One by one, we’re running through the 50 restaurants that made the cut on this year’s Young & Hungry Dining Guide. If you have visited the day’s featured restaurant, let us know what you think. If you’re planning to visit for the first time, tell us about your meal when you return.

Gillian Clark and partner Robin Smith had to wage battles on several fronts to finally launch their folksy eatery, the General Store, in the former Forest Glen post office in Silver Spring. Montgomery County, historic preservationists, even the landlord—everyone, it seems, wanted to tell Clark and Smith how to build out the 19th-century structure, down to the exact number of parking spaces they needed. It was enough to make Clark and Smith want to walk away from their project, which they seriously considered doing. I’m glad they stuck with it. The joint exudes a sort of sterile country vibe, part old-timey kitsch and part burn-unit clean, but Clark’s food remains as down-home and comfy as ever. Well, when she still has some to sell. The General Store has already developed a reputation for running out of its famed fried chicken before closing time; fortunately, there are tasty backup options. I’m thinking specifically about Clark’s chunky tarragon chicken-salad sandwich, which employs the namesake herb without allowing its anise flavors to dominate, as they so often do. The fish tacos are an excellent handheld bite, too, stuffed to capacity with fried whitefish, avocado, and melted cheese. At this point, the only unresolved issue for Clark and Smith is the opening of the downstairs Post Office Tavern. But even that hurdle will be cleared by next week, when the pub officially opens to the public, serving up pizzas, brats, and other beery foods.

The General Store, 6 Post Office Road, Silver Spring (301) 562-8787

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

The week started with the unexpected announcement that a genuine 1947 diner would be making its way to Trinidad, and it ended with the equally unexpected disclosure that Spike Mendelsohn and his business partner were evicted from their Capitol Hill rental home. In between, readers had tons of reasons to visit the Y&H blog. Here are the most-read posts of the week.

1. Former Used-Car Lot in Trinidad to Get a New Ride — a Diner Car
2. D.C.’s Unofficial Beer Week (Thank You, Savor)
3. Welcome to the D.C. Restaurant Scene, Cap City Diner!
4. Spike’s New Pizzeria Is Coming to Cap Hill. But First: Souvlaki!
5. The General Store’s Soft-Shell Crab Sandwich, Which Wasn’t So Soft
   

I could have done without my first bite of Gillian Clark’s soft-shell crab sandwich at the General Store. As soon as I bit through the crustacean’s semi-soft outer body, I was splattered with a jet-stream of yellow-green matter, likely a combination of eggs and tomalley. My new shirt now looked like a painter’s smock.

My second bite wasn’t much better. I felt as if I was ripping into an old leather bag. I couldn’t understand what was happening. Everything else about the sandwich was delicious: the surprisingly sweet lemon aioli, the soft buttery Gold Crust bun, the salty, beautifully fried onion straws. But the star of the dish — a genuine Maryland blue crab, Clark told me — had gone rogue, betraying all of the other ingredients in the sammie.

In all the times I have eaten soft-shells, I have never had such a tough time biting into one. This sucker, though, was a damn hard softie. A few Google searches later, I think I learned why.

According to the award-winning book, Fish Forever by Paul Johnson, fishmonger to the star chefs, all softies are not created equal:

“Because of the extremely fragile nature of a soft-shell crab, it takes only a little rough jostling in transit to kill some of them, so the greatest care is taken to make sure soft-shell crabs arrive at the marketplace alive. They are carefully arranged in straw-lined flats that are packed in shock-resistant boxes marked ‘Fragile.’ They are then quickly flown or trucked to market.

“But be aware that some shippers will leave their crabs in the water for a little while after they have shed, which allows the shells to partially harden. These hardened ’soft-shell crabs’ are stronger and more likely to arrive at their destination alive — but they will be disappointing at the table, tough and chewy.”

In other words, my leathery crab likely had little to do with Clark, and everything to do with the fishmonger who sold her those crustaceans.

Two older posts continue to fascinate the readership of Young & Hungry. One is tragic. The other practically comedic. After that, the Top 5 posts of the week shape up this way:

1. Gillian Clark’s General Store Now Available for Sit-Down Service
2. Saigon Bistro: A Best of D.C. Contender or Just a Pretender?
3. Scene 1 from the Eatonville Chef Contest: Fried Chicken
4. Alert Las Vegas: Washingtonian Debuts Burger Brackets in Time for March Madness
5. Urban to Offer Meats Fresh from the Smoker on Saturday

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

But what about the Store’s downstairs partner, the Post Office Tavern?

The small subterranean operation, which will seat no more than 18 people, is expected to serve late-night pub food such as individual pizzas and wagyu hot dogs (though that could change, since Clark is still building out the menu). So when does Clark expect to open the Tavern?

During a phone interview this afternoon, she says she thinks it’ll open next week. Then she turns to Smith, whom Clark suggests has a more conservative take on the opening date. In the background, I can hear Smith yell, “Two months!”

Clark laughs uproariously. “Let’s say five weeks,” she says as a compromise. “Maybe less, but we’ll see.”

For nearly a month, the General Store, chef Gillian Clark’s home-spun Silver Spring restaurant with the killer fried chicken, has been operating as a take-out joint only. Montgomery County apparently wanted Clark and her partner, Robin Smith, to have more dedicated parking spaces before issuing them a certificate of occupancy.

The matter dragged on for weeks, Smith says. She’d call the bureaucrat in charge of commercial properties, who couldn’t issue a certificate of occupancy without a parking waiver. Then Smith would call the desk jockey in charge of parking waivers, who couldn’t issue a waiver without a certificate of occupancy. This Kafkaesque scenario ended only when Clark and Smith’s lawyer finally made a call.

“Magically, it all came together” when the lawyer called, Smith says.

The renovated 19th-century General Store, with seating for about 30 to 35 diners, has been operating as a sit-down restaurant since Tuesday, Feb. 24, Smith says. Parking for the restaurant can be found in two locations—behind the store, where there are seven spots, and across the street, where there are about 15 more spaces. So far, parking hasn’t been a problem, although competition for those spaces could increase once Clark and Smith open the Post Office Tavern, which is located downstairs. The watering hole has seats for about 13-18 people.

Speaking of the tavern, Clark and Smith also have their liquor license in hand, and should the county make its expected delivery, the General Store will be selling beer tomorrow. The list is limited now, but will expand in the near future, Smith promises.

There’s a reason food stylists and photographers make real money to shoot cookbooks. They can make anything look appetizing. I, on the other hand, have made Gillian Clark’s fried chicken, now available at The General Store in Silver Spring after a loooong absence, look like something I just tripped over on the street. Forgive me. The bird tastes nothing like this picture suggests.

I’ll blame part of my photographic failings on Montgomery County, which has forced The General Store to serve take-out grub until Clark and partner Robin Smith can work out their parking issues. I had to take this shot on my lap in the car, which was parked just across the street from the new restaurant at 6 Post Office Rd. (301-562-8787). I wasn’t about to wait another 10 minutes to find a real spot to eat.

Despite my downscale dining location, I was extremely satisfied with the fried chicken. It was a tad greasy, yes, but frankly, I like a little oil on my bird. When not excessive, the oil adds an extra element of flavor to skin that can, all too often, just taste like seasoned flour. These folks that talk about perfectly greaseless fried chicken, they seem to be just echoing all that American anti-fat sentiment. Even better, Clark’s birds are moist to the bone, which contrasts nicely with the crispy element she adds to the skin.

All in all, I was happy to have the bird back on the market—even if I had to eat it on my lap.

Back in late 2007, I wrote about a column about all the fussy signs at Gillian Clark’s former restaurant, Colorado Kitchen, and how they sometimes caused diners to rebel, kid-like, against the rules. Well, yesterday when I stopped by Clark’s new joint, the General Store in Silver Spring, the chef and her partner, Robin Smith, told me a story about their antique Nickelodeon player.

On Saturday, the General Store’s first day of business, customers took to the expensive player piano as if it were their own. Some didn’t even know how to play the instrument, plucking the keys at a level somewhere below “Chopsticks.” The general disregard for the equipment forced the partners to put a sign on the piano that asked, quite politely, “Please Do Not Press the Nickelodeon Keys.”

The sign didn’t help much. After hearing the Nickelodeon play “The Yellow Rose of Texas,” Clark said she heard the exact song again—but this time without the drums, accordion and other instruments buried within the Nickelodeon. That’s when she realized a customer had completely ignored the sign in order to regale everyone with her keyboard wizardry.

Was she any good?, I wondered to Clark. Yeah, said Clark. But the chef still wasn’t impressed.

I have to admit, I’m with Clark on this one. I’d be annoyed about yahoos playing antiques that aren’t their own, too.

The wife and I stopped by the General Store late on Sunday night, around 9, hoping against hope that chef/owner Gillian Clark might still have some fried chicken and collards available for take out. She didn’t. She had sold the last of her birds about three hours earlier, so we had to satisfy our General Store itch with some face time with Clark’s partner, Robin Smith, who told us the story behind the bear diorama and the slogan, “Grab a Root ‘n’ Growl.” (See picture.)

As a child growing up in California, Smith knew it was dinner time whenever her mom used to holler, “Grab a root and growl!” Smith, somewhat sheepishly, admits she never gave the phrase much thought until one day, in her teens, she suddenly realized that it had ursine connections. Up until then she always considered the phrase merely a call to chow.

Rather than let the phrase fester as just an embarrassing memory, Smith and Clark have embraced it as part of their new General Store in Silver Spring, which opened this weekend for take-out only as the partners continue to iron out their parking issues with Montgomery County. The problem was finding a stuffed bear. Smith, understandably, had no idea how to secure one, but she eventually found a taxidermist who would do the work at a price the partners could afford. Which lead to the next obvious question: Did Smith and Clark need to provide their own bear?

Nope, the taxidermist told Smith, he had a couple ready to stuff.

The bear diorama, with said stuffed critter pawing around for a root no doubt, now sits proudly atop the Nickelodeon player piano by the front door. (More on the piano later today.) It strikes me as a nice nostalgic touch in a renovated 19th-century post office/general store that’s dedicated to gentler times, when people still composed hand-written letters and when mothers called their children, still playing in the streets, to dinner with a simple holler from the front porch.

Here are the top 10 items this week on the Young & Hungry blog, as decided by you, the loyal readers.

1. More on Gillian Clark’s New Restaurant Ventures

2. Ray’s the Steaks Set to Move Soon…Or Not

3. El Pollo Rico Reopens in Wheaton

4. What Ris Lacoste Learned While Working at Friendly’s

5. Are Ethiopian Eateries Really Hurting Because of the New Cab Meters?

6. Woman Returns Nearly 100K Found at Cracker Barrel

7. WSJ: Chuck E. Cheese’s May Be the Most Dangerous Restaurant in Town

8. What Does a $19 ‘Mixed Grill’ Get You at Lebanese Taverna’s New Bethesda Spot?

9. The ‘Subversive Element’ at Ray’s Hell Burger? Catsup!

10. Are Hot Dogs Really Made from Pigs’ Lips and Assholes?