The owners of Peregrine Espresso are really excited about opening their Capitol Hill cafe–which’ll occupy the space vacated by snake-bit Murky Coffee.

In an August 8 Web posting, the caffeine impresarios wrote, “We got our patio furniture in yesterday and we’ll be putting it out on weekdays for your sitting pleasure. Come try it out. The wireless is working, too, so if you are bored at your home office and want a free place to perch for awhile, stop on by.”

But this morning, at around 11:30 am, the front of Peregrine Espresso–while tendering a wireless signal that, tested on a MacBook, came in strong and clear– was empty of patio furniture.

When asked about the disappearance of the trendy gray chairs and tables, owner Ryan Jensen responded, “False promise, I know,” and explains that he’s had to put the furniture away until next week, because “we are working on the floor in the shop and those two are related somehow to each other.”

Jensen adds that he hopes to have Peregrine up and running in a couple of weeks but also says that there are “still a lot of loose ends, so no promises at this point.”

At least the store appears intent on delivering on its name: On Monday the shop’s La Marzocco GB5 4-group espresso machine was installed.

For those of you looking for gainful employment, the independent coffee shop is currently hiring. For the most part, the three-and-a-half-page employment form–available online–is pretty basic, though you should be prepared to speak to this rather fussy prompt: “Describe your favorite coffee beverage/origin/brewing method.”

–Rend Smith

Earlier this week, we wrote about Eastern High School’s Marching Band, which is scheduled to play in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival in Canton, Ohio this Saturday.

The band needed to raise $3,900 for a roundtrip bus ride. The group was relying on paychecks from students’ jobs with the Department of Employment Services’ Summer Youth Program. But, when the District’s payment system failed, students came up short. As of Monday, the group only had $500.

Fortunately, band leader James Perry can now wipe the beads of sweat off his forehead.

“It has been an amazing week,” he says.

Since news spread about the band’s plight, several major donors have stepped up to the plate. Matchbox, the Chinatown restaurant, donated $1,100. Several other Capitol Hill residents got in touch with the band and opened their wallets: one woman threw down $1,500 to $1,600 to help with the bus deposit; two others contributed a combined $2,000, says Perry. Read the rest of this entry »

Quick! Hot dogs! Not-dogs! Possibly real dogs! Right now at the Rayburn House Office Building!

Next week, the American Meat Institute will hold its annual Capitol Hill Hot Dog Lunch in celebration of National Hot Dog Month (declared, suspiciously, by the Hot Dog & Sausage Council). Today, not one to let a free dog go unpunished, PETA has set up its own grills—and do-gooder Playboy Playmates—to serve up some veggie dogs right next door.

Here’s our annual run-down of the two events:

Access:

Dogs: Invite-only.

Not-Dogs: Open to the public.

Ammunition:

Dogs: In a feat of phallic imagery, “The crowd is expected to consume more than 4,000 hot dogs, which if laid end to end, would be three times taller than the Washington Monument,” promises an AMI press release.

Not-Dogs: “Several hundred—at least 600 [not-dogs],” guesstimates PETA campaigner Ashley Byrne.

Star Power:

Dogs: MLB golden oldies, including Hall of Famer Robin Roberts, four-time All-Star Bob Boone, and Al Bumbry, who, according to a press release, “primarily played the outfield, but was sometimes called to start as third-baseman or designated hitter.”

Not-Dogs: “Lettuce ladies” Lauren Anderson and Cassandra Callahan, attractive women who will hang out wearing bikinis made out of lettuce. Total bummer: The lettuce isn’t real. “PETA has dressed people in real lettuce before, but it tends to wilt in the heat,” says Byrne. No word on the ladies’ other assets. P.S., PETA: Whither the Broccoli Boys?

Stock Quote:

Dogs: “The Hot Dog Lunch is one of the most popular annual events on Capitol Hill, a testament to America’s unending enthusiasm for the hot dog.” —J. Patrick Boyle, American Meat Institute President and CEO.

Not-Dogs: “People are always thrilled, because the veggie dogs are absolutely delicious and everyone knows they’re better.” —Byrne

Photo courtesy LordKhan

CORRECTION, 7/16: Due to an error by reporter Amanda Hess, the date of the American Meat Institute’s event was originally incorrect.

It boggles my mind how all you District dwellers don’t appreciate the scenery around here. Yes, I’m a recent transplant to D.C., and to the East Coast in general, so my sense of newness really helps the amazement of seeing the beautiful architecture and famous buildings and monuments. But let me tell you, on my drives up and down Interstate 5 in Seattle, not once in two years did I glance at the skyline, see the Space Needle, and not feel amazed. Every single time I saw that World’s Fair monstrosity hovering over the Seattle Center area, I felt a tinge of excitement. “I LIVE in Seattle,” I’d say to myself with a bit of a smile. “I live in Seattle!”

Almost every day since I moved, I’ve caught myself in a moment of equal amazement. I watched the fireworks from the Iwo Jima memorial and said to a date, “I live in D.C. I’m watching fireworks in the capital!” While on another date Thursday night, a guy and I took a stroll by the White House, the Mall and over to the Jefferson Memorial. I felt the little-kid giddiness start to swell up in my chest, and I asked him if we could pause to look at everything and take it in. He humored me, and I think I perplexed him with the huge grin plastered on my face. I went to a Nationals game Saturday night and saw the Washington Monument in the distance. “Holy crap!” I said to my group. “We’re in Washington, D.C.! Do you see that?!”

Each person I was with had the same sort of reaction: “Huh. I guess I’m jaded.” To which I’d say something like, “Really, how cool is this?! We’re in Washington, D.C.!”

Don’t give me that “I guess I’m jaded” nonsense. That, to me, translates as “Gee, I’m so caught up in my everyday life that I can’t take 10 seconds out of my busy day to appreciate my surroundings.” I’m sure you get that rush when you travel, right? It’s not that hard to feel the same way about a familiar place—and it might lower your blood pressure a bit, too.

Thankfully, on a bike ride to Virginia (Virginia!) yesterday, my housemate picked up on my excitement and pedaled with it (though he’s lived in the DMV area his entire life).

Try to enjoy here while you’re here, because there’s no here anywhere else.

I never read “The Washingtonienne,” Jessica Cutler’s story of sex, intrigue and blogging on Capitol Hill. Now, the story may be coming to HBO. Lisa de Moraes‘ column has the scoop:

“To that end, [HBO's] given Sarah Jessica Parker’s production company the thumbs-up to make a pilot for an adaptation of the non-somber “Washingtonienne” novel. It’s from former congressional staff assistant Jessica Cutler and was based on her blog of that same name, in which she detailed her interesting life in D.C., including an exhausting array of sexual encounters, some with government suits, some for cash because “how can anybody live on $25K/year?”

If you haven’t heard by now Top Chef contestant Spike has finally opened up his Good Stuff Eatery at 3rd and Penn Ave on Cap. Hill. Last night, I went and checked it out. First impression: Holy Crap! There’s a line!

The line is probably a temporary phenomena. Spike’s self-promotion skills were always as great as his cooking skills (maybe better). The hype for this restaurant was pretty steady leading up to the opening. Even the buns [”buttery soft,” “freshly baked Pennsylvania Dutch”) were hyped and you could find them at Safeway. If you stood in line, you were there for more than just a burger.

Spike’s Dad tried to make things go down easier. As we reached the front of the line, he greeted us and fellow Top Chef nerds with menus and some happy patter. But as he wound up to give his rap explaining the menu, a woman, middle-aged with short dark hair, interrupted him. She told him she didn’t want to hear his menu hype, she didn’t need it. He waved her off muttering something about everyone being too serious, that he had enough of serious in his life. Right on!

But the woman wasn’t having it. She looked at Spike’s Dad all serious and called him an “asshole.”

Exciting!

Read the rest of this entry »

Photo: The interior of the Bryan School, courtesy Lance Horsley

If you look carefully, you’ll notice a peculiar trend in D.C.: there are school buildings everywhere. Some are still operating in their original mode, while others now serve different functions. Take, for example, Joshua R. Giddings Elementary School—or as people call it these days “Results: The Gym” at 315 G St, Southeast. Or Franklin Pierce Elementary School, which is now an apartment building and occasional event venue.

Both sites are featured in “Capitol Hill Converted,” a new coffee table book by first-time author Kristen A. Dennis, a neighborhood resident. Dennis became interested in the transformation of various old educational facilities when she began looking for a public school for her young daughter. She couldn’t afford the private school options, and the area’s charter and public schools were either inaccessible or not up to her standards. Dennis ended up sending her daughter to Thomson Elementary at 1200 L Street, Northwest. But, over the course of her search, she became interested in the abundance of old converted DCPS buildings scattered throughout her neighborhood. (More pictures below.) Read the rest of this entry »

In a Post feature story out today on the semi-booming H Street (tagged with the lame headline: “H Is For Happening”), the writer leads with a description of the cheap sushi joint Sticky Rice. She sets the scene this way:

Rock music plays, and tattooed waiters with fashionable mullets work the dining room. In each of the two unisex bathrooms you can pick up a phone that calls the other bathroom, a strangely entertaining and potentially useful feature.

So what the hell is a fashionable mullet?

From Politico: Spike, of Top Chef fame, announces that his burger joint is set to open July 7 on Capitol Hill:

Washington, rising in the ranks of food towns but still not quite at the top, is home to Mendelsohn’s parents and sister, which explains his choice to open in the D.C. market. Don’t look for any Palm-esque dignitaries or pundits on the wall, though: “It probably wouldn’t be a great decision to take the political route,” he said. Good Stuff Eatery will be “a neutral cow” — much like the Canadian-born Mendelsohn, whose permanent resident status prevents him from voting in the November election. He admits to having a horse in the ’08 race, though.

“I come from a Democratic family,” he said. “We definitely seem to lean more toward Obama, all of us.”

Note to Spike: Please ditch the hat. It’s making you look—judging from this picture—like a forgotten cast member of “90210.” Do you really want to be the Brian Austin Green of celebrity chefs?

Two years ago, when Brennan Proctor opened Uncle Brutha’s Hot Sauce Emporium in a stand-alone store, he knew he was entrusting his profits to impulse buyers. People don’t make a special trips just to buy condiments, at least not the way the masses converge on the market for cookies and produce and fresh meat.

But in 2006, when Proctor signed the lease on his shop on 7th Street SE, the area around Eastern Market was booming and he felt confident the crowds would toss enough cash his way to make the rent. The fire last May changed that. With the precipitous drop in foot traffic, Proctor says, he hasn’t been able to maintain growth. When his lease ends at the end of this month, Uncle Brutha’s will close.

“The local community has continued to support us but it’s just not enough,” he says. Proctor says he will go back to hawking his signature No. 10 (the red one) and No. 9 (the green one) sauces at various market stands and is working on getting his sauce on tables at local restaurants. So far, he’s sold bottles to B Smith’s, Bread and Chocolate, and the Nationals Park. Uncle Brutha’s will also soon reappear on the shelves at area Whole Foods, which haven’t carried the hot stuff for a few months because Proctor was having a problem with his distributor.

Murky fans everywhere (well, mostly in Capitol Hill) will be happy to know that, after a lengthy process, coffee-bean buff and former Murky manager Ryan Jensen has scored the lease for the now-vacant storefront.

Barista doyen Nick Cho—who, as you undoubtedly recall, operated Murky out of the 7th Street space until the unfortunate raid of the D.C. tax office prompted by an even more unfortunate $427,000 in unpaid sales taxes—speculates that landlords Stanton Development may have selected Jensen because “they want to carry over the good things about Murky without the bad.” (The good ostensibly being serving excellent coffee, the bad, getting seized.)

Jensen, who spent three years managing Murky’s D.C. location, currently works for Counter Culture Coffee, a company that supplies beans to a number of area cafes—including Cho’s Arlington shop, which has, so far, escaped the consequences of his recent tax troubles.

Jensen is getting set to abandon his current occupational digs in order to run his new cafe, Peregrine Espresso.

“It means wanderer or pilgrim,” says the congenial 28-year-old. “It’s a word I came across a few years back. I wrote it down and have been slightly obsessed with it every since.”

Jensen says he doesn’t exactly know when the place will be up and running; there are some minor changes he’d like to make to the space, but he hopes to open by the end of summer.

Jensen and his wife, Jill Jensen—who will co-own the business—are serious coffee-lovers and felt strong connections to the Murky Coffee on Capitol Hill. Actually, they met there in the summer of 2003 and married two years later. “It’s where our romance blossomed,” Jensen says.

When the place closed down, they feared someone disinterested—or maybe someone who doesn’t love coffee as much as they do or did not meet and fall in love there—might snag the shop.

So they went for it, along with numerous other entrepreneurs, hoping to grab the valuable commercial space. When Jensen got word last week his bid was accepted, he contacted Cho before the rumor mill could. Cho and Jensen are not only former employer and employee, they’re friends.

Cho isn’t dwelling on how things turned out. He says that, for the most part, he’s ready to move on. “The more we talk about it the more misunderstandings there are,” he contends.

As City Desk reported last month, Murky’s equipment is also ready to move on—to soon-to-open Big Chair Coffee in Anacostia.

—Rend Smith

photo by peregrine espresso

The National Park Service is taking its sweet, federal time making improvements at Lincoln Park, the largest and most popular park in Capitol Hill. First, in late October, NPS blocked half of it off with a chain-link fence and gave no warning or explanation. Then, when pressed by D.C. Councilmember Tommy Wells’ office for information, officials even boasted a little bit: “The contract period is for 90 days, however, we anticipate the project taking less than half of that time.”

So, doing the math, the renovation should have been finished by Feb. 19 at the latest. Instead, half of the park remains closed as construction equipment sits idle. Until Tuesday, no work had happened for several weeks.

The feds have two excuses: “a contract modification due to changes with the base material” and the weather.

“When the temperature falls below 40 degrees you really can’t pour concrete,” says NPS spokeswoman Janet Braxton.

Advisory neighborhood commissioner Nick Alberti, whose district includes the northeast half of the park, thinks bad weather is a lame excuse.

“I’m stunned that they would schedule a repaving project during the 3 coldest months,” Alberti writes in an e-mail. “It was either very poor planning or disingenuous to assure us that the park would reopen by Feb 19th.”

Park Service facility manager Frank Young reports that all work should be finished by April 30.

Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells is still fighting for peace and quiet in the District. The lawmaker, you may recall, pushed a bill before the D.C. Council last month to limit “non-commercial speech” to “70 decibels, or 10 decibels greater than ambient noise.” In other words: No setting up a big speaker on the corner and blasting people’s ear drums all day long.

The bill was tabled by a 7-5 council vote.

Charles Allen, chief of staff for Wells, says his boss isn’t giving up on the proposal.

“Just because it was tabled,” says Allen, “doesn’t mean the councilmember believes it’s dead. The community has made it clear that they want this.”

The community, in this instance, is code for residents living around 8th and H Streets NE. In that now-bustling corridor, religious groups like the Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ, featured in a recent Washington City Paper cover story, gather with loudspeakers to stage al fresco sermons.

Wells claims that “As a result of the group’s amplifiers, residents as far away as three blocks away can’t open their windows or work in their yards without being subject to the amplified noise.”

—Rend Smith

The Capitol Hill Current Voice of The Hill reports that “Murky Coffee owes the District 427,395 in unpaid sales tax dating back to November 2004.” This information comes courtesy of Natalie Wilson of the city’s Office of Tax and Revenue. The new number puts Murky Cafe owner Nick Cho’s debt at almost twice that of what was reported here on Feb. 27.

For those with an unquenchable fascination with the ins and outs of the Capitol Hill Murky demise, here’s an e-mail interview with tax office Deputy General Counsel William Bowie:

1)How did Murky Coffee get to this point?

Answer: While I cannot provide you with specific taxpayer information, generally a seizure will take place if a taxpayer ignores tax deficiency notices we send them, fail to submit financial information to determine if they can maintain a payment plan, fail to meet with us to discuss the tax situation and fail to stay current on there tax obligations while discussing there delinquent situation, then they are candidates for a seizure. Also, if it involves delinquent sales tax for multiple periods they will also be candidates for a seizure.

2) What prompted you to move on Murky now? It’s been a couple of years, right?

See answer for #1

3)What are Murky’s options?

Answer: Pay the outstanding sales tax delinquency.

4) Will the Murky in Arlington be effected? Why or why not?

Answer: We have the option of pursuing the assets of a delinquent taxpayer wherever they may be. There is a legal process for doing this and this is an option we would look at executing.

5) What will happen to the property if owner Nick Cho is unable to pay?

Answer: If the taxpayer fails to pay the liability the seized assets owned by the taxpayer will be auctioned.

6) Did Cho receive any sort of warning on the morning of the seizure?

Answer: Before we seize taxpayer assets they generally will receive multiple notices and calls warning them of the consequences for failing to come into tax compliance.

7) Cho’s place was raided around 10 a.m. on a Tuesday. Is it usual practice to do this sort of thing during business hours? Why or why not?

Answer: If the establishment is open during normal work hours then that is when we will do the seizure. We have commenced doing some seizures of businesses that are only open after normal business hours. i.e., nightclubs, restaurants only open for dinner.

8) Cho said, “It’s like when you get caught speeding, was i speeding? Yes. Does this feel like bullshit? Yes.” What’s your take on his angst?

Answer: If a taxpayer knows he owes us sales tax monies, receives notices of such and still fails to make arrangements to pay, then they should know what the probable outcome will be. Sales tax monies are monies the merchant hold in trust for payment to DC government. Those monies are used to pay for city services. The merchant has no right to spend those monies for their own purposes. It is against the law.

9) How common is all this?

Answer: Unfortunately, as business tax delinquencies increase, particularly for failure to pay sales tax, our tax seizures will increase.

–Rend Smith

Tacked to the window of Murky Coffee in Eastern Market is a half-torn letter that the shop has received from Attorney Morris R. Battino. The letter addresses Murky owner Nick Cho and states:

Dear Mr. Cho/ Murky Coffee LLC

As you are aware, I am legal counsel to and for the owner /landlord at 660/666. Pennsylvania Ave, S.E. Washington D.C. 20003

This is your official (30) day notice to quit and vacate the premises at 660/666 Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E. Washington D.C. 20003. Due to expiration of your month to month lease term. If you do not vacate or[sic] before May 1, 2008, the landlord/owner will file an action for possession in the Landlord and Tenant Branch of the District of Columbia Superior Court.

According to someone from the Battino office, Murky Coffee has an outstanding balance but will be evicted regardless of whether they pay their back rent or not.

The storefront has “possibly” already been rented to someone else, the source adds.

As reported previously in this space, Murky in late February was shut down by D.C. tax authorities over an unpaid tax bill tallying roughly $220,000.–Rend Smith