When I spoke with Capital City Diner co-owner Matt Ashburn back in February, he didn't rule out the idea of serving liquor but thought he'd wait at least a year or two before applying for a license. He wanted to establish his business first in Trinidad. The news last week that Cap City applied for [...]

You know what? I don’t give a damn that Capital City Diner buys the majority of its ingredients from a giant food-service company, and I’ll tell you why. Sometimes I love a place just because of its history or its significance to a neighborhood or its atmosphere. (I’m sorry, but I don’t visit Florida Avenue [...]

In Round One of this Mother's Day exercise, Y&H focused mostly on chefs. This time around, two restaurateurs and a food writer discuss the influence their mums had on their career choice. Or didn't. Former WaPo food writer Kim O'Donnel: I didn't learn to cook from my mom who had 3 kids at 28 in [...]

Metro Connection host David Furst and I had just finished our segment on Capital City Diner in Trinidad — had in fact just listened to co-owner Matt Ashburn talk about his neighborhood's overblown reputation as a crime district — when across the street.... Well, I should let you listen to the episode today to find out.

On opening day, Capital City Diner received a visitor from the 1950s.  Not long afterward, the co-owners heard an echo from their diner's very beginnings, from the late 1940s. It was a bouquet of flowers and a note from the son of one of the founders of the Goodrich Diner, a tiny eatery that served [...]

It was another Capital week at Y&H, highligthed by our obsessive, seemingly non-stop coverage of Capital City Diner, which opened last Tuesday. It's a chicken-or-egg question. Were the top two items your favorites because we covered them so much — or because you are genuinely interested in the subject? Whatever it is, here are the Top [...]

When Matt Ashburn and Patrick Carl first spotted the historic Avoca Diner on eBay more than 11 months ago, they had no idea what a hassle it would be to buy the 1947 prefab structure, move it to D.C., and prepare it for its second life as Capital City  Diner. Nor did the owners know much [...]

The neon "OPEN" sign said it all: After months of headaches and delays and budget crunches (much of which Y&H will detail in tomorrow's column), Capital City Diner finally opened for business yesterday in Trinidad. It was packed with neighbors, well-wishers, reporters, and even a surprise out-of-town guest. After the jump is my brief snapshot [...]

Tom and Lynn Dougherty step back in time The last time Lynn Dougherty laid eyes on Capital City Diner, it was called the Avoca Diner, and it was run by a woman named Brenda Remchuk, a former Corning Glass employee who decided to get into the grease-slinging business. That was in Avoca, N.Y., in 1991. [...]

We here at Y&H Central have two suggestions on how to celebrate this important day: 1. Go to the nearest IHOP. (Location finder here.) Order a short stack of buttermilk pancakes. They're free today until 10 p.m. Well, they're free if you're a total assmunch and don't make a donation to the Children's Miracle Network, which supports children's [...]