Adios, Carole Greenwood
The Washington Post's Tom Sietsema reports that Carole Greenwood, co-owner/chef of Chevy Chase touchstones Buck's Fishing & Camping and Comet Ping Pong, is no longer involved with the establishments. According to Greenwood's former business partner James Alefantis, Griffin Market chef and co-owner Laura Bonino will replace Greenwood at Comet; Buck's will offer a dubious-sounding "summer camp" menu featuring barbecue until other plan develops.
Greenwood, a sometime artist who sparred with DC Foodies over jpegs and allegedly bickered with sous chef Robert Dahlia, helped transform Comet into an unlikely combination of upscale familly pizza joint, ping-pong parlor, and indie-rock venue after its 2006 opening (full disclosure: I performed at Comet once at a Wilco cover night at Greenwood's request, which shows how much I respect her, since I loathe alt-country in general, and Wilco in particular). Alefantis says Greenwood "has decided to pursue other challenges and interests including food opportunities in NYC, food writing, music and art." Greenwood was unavailable for comment.
UPDATE:
"I am leaving the restaurants to address urgent family matters," Greenwood says. "I have many creative projects in process including an upcoming show at Civilian Art Projects in the fall concurrent with the release of a record I am working on...I'm also travelling to India in the fall to collaborate on a series of stories on regional Indian cuisine and the increasingly important farm-to-table connection there. We are looking at more central locations in DC for a restaurant, art and music space, but nothing has been finalized."
8:23 am
I didn't describe Ms. Greenwood as bitchy, nor is she.
8:25 am
Also, I'd like to say that I don't really "loathe" Wilco. Rather, I should have said that "Wilco isn't my thing."
10:22 am
Thank you for the clarifications, Justin Moyer, if in fact that is your name.
I've been a fan of Carole's cooking since before she opened Greenwoods, which I somehow missed her departure.
What Wilco song did you cover?
3:49 pm
I've never missed Carman until today
4:29 pm
Give Moyer a break people- jesus
6:31 pm
I "covered" "I'm the Man that Loves You," but mainly just took off my clothes.
10:35 pm
The reason Carole left Buck's is because she caught James Alefontis, her former partner, giving oral intercourse to her son.
10:56 am
I'm not sure why this piece describes Greenwood as a "sometime artist."
Greenwood is a well established and recognized artist in the DC area, and represented by one of the better art galleries in the city. The description as a "sometime" artist leaves the impression of some amateur who dabbles in art on the weekends, rather than a serious and respected artist such as Greenwood is.