Last night, famed saloon Nathans closed, and Carol Joynt ended her 12-year stint as the restaurant’s owner.

In the last few days, Joynt’s been asking her patrons for a “citizens bailout,” saying that Nathans owes the city $22,000 in unpaid sales taxes from February, and she has no way to pay it.

(If you want the long, tortured history of Joynt’s experience with Nathans, the death of her husband, and millons of IRS debt, click here.)

As of last night, Joynt believed she was nearing her $22,000 mark. The last official count of donations totaled roughly $18,000. Then on Sunday, Jim Kimsey bought some old Nathans paraphernalia for $3,000 and today Buffy Cafritz offered up a check for $3,000.

Joynt’s son drove out to Bethesda to retrieve it. Other people have dropped by checks at Nathans as well.

Read More “Nathans Likely Surpasses $22,000 Fundraising Goal” »

You got to hand it to City Vista. 

This Mount Vernon Square development has landed the most impressive group of retail, restaurants, and amenities in recent memory: Results Gym, a beautiful Safeway, 5th Street Hardware store, Chevy Chase Bank, Busboys and Poets and now a second location for Taylor Gourmet, as first reported on Prince of Petworth.

The deli, whose first location opened on H Street last year, has received a lot of love on these webpages.  Co-owner Casey Patten says he and his partner started considering new spots as soon as the first location “got on its feet.” There were four or five places considered. So why City Vista?

Read More “Taylor Gourmet Owner Explains Why He Chose Mount Vernon Square for Second Location” »

As promised, Eastern Market re-opened today after a $22 million renovation, following a fire in the Spring of 2007. Mid May, I (or rather a designated construction official, who said I couldn’t come onto the site due to my footwear) snapped some photos of the inside of the building.
Read More “Eastern Market Reopens” »

Right around early May, I need to start budgeting for frozen yogurt. I’m probably spending between $15 to $20 a week. And with cravings lasting through Indian summer, that’s like $350 in annual FroYo expenditures. I mostly blame Mr. Yogato. In the last year or so, D.C. has been inundated with new shops selling sweet-and-sour yogurt topped with fruits, nuts, granola, and other enhancements that make you think This is so healthy and delicious. I should eat this all the time. In Dupont Circle, there’s TangySweet and Sweetgreens. Up in Adams Morgan, there’s CaliYogurt. And while they’ll all satisfy, Mr. Yogato is the best. The flavors are wackier—marino’s mojito, del boca chazel (chocolate-hazelnut)—and the vibe’s more enticingly laid-back. It feels like the kind of place your friend’s brother opened up on a whim. At one table, you can even play an old Nintendo! I’m not the only regular at Yogato. Customers know the people behind the counters. There’s one explanation for this behavior: Visit 30 days in a row, and you get your name—first or last—into a flavor. I’m not attempting that, lest my soft-serve budget ratchet beyond its already ridiculous sum. But I will likely be eating the following soft-serve combinations in the coming months: plain with raspberries and coconut; del boca chazel with bananas, granola, and chocolate drizzle; any flavor with granola, strawberries, and honey.

Mr. Yogato, 1515 17th St. NW, (202) 629-3531

Photo courtesy of Mr. Yogato

Last night, four developers—finalists whittled down from a group of ten—presented plans for projects on the site of Hine Junior High School, down the street from Eastern Market.

The Fancy Stuff Plan:
StreetSense/DSF/Menkiti Group

DSF may be based in the Boston area, but they know how to impress the locals. Kimpton Hotels is already interested in opening up a 80-room hotel on the site and Robert Wiedmaier, 2009 Rammy Chef of the Year, wants to do the cooking there.

Read More “Wiedmaier Aiming for Another Restaurant, This One on Capitol Hill” »

Last time Eastern Market was all over the news, it looked like this:

(Of course, let’s not forget this either.)

However, today was about moving forward.  Construction workers and officials gathered at the building and discussed its upcoming re-introduction into D.C. life. Crews expect to complete the project on June 9.

Eastern Market will officially reopen on Friday, June 26. A community celebration will be held the following day on Saturday, June 27, according to a press release from the city. Here’s a sneak peek of how the recovery’s going:

Read More “Eastern Market to Reopen on June 26″ »

Yesterday, I posted about construction at the old Bi-Rite building, up the road from Wonderland Ballroom on 11th Street in Columbia Heights. Today, I reached John Andrade, owner of the future lounge/restaurant Meridian Pint, which will move into the building “any fall now,” as he put it.

Without further adieu, more details about the space: Starting in late 2008, most of the old Bi-Rite building was demolished. Meridian Pint will occupy 6,000-square-feet (humongous) and be the building’s primary tenant, with a lounge in the newly, dug-out basement level, and a restaurant on the ground level. There will be offices on the second floor.

Read More “Meridian Pint Coming to Columbia Heights in Late 2009″ »

This is personal Chef Neil Wilson. He used to be in the army—but now he makes delicious ravioli (seen here in its pressed dough, pre-stuffed from). Before becoming a personal chef, Wilson attended L’Academie de Cuisine and then worked as a line cook for Palena.

Here are some of his cooking tips:

• Buy this book:The Flavor Bible. Look up any popular ingredient, and it will provide a rundown of complimentary herbs, spices and foods, and other cuisines in which the ingredient is featured.

• Every time you add a major ingredient to a dish, add a pinch of salt.

• Lemon zest is an easy way to enhance a dish—but only use the very top of the lemon. Once you see white, you’re getting the bitter stuff. Read More “Personal Chef Neil Wilson on Bibles, Lemon Zest, and Thanksgiving Leftovers” »

Let’s say you cooked in three to five different kitchens every week, and you did that for a period of several years? Well you’d probably be pretty good at designing a kitchen.

Personal chef Monica Thomas has that background, plus several years catering experience, not to mention a big family that expects some plate-filling from time to time. She bought her house in Hyattsville in 2001. Kitchen renovation came steadily. First, there were the counters and appliances, plus the corner sink (not pictured).

“I didn’t want to commit to the island until I’d lived with the kitchen for a while,” she says.

But after a few years, Thomas said “I do” to a special, custom-made stainless steel number. One night, she, her husband, and some guests broke out a duct tape role and started laying out the palatial island’s boundaries on the floor.

Here’s the rest of what Chef Thomas came up with:

Read More “How a Personal Chef Designs a Kitchen” »

Hat tip to DC Metrocentric for reporting on the future of Nathans, one of Georgetown’s most recognizable landmarks, home to Carol Joynt’s Q&A Cafe, and—most importantly from a real estate perspective—occupant of a prime D.C. corner: Wisconsin Avenue and M Street.

In the next few weeks, Joynt has to decide if she will renew her lease or not. In her blog, she talks about property taxes, health insurance, and all sorts of other things weighing on her. It’s quite an outpouring, and some of the details seem very complicated. But, anyway, this will give you a sense of what’s going on. Also, Nathans is 40 years old this year:

Read More “Nathans’ Carol Joynt Ponders Closing the 40-Year-Old Restaurant” »