom Chase: The Funk Edition. In partnership with Funk Parade and Fort Knox Recordings, DCBP will ride through the city blasting the Official DJ QDup Funk Parade mix through the mobile jukebox, Sound Bike DC. Expect to see riders in their funkiest spring wear-- DCBP averages between 700-1,000 participants per month.

The group will gather in Dupont Circle starting at 7pm and will depart 8pm sharp. To keep participants entertained while they wait to ride, Crush Funk Brass will be playing in the middle of the Circle. Riders will set out to complete an approximately 7-mile ride, visiting some of the city’s major landmarks, stopping to enjoy the view from Haines Point, all  before ending with a celebration at Penn Social. There will be bike parking courtesy of City Bikes, beer deals, and a bike raffle courtesy of New Belgium Brewing.

A map of the complete route will be available at DCBikeParty.com 24 hours before the ride. Riders are welcome to join or depart the group at any point—many riders use Capital Bikeshare!

Everyone is welcome to attend or participate. RSVP on Facebook using this link.

WHAT: DC Bike Party's Cherry Blossom Chase: The Funk Edition

WHERE: Departs from the middle of Dupont Circle

WHEN: Wednesday, April 8th

Meet at 7:00 P.M.; Depart promptly at 8:00

More information on the organization, including details on future rides, is available at www.dcbikeparty.com."

Foggy Bottom's Beefsteak Coming to Dupont

This new restaurant is already expanding to Dupont. 1528 Connecticut Ave NW.

Last week I had a chance to eat at Beefsteak for lunch. The new fast causal restaurant is courtesy of DC-based ThinkFoodGroup and is located on the campus of GWU at 800 22nd St. NW. It features the familiar and popular conveyor belt set-up, with customizable ingredients you choose as the line moves forward. The menu includes pre-composed combinations as well. This is not a purely vegetarian restaurant; they do serve meat. But, it's super easy to make a vegetarian or vegan meal. I did last week. And they offer seaweed two ways as toppings, so basically, I'm sold.

ThinkFoodGroup is already planning to open another Beefsteak, in Dupont. The address will be 1528 Connecticut Ave NW. This space was formerly occupied by offices for PNC Bank. This is a great location adjacent to the Metro station and feet from a 42 bus stop. Another great lunch option for Dupont!

Vote for Summer Movies in Farragut Square!

Golden Triangle Business Improvement District is hosting an outdoor summer movie series in Farragut Square Park. The movies will be shown at the park (17th and K NW) from May 22 to July 31. Anyone can vote for movies at this BID webpage through this Friday, March 6. You can vote for 5, and the top 11 vote getting movies will be shown. I wish I could vote for Empire Records 5 times. Or 100 times. This park is served by the 42 bus, Circulator, Red Line, and isn't far from the Blue/Orange/Silver Lines. I'll post the final schedule after it's released. Onward to Spring!

Awkward Sex... Coming to the District

This awesome sounding show is coming to DC from New York and it's happening in a cool venue, too. "Awkward Sex... and the City" consists of self-described sexually awkward host Natalie Wall and five other super-talented women telling tales about, well... the title is perfectly self-explanatory!

The members of Awkward Sex are NYC comedy vets, having trained at places like Upright Citizens Brigade and Peoples Improve Theater. They brought this show to DC last fall and it sold out. So, they're back. This show is on Friday January 30, at Bier Barron (formerly Brickskeller) in Dupont Circle. It runs about 1 hour & 15 minutes and costs $15, if you buy in advance.

Details:

Bier Baron Tavern. 1523 22nd Street, NW

January 30, 2015. Doors 7. Show 9:00PM

Tickets: $15.00 online, $20.00 at the door.

FYI - RVA folks, this show is hitting the Coalition Theater on January 31.

From the organizers:

"Awkward Sex… and the City” is a show consisting of five hilarious ladies that tell an awkward sex/dating/relationship story on stage for your viewing pleasure.

Miss us the first time? That's cool. Well we are doing it again (cause we fucking crushed it). Same place, different time. Get your tickets early, cause we sold out last time. 

Featuring:

Natalie Wall

Emmy Harrington
Jamie LeeLo
Carly Ann Filbin
GInny Leise
Meghan O'Malley"

McClellan's Retreat to Open in Dupont

A new cocktail bar will be opening near Dupont Circle. McClellan's Retreat (named after the Union Civil War general, whose equestrian statue is nearby) is located at 2031 Florida Avenue NW. This space was previously home to Veritas Wine Bar. It's just a few doors down form Russia House and a stone's throw from the Washington Hilton Hotel.

The McClellan's Retreat website describes the new venue as "...a place to retire, retreat, a place to saddle up to the bar and enjoy a lovingly made cocktail, a strong drink, a savory snack and a bit of conversation." The online menu isn't quite filled out, but does include classic cocktails like the Manhattan, the Rickey, and the old fashioned. The listed hours are 4:00 PM - 2:00 AM, daily. 

No word on opening date, but they were working hard to put on the finishing touches when I peeked in late last week. Good luck McClellan's Retreat!

Native Foods Café Preview

Native Foods Café has has been holding a few food preview days over the past week. Instead of spending $$$ on traditional marketing and commercials, they decided to host a few nights of simulated service (with real food) with the benefits of training staff and creating word of mouth. I had a chance to visit the Dupont location last night and after a year of speculation, I'm happy to say it seems to have been worth the wait. (Also, I'm heretofore banishing the term "soft opening," when referring to restaurants, because gross.)

The restaurant is all vegan and is definitely in the fast casual category. Customers queue and order at the register. You get a number card and can basically sit wherever there is a seat available. There is no table service, although the staff delivers your food (no listening for your order number) and they offer to do things like refill your drinks and whatnot. Very cool. The Dupont restaurant has seating on the first floor as well as a pretty large below-grade level. Up to 160 people can sit inside, and up to 14 seats are allowed on the patio facing 18th Street.

The menu is extensive, with about 50 dishes total including appetizers, salads, bowls, what they call "handholds" (sandwiches, tacos, wraps, etc.), desserts, and kid-sized meals. They have crazy-good lemonades and other rotating drinks. Native Foods will also serve alcohol, but were not during this preview. Somehow, all the beers are $4, what? Beers include Champion Killer Kolsch, Port City Optimal Wit, and Duclaw Euforia Brown Ale, among others. There's wine, too.

I can't speak for the whole menu because, unfortunately, I was not allowed to order one of each dish, and it got a little weird when I started walking around checking out everyone else's food as they ate. Kidding. ANYWAY -- I ordered:

Japanese Sesame Crusted Chicken Bites: Definitely appetizer/snack size. The pickled vegetables make this dish. Must like sesame seeds.

Rockin' Moroccan Bowl:  Order this if you're really, really hungry or want enough food to take home for dinner later. It's good, really good. But, I mean, it's just a whole lot of good. Marinated tofu & grilled root vegetables FTW. It's gluten free like a lot of dishes on the menu.

Native Fries: Basically these are shoestring French fries. For some reason I froze like Ralphie Parker on Santa's lap when I was ordering, because I almost always get sweet potato fries if available, which they were. Whenever sweet potato fries are on the menu, ordering regular french fries is like asking Santa for a football: BASIC.

Apple Cake: This was like a marriage between a slice of regular yellow cake and a slice of apple pie. Pretty good, but keep in mind these aren't hot out of the oven. All of the desserts are ready-to-eat style and live prepackaged in a deli case until you order it. Still, it was tasty, and tart.

Like Woodlands Vegan Bistro and Elizabeth's Gone Raw, Native Foods is a welcome all-vegan addition to the DC food scene. Unlike those two however, Native Foods will be open downtown, and will be set up to serve hundreds of people for lunch each weekday, quickly. No more settling for the one vegan dish on the menu, we can order anything, everything. This place is going to rake. 

The Dupont Native Foods is located at 1150 Connecticut Ave NW (18th St side). It will open on September 30. The Penn Quarter/Market Square restaurant is located at 701 Pennsylvania Ave NW. It will open on October 15. The operating hours of each store will be 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM daily.

&pizza coming to Chinatown, Dupont

&pizza Chinatown's shop would occupy the white building next to Starbucks.

Washington Business Journal is reporting that &pizza will open more restaurants, and soon. Three of the planned four new shops will be located in the District. The Dupont location will be located at 1215 Connecticut Ave NW, near Rhode Island Ave. The Chinatown restaurant will be located at 802 7th St NW, most recently the site of a bank. &pizza also plans to open restaurants in Capitol Hill and Rockville, MD. They hope to accomplish all of this by the end of 2014 or early 2015.

&pizza is a fast casual style restaurant that makes-to-order personalized, single-serve pizzas. Once you start the customization process, it typically takes 4-5 minutes to receive the pizza ready to eat. It's a neat process and they are vegan friendly, so I eat there A LOT. They recently opened a restaurant close to the new Chinatown location at 1005 E St NW. 

Interesting note in the WBJ article: west coast pizza chain Pizza Studio will also open in Dupont at 1333 New Hampshire (formerly Baja Fresh). Looks like I need to revive Pizza Wars!

Native Foods Opening September 30 in Dupont

The Native Foods Café restaurant in Dupont just erected signage and is closing in on opening day, The 5,000 square foot space at 1150 Connecticut NW will be one of two to open in DC this fall. The DC Native Foods restaurants will be the first on the east coast. The Dupont store is set to open on September 30, the Penn Quarter location on October 14. Native Foods offers an all vegan menu and is in the fast-casual style.

The restaurant at 1150 Connecticut (actually closer to the corner of 18th and M NW) has applied for an alcohol license. The license request includes a max indoor seating capacity of 116, total occupancy load of 160, and an outdoor patio with 14 seats. They're seeking operating hours of 7:00 AM - 2:00 AM (Sun-Thu) and Fri-Sat 7:00 AM - 3:00 AM (Fri-Sat). Let's hope they stick to the September 30 opening date. VERY cool addition to the DC vegan scene and Dupont lunch scene in general.

Urban Rain Garden, Dupont

Located at 19th and L NW

H & M Opening, Sweet Themez Bakery Moving

Swedish clothing chain H&M will open its newest DC store today (Aug 7) in Dupont. The 28,000 sq ft space, at 1133 Connecticut Ave NW, was previously filled by Filene's Basement. This will be the 2nd H&M on the 42 bus line; the other is in Metro Center at 11th and F Sts NW. The new store on Connecticut is opening at Noon today, August 7. They are offering these specials for tomorrow today only; from the Facebook page: 

"Join us on August 7th at noon for the launch of our brand new store at 1133 Connecticut Ave. in Washington, DC.

If you're one of the first 100 shoppers in line then you will receive an all access fashion pass valued up to $300 off your entire purchase.

Bring in old garments to be recycled before the store opens at noon for the chance to win an H&M gift card valued between $50 and $100!"

After today, store hours will be 10:00AM - 9:00PM on Monday-Saturday and 11:00AM - 8:00PM.

*     *     *     *     *

Sweet Themez seems to have temporarily closed on 18th St NW in Adams Morgan. The lower level space at 2318 18th St NW is being advertised as for lease. Sweet Themez has posted a sign in the window indicating that they were moving, but not to where. If I find out more, I'll post it here. Sweet Themez specialized in custom cakes and cupcakes, but also make pies and cakepops. The vegan cupcakes were great, I hope they reopen soon!

La Tomate Adds Café

La Tomate has been serving Italian food in Dupont for nearly thirty years. It's in a great location; on a narrow, triangular corner at R and Connecticut, just a block form the Metro station. I've actually never eaten there, but they may have a new customer after opening a cute addition in the form of a café. 

The grand opening for La Tomate Caffé is July 25, but I stopped by last week to peek in. It's a simple affair, being located in the rear of the restaurant, next to The Cheeky Puppy pet store. The café menu is separate from the bistro and for now, includes mostly sandwiches and salads. And of course a full coffee service. Looking forward to checking it out! La Tomate Caffé is located at 1701 Connecticut Ave NW.

Native Foods Opening in Dupont

1150 Connecticut Ave NW (18th St side) is slated to be filled by Native Foods.

After getting really excited last year at the prospect of an all-vegan Native Foods Cafe opening in Penn Quarter, I'm taking a bit of a wait-and-see approach to the news of another location. The potential Penn Quarter restaurant at 701 Pennsylvania Ave NW is still set to open this year, but the local "flagship" location will be near Dupont Circle at 1150 Connecticut Ave NW.

I walked by the Dupont site yesterday during early evening and there was significant construction work being done inside the space. It's located on the first floor of this 12-story, mid-1970s office building. This space is actually on the 18th Street side of the building, and at 5,000 square feet, is quite large. It was previously filled by two separate businesses, an optometrist's office and a SizzEx deli-style restaurant.

Native Foods is California based, all-vegan, fast casual style restaurant. They are in the midst of an east coast expansion, which includes the two in DC; their first restaurants east of Chicago. Both the Connecticut Ave and Penn Ave stores will open in September of this year, according to the Native Foods website. Can't wait!

All-Vegan Soupergirl Opens in Dupont

Soupergirl was one of my favorite stands at several local farmers' market. When I heard they were able to open a store in Takoma DC, I was really happy for them, but haven't yet had a chance to visit. However, as of last week, Soupergirl added a Dupont location, which I visited recently. 

They have a rotating line up of hot and cold soups, but also a really good selection of other takeaways like peanut noodle salad and spicy kale (menu). Everything in the restaurant is 100% vegan and kosher. That is awesome! The space is pretty small. There are no tables or chairs, but there is a little mini standing bar in the window. It's built for takeout/to-go. Soupergirl's Dupont store is located at 1829 M Street NW, on the second floor. It's open 11:00 am - 8:00 pm Mon-Thu and 11:00 am - 6:00 pm on Friday. Closed weekends. Good luck Soupergirl!

H&M, Lobster Shack Coming to Dupont

A trio of news pieces for Dupont:

Willie T's Lobster Shack is looking to open at 1511 Connecticut Ave NW. This space was (for a loooong time) home to Marvelous Market. That local chain has now closed all but one of its stores. However, the owners of Marvelous Market are the same owners of Willie T's Lobster Shack. No word yet on an opening date, but look for it this summer.

Boutique pet store, the Cheeky Puppy has opened its doors at 1709 Connecticut Ave NW. Cheeky Puppy opened on April 1 and bills itself as the "go-to resource for modern, design-conscious pet lovers." 

Like 14th St. for dogs... http://t.co/XI52UPfzdp New pet store @thecheekypuppy has green juice, beef bourguignon, truffle mac dog treats.
— Top Shelf (@TopShelfWBJ) April 9, 2014

This is actually more "Farragut Square" news, but very much walkable from Dupont. We learned in January that Swedish clothing retailer H&M was planning to open at 1133 Connecticut Ave NW. The 28,000 square foot space was last occupied by Filene's Basement. H&M is currently building out and hiring staff, so the opening will come sooner than later. This stretch of Connecticut Ave has quite a few other clothiers including Brooks Brothers, Gap, Rizik'z, Victoria's Secret, Men's Warehouse, Dress Barn, and Ann Taylor.