For all the Cajun-Creole-themed cooking going on inWashington these days, you’d think the city would see a sudden spike in capsaicin overdoses. Not so.

The stuff that generally passes for New Orleans-style fare around here would barely register on the Scoville scale. To put it mildly, so to speak: My first bowls of gumbo and crawfish étouffée at Pearl Dive Oyster Palace would have been entirely forgettable, except for their unforgettable lack of heat.

Thankfully, I’m not the only one who noticed.

“When we opened, there were a lot of dishes that I thought weren’t spicy enough,” says chef and owner Jeff Black.

A subdued stew runs counter to the restaurant’s whole raison d’etre. “I want people to think it’s going to be spicy,” Black says. “I don’t want ’em coming in thinking it’s going to be timid.” For weeks, Black has been hounding his kitchen staff to amp up the piquant. “I started sounding like a broken record,” he says. “I’d say, ‘It’s not hot enough.’ Everything I tried. ‘It’s not hot enough.’”

The gumbos, for example, were initially touched up with a blend of Crystal and Tabasco hot sauces. It led to a little lingering background heat, Black explains, but no immediate punch. Lately, though, his cooks have been scaling back on the Tabasco and adding more jalapeño to the mix in the hopes of a stronger first taste. “Finally, I looked at Danny [Wells], my chef de cuisine, and said, ‘We did it—it’s too hot!’” he laughs. “So we racheted it back down.”

My most recent bowl of the chunky soup, swimming with oysters, shrimp, and diced ham, suggests that Black and company have finally struck the right balance: hot enough to spark faster sips of beer but not so scorching to justify the $3 fee for a refill on bread.

“A lot of times you get beat up,” says Black. “‘They hate this, chef.’ ‘Way too spicy, chef.’ And you start to alter the way you cook. When I hire guys, I tell them, your cooking needs to be assertive, it needs to reach up and grab somebody. Subtle is fine, but subtle is what everybody else is doing. Let’s have a dish that just grabs a hold of somebody and then when they leave, they think, I want to come back and have that. Instead of, ‘Oh, that was pretty good,’ and then they can’t remember they ate.”

At Pearl Dive, the dish I found most grabbing would be the braised pork cheeks appetizer, priced at $9. Dusted with flour and seared, the meat is then braised in ancho chipotle, mirepoix, and veal stock for four to five hours, Black says. Served with grits and topped with fried onions, it’s a solid combination of creamy, rich, and crunchy. It packs some nice heat, too. The zesty flavor snatched my attention on first bite and had me coming back for seconds a few nights later.

The Vietnamese pickled shrimp, on the other hand, was the most non-grabbing of dishes. The $10 appetizer reflects Black’s admirably broadminded view of the culture of his native Gulf Coast—where Vietnamese cuisine has become enough of a staple to shape the culinary tastes of non-Vietnamese chefs like him. But this particular item has a problem: It’s not very pickled.

Served fried, the cured crustacean is supposed to taste sweet and spicy beneath its crunchy coating. I gave it three tries on three separate nights and found it virtually indistinguishable from the common battered butterfly variety. The only noticeable difference: a bed of super-spicy slaw underneath, which Black also uses in bánh mì during Sunday brunch.

If the menu reflects the old and the new of the Gulf Coast, the act of getting seated is strictly D.C. Snagging a table works a bit like having your license renewed at the Georgetown Park DMV branch: Give your name to the receptionist and take a number, then wait for your digits to appear on multiple screens mounted around the establishment. Fortunately, the waiting area includes a bar—two, actually. The more intriguing one, a somewhat separate (but uniformly owned) concept called Black Jack, is upstairs. It has its own distinct food and drinks menus, including a vastly more diverse, and more pleasing, selection of beers than the actual restaurant downstairs.

The signature cocktail is called “The Cigar,” featuring a heavy a dose of mezcal, chilled with a block of ice curiously prepared in an andouille smoker, then refrozen and infused with peach nectar. The cocktail tastes sweeter the longer the ice is allowed to melt. While I was fascinated by the icy element, my friend couldn’t get past the garnish: a slice of prosciutto on a stick that kept sliding around the rim with each sip. “The meat keeps smacking me in the face!” she cried.

Once your number comes up, you descend from the dimly lit lounge back into the bright white walls of the main restaurant. Chilled oysters are a must—they’d better be, given the joint’s name. Pearl Dive offers between 12 and 15 varieties, a vastly bigger selection than rival Northwest D.C. mollusk mecca Hank’s Oyster Bar (six per night) or even renowned oyster hotspot Old Ebbitt Grill (eight per night). “We’re going through probably 7,000 to 8,000 oysters a week,” Black says.

The choices are so abundant that Black now has staffers categorizing the things by flavor profile—“from mildest all the way up to Belon, which is the biggest, fullest, mineral-y, in-your-face, suck-on-a-copper-penny flavor profile you’re ever going to get,” he says.

The bulk of the selection comes from the nearby Chesapeake Bay, but the meatiest ones, I find, are from the West Coast: If the server mentions Naked Roys or Skookums, get ’em. Black’s house-made “dive juice” dipping sauce, made daily with scallions, cilantro, and jalapeño, nicely compensates for any stragglers.

Among the four styles of the cooked oysters, the Angels on Horseback, at $9, is my favorite. Wrapped in thinly sliced applewood-smoked bacon, the pillowy oysters arrive in a vin blanc and vinegar reduction that is both rich and a tad tart; the bacon is so thin as to not overwhelm the oyster. I found the tasso ham of the Tchoupitoulas variety to create the opposite effect.

If the place were open for breakfast, Black’s C.E.B.L.T. po’boy would become my morning ritual. The sandwich features fried catfish topped with a fried egg and salty bacon procured from every pork gourmand’s favorite farmer, Allan Benton. “The key is, you gotta push it down,” Black says. “You push it down and the yoke runs through it.”

But for dinner, despite the restaurant’s theme, you’d be ill-advised not to order the fried chicken. It’s a sort of makeshift recipe that the cooks at Black’s Rockville restaurant Addie’s used to throw together to feed the dishwashers, incorporating braised chicken normally reserved for coq au vin. “We’d take that braised chicken, dust it, flour it, and fry it,” says Black. “Well, one day, I was like, ‘You know what? That looks pretty good. I’m going to try it.’ And I was like, ‘Holy crap, this is freakin’ delicious!’”

At Pearl Dive, Black doesn’t use red wine as he might with a traditional coq au vin; instead, he braises the meat in white wine, blond mirepoix and chicken stock. “It’s fully cooked, so when you order it, all I’m doing when I fry it is, I’m setting a crust on it. So it’s not in the fryer for very long.” The crispy crust is quite spicy—there’s a lot of cayenne in there. And a bit of Parmesan, believe it or not. The collard greens it comes with are pretty damn tasty, too. And not so bitter. “I don’t add vinegar, which a lot of people do,” Black says. “I just let it be. You can cook that bitterness out if you cook ‘’em long enough.”

When dessert comes, a woman at an adjacent table suggests Black needed to spend more time cooking off the booze. She’s eating the bourbon-infused pecan pie made with wild Texas nuts—a standard, sticky, sweet version of the southern classic. My neighbor claims to be “getting high” off the liquor. Later, when I ask Black about it, he suggests she must have been a lightweight. “There’s not that much [alcohol],” he says.

Photos by Darrow Montgomery

Pearl Dive Oyster Palace, 1612 14th Street NW, (202) 986-8778

Eatery tips? Food pursuits? Send suggestions to hungry@washingtoncitypaper.com.

Karoum and company had been planning to do a practice run in preparation for the evening's big event: the annual Capital Food Fight, pitting the Proof toque against big-time kitchen contemporaries Todd Gray, Jeff Black and Brian McBride in a competitive cook-off for charity. In each round, the chefs are given 10 minutes to whip up something involving a yet untold secret ingredient. And while the food fight is ultimately about "a good cause"—the charity event, also featuring tastings from 60 local restaurants, benefits the D.C. Central Kitchen—nobody wants to lose. Nobody. "All chefs are competitive," he says. "It's a pretty high-stress situation. It's going to be fun because it's stressful and that's what we love to do."

A week earlier, Karoum huddled with prior contestant Scott Drewno of The Source by Wolfgang Puck over a meal at Toki Underground to strategize. "He was giving me pointers, like, keep it more simple than you're used to," Karoum says. "Ten minutes goes by really fast. Strategizing seems to be the most important part because it's not like you're in your home kitchen where you know where everything is. Here, you have to account for the fact that you're going to lose time just finding shit. So it's really just coming up with dishes that can be executed in 10 minutes."

Karoum isn't underestimating the competition. "These are some serious veterans that I'm going up against," he says. "Todd Gray is a beast. Back in the day, Todd Gray was the chef at Galileo in its heyday. He was the general who ran that kitchen. He's no joke. I don't take anybody lightly. Jeff Black, Brian McBride—they're all seasoned vets. I'm honored to be included in the mix. We're going to do our best and see how it goes."

Read Y&H's coverage of last year's food fight here and the previous year here.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Full details on the upcoming event in press release form below:

2011 FOOD FIGHT NAMES ALL STAR CAST

Annual Foodie Event Features Celebrity Judges Alongside Area Chefs

WASHINGTON, D.C.:  On Nov. 10, four celebrated, local chefs will bring knives and know-how to the 2011 Food Fight battle – each 10-minute cook-off containing a surprise ingredient.  This year’s battling chefs are: Jeff Black of BlackSalt, Addie’s and Pearl Dive Oyster Palace, Todd Gray of Equinox, WaterShed, and Muse at the Corcoran, Haidar Karoum from Estadio and Proof and Brian McBride from Blue Duck Tavern.  More than 60 local restaurants will provide delectable “tastes” for those attending the annual event.

When: November 10, 2011 at 6 pm

Where: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center

1300 Pennsylvania Ave, NW  - Washington, DC

Tickets: $200 and available online at www.capitalfoodfight.org

Presenting sponsor Walmart provides the main stage for host Anthony Bourdain, of Travel Channel’s No Reservations, and Capital Food Fight chairman Jose Andres, DC’s own celebrity chef and James Beard Award winner. Crowning the Food Fight champion is a panel of celebrity chefs including Ted Allen, host of the Food Network’s Chopped, Joan Nathan, cook book author and recipient of multiple James Beard Awards, and Ming Tsai, Chef/Owner of Blue Ginger and Host/Producer of Simply Ming.   All proceeds benefit the many programs of DC Central Kitchen.

Tasting Restaurants:

Adour  • AGAINN Gastropub •  America Eats • Argia’s Italian •  Art and Soul •  Bar Pilar •  Bastille  •  Belga Café •  Bistro Bis • BLT Steak • Blue Duck Tavern •  Brasserie Beck  • Carmine’s  •  Casa Nonna •  Cava •  Central • Chipotle • Cork  •  Cuba Libre • Dolcezza Artisanal Gelato •  Equinox  • Estadio • Evening Star Café • Hank’s Oyster Bar •  Harry’s Smokehouse •  iCi Urban Bistro • Indique • J&G Steakhouse  • Jackson 20 •  Jaleo •  Kaz Sushi Bar  •  Lebanese Taverna  •  Light Horse • Lima • Lost Society • Mandu  • Masa 14 •  Mie N Yu  •  Muse at the Corcoran • Occidental  • P.J. Clarke’s  • Pearl Dive Oyster Palace •  Ping Pong Dim Sum • Policy  • Poste Moderne Brasserie  • Proof •  PS7’s •  Rappahannock River Oysters  •   Ris • Ronald Reagan Building • Santa Lucia Coffee • SAX • Taberna del Alabardero  • Taylor Gourmet •  The Grille at Morrison House •  The Majestic •  The Source • Vidalia •  Watershed • We the Pizza • Westend Bistro by Eric Ripert  • Willow • Zaytinya • Zengo  • Zola

About DC Central Kitchen

2011 marks DC Central Kitchen’s 22nd year of combating hunger and creating opportunity in Washington, DC. The Kitchen works 365 days a year to provide low-income individuals and families with nutritious food, assist local farmers, empower unemployed men and women through effective job training, and reach out to chronically homeless DC residents. Each day, the Kitchen serves 5,000 meals to at-risk children and adults while preparing dozens of struggling individuals for new careers in the culinary industry. To learn more about the Kitchen and its nationally-recognized approach to fighting the interrelated problems of hunger, poverty and poor health, visit www.dccentralkitchen.org.

Logo courtesy of Capital Food Fight

How did chef Jeff Black smooth things over with Logan Circle neighbors protesting his liquor license? "Well, we gave them what they wanted," he says. "It was the easy thing to do."

Black had planned to provide a small porch area for smokers at his forthcoming Pearl Dive Oyster Palace on 14th Street NW. "It was the smallest legal opening to still be considered outdoor," he says. "It was basically just an over-sized window and it had screens on it and a smoke eater. It was just a place to smoke and not put your drink down." Neighbors weren't having it. "They thought it was going to be like Marvin, you know, this huge rooftop scene."

Black eventually gave up the smoking porch. And he agreed to close an hour early, too, though that part was a bit easier to forgo. "I was at Current Sushi at last call one night," he recalls. "And I looked at my buddy and said, 'I don't want the last hour. I really don't.' It's all drunks that got kicked out of another bar, or it's the scumbag trollers looking for drunk chicks. I don't mind giving it up."

The protests were ultimately dropped—and without him having to sign one of those restrictive voluntary agreements. "I'm the only one in the neighborhood [without one]," he says proudly.

Now, he's putting the finishing touches on the $2.43 million building in time to host a charity event this coming Saturday, as well as the restaurant's official grand opening, slated for Sept. 20.

The place was still under construction when Young & Hungry dropped by on Thursday for a sneak peek. A few things I noticed: Getting seated will work very similar to getting your driver's license renewed at the DMV: take a number and wait for your digits to appear on the big board mounted to the wall. You can also play bocce while you wait at one of two indoor courts that Black has installed upstairs. And, instead of a cigarette machine, the upstairs bar area called Black Jack will feature a similar-looking contraption dispensing small artworks for $5 (pictured left).

Oh, and the signature cocktail will feature ice smoked in a sausage smoker, then infused with peach nectar, doused in smoky mezcal and garnished with prosciutto rolled into the shape of a cigar.

Now, about the food: Black tells Y&H that his new oyster-themed restaurant isn't trying to encroach on fellow mollusk mogul Jamie Leeds' turf. Though Pearl Dive is located just a short walk from Leeds' acclaimed Hank's Oyster Bar, Black suggests there's a world of difference in between them.

Style is one thing. "Hank's tends to be more Northeast style," he says. "Ours is much more Southern-influenced."

Then there's the whole neighborhood divide. "I was actually on the phone with [Washington Post food critic] Tom Sietsema....I said to him, 'What do you think about an oyster bar in Logan?' This was his comment: Logan is Logan and Dupont is Dupont." Point being? "A lot of people who live in this neighborhood, they don't like to go over to Dupont," Black says. "I don't think we're going to infringe on each other too much."

That said, the chef-owner behind such celebrated seafood spots as BlackSalt on McArthur Boulevard, Black's Bar & Kitchen in Bethesda and Addie's in Rockville, is pretty clear on who he thinks shucks the best oyster in D.C.

Why, he does, of course. "I personally feel that I do oysters better than anyone else in the city," says Black. "We get the freshest. We handle 'em correctly. We don't cut the meat. We cut the adductor muscle. We don't pierce 'em. They're properly shucked. Every oyster we do is inspected by the kitchen."

At Pearl Dive, Black expects to have anywhere from six to nine varieties of oysters available daily, served on the half-shell and plated several other ways, too, such as an oyster confit with blue crab, tasso ham, roasted corn and Hollandaise for $9. Other menu items include Vietnamese pickled shrimp for $10 and a crawfish-tasso ravioli for $13. The biggest ticket item: hanger steak with melted blue cheese and potato puree for $26.

"It's not real sophisticated," Black says of the overall menu offerings. "There's not going to be any foams or any of that nonsense. It's good straight-forward rustic cooking. In terms of how it will stand out, I mean, there are a lot of great restaurants on this street. I'm not trying to have more wines than Cork, or more beers than ChurchKey. What I'm trying to deliver is the best service at a very reasonable price and what I think is just great quality stuff."

Photo by Chris Shott

More details on the menu and decor to come.

Photo by Chris Shott

Check Out The Legs On This Pinot, Little One

More Pie In Your Face, Osama: Restaurateur Jeff Black's Palisades stalwart BlackSalt earns a dubious celebrity mention. Hours before her husband's sober announcement about assassinating Osama bin Laden, first lady Michelle Obama and friends stopped by the eatery for a lavish meal.  "The ladies sampled a variety of dishes, including the Rhode Island Golden Tile Fish, halibut, clams, beet salad and coconut cream pie." [The Hill via Eater D.C.]

OK, Maybe Just a Sip: D.C. breweries can now offer you a taste of their beer during tours. [DCist]

Truck Driving Neighbors: "First District Taco added a brick-and-mortar location on Lee Highway to supplement its popular food cart. Now Sauca is opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant on Columbia Pike to supplement its four food trucks." [ARLNow]

More Room for Rolls: Kushi Izakaya & Sushi has applied to offer outdoor seating on the sidewalk. [DCist]

Photo by Kim Scarborough/Creative Commons Attribution License

Bethesda diners, brace yourselves! This weekend, The Washington Post's Tom Sietsema has a Sunday restaurant review on Food, Wine & Co. If you read Carole Sugarman's "Why Washington Food Critics Hate Bethesda" piece in the current issue of Bethesda magazine, you'll probably assume that Sietsema will automatically hate the place. In fact, Sietsema kicks off the piece detailing how Francis Namin's restaurant "devolved into something akin to a melodrama," including Carole Greenwood's 48-hour stint helming the kitchen. A sign of a bad review?

Not exactly. Sietsema awards the place two stars, outlining the high and low points. He sings the praises of the bar snacks, including the deviled eggs and fried artichokes. He declares the burgers and pizzas are decent, while the sandwiches are underwhelming. The rockfish, meanwhile, is "wasted on braised fennel and an almond pesto that sound better in print than in the mouth." But he says the ribeye is "pound of pleasure, cooked as you wish, served with a thicket of hand-cut french fries that leave you wishing for more."

Two stars? That's pretty decent for Sietsema. And certainly better than the half star he gave Robert Wiedmaier's Mussel Bar, an October review that ruffled plenty of feathers in the Bethesda dining community. From Sugarman's view, "it seems to me that he has been particularly tough on Bethesda restaurants in general." But is that the case?

Some key takeaways from Sugarman's article:

Sietsema says "that he’s no harder on Bethesda eateries than he is on Capitol Hill restaurants. Both neighborhoods are dense with places to eat, but sparse on kitchens that serve quality food, he says."

Former Post critic Phyllis Richman says Bethesda dining lacks "passion": "Where is the restaurant where the chef is young and idealistic and wants to make his own mark? Where is the chef who is an immigrant who is proudly presenting the food of his youth?" Also, there's better ethnic dining in Wheaton and Rockville. (Y&H agrees!)

Washingtonian's Todd Kliman on Bethesda dining woes: "It’s amazing how underwhelming a dining scene it is." Then again, it's hard to please Kliman, who recently said about 60 percent of what he eats falls into "the not-great category."

One of the most fascinating lines came from Sietsema, who says that most of the dining complaints he gets related to "wealthier Maryland suburbs" deal with service, not food quality. Diners don't want to venture into the District, so there's a captive-audience dynamic. "It’s almost as if people have lower expectations," he tells Sugarman, who later notes the biggest complaint she hears about is about—drumroll—parking!

As Y&H contributor Tammy Tuck discovered, it can be difficult to be in the Montgomery County restaurant business, especially if you're a restaurateur or manager trying to do something interesting with a beer list. Thor Cheston, who manages Mussel Bar in Bethesda, as well as D.C.’s Brasserie Beck, told Tuck recently: "I would rather rip my eyeballs from my skull than open another restaurant in Montgomery County," he says. "A case of beer that would cost us $60 in D.C. costs $90 here. It’s bad for business."

Restaurant owner Jeff Black tells Sugarman: "Montgomery County can be a difficult place to do business," citing difficult and "arbitrary" permitting, among other county-related issues.

Those issues, however, don't directly interact with diners. But they do influence what a restaurant serves and how it serves it. And a discerning food critic—and knowledgeable diners—can often detect how those factors can drag a place down. And that's an overarching theme for Bethesda.

Photo by Flickr user thisisbossi using an Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license

The latest in restaurant openings, closings, and highly unstable target dates.

Coming Soon:

• Rockville is getting set to open the latest outpost of the gourmet pizza bar, Matchbox, as early as Friday with an impressive spot which can seat more than 400 people! (Bethesda magazine)
• Dupont Circle will soon have a new yogurt and parfait bar/coffeehouse, Yola, which is set to open next Monday. (Prince of Petworth)
• The Arlington Rooftop Bar and Grill in Courthouse is now officially open however the actual rooftop component will not be ready for patrons until early spring. (ARLnow)
• New York-based Shake Shack, which is set to hit the corner of 18th Street NW and Connecticut Avenue, is now looking for managers. (The Feast)
• The self-proclaimed "first FIT restaurant and bar in America" Funxion at 1309 F St. NW is looking to switch to a 24-hour schedule. (Prince of Petworth)
• The space occupying the former Mar de Plata restaurant at 1827 Jefferson Place NW will soon be transformed to house St. Arnold's of Jefferson Place, a Belgian restaurant and pub. (Prince of Petworth)
• Woodley Park will be the new home to Las Vegas–based and Man Vs. Food-featured, Hot N Juicy Crawfish, which will be occupying the old Trattoria Italiana space at 2651 Connecticut Ave. NW. (Prince of Petworth)
• Besides the two new in-District spots already planned, FroZenYo has announced they will also be adding three new joints in Arlington as they continue their campaign of frozen yogurt world domination. (TBD)
• Perry's owner Saied Ayoubi plans to open Mintwood Place in Adams Morgan sometime in the spring. (The Feast)
• Volt chef and owner Bryan Voltaggio is apparently scouting around for another restaurant, which may or may not be the second coming of Volt. (Washington Business Journal)
• The Capital Video Sales store on 8th Street SE will be closing to make way for a Latin tapas joint called Pacifico. (Prince of Petworth)
• Foxhall sandwich shop Jetties will be opening a second location in Bethesda early next spring. (Bethesda magazine)
• New York City tapas joint Boqueria is currently on the prowl for a spot in the District to open a new location. (Eater)
• While the downtown D.C. branch of NYC-based Crumbs Bake Shop has already launched, the folks in Clarendon continue to await an opening date. (ARLnow)
• A new bar and barbecue joint called American Ice Company is set to open at 917 V St. NW. (Prince of Petworth)
• A new dual-concept sports bar and restaurant, Redline, will be opening soon in the former Indebleu space at 707 G St. NW. (Prince of Petworth)
• Sette Bello has closed its doors at 3101 Wilson Blvd. in Arlington to make way for yet another American Tap Room. (ARLnow)
• Ping Pong Dim Sum is already on the hunt for a third location despite still working on its second spot in Dupont. (Washington Business Journal)

• New "urban village" Park Potomac is attracting a wide range of new restaurants, including the second outpost of The Wine Harvest. (Bethesda magazine)
• Speaking of Park Potomac, the owners of Cava will be joining forces with the owners of Mamma Lucia in order to open Sugo Macaroni and Pizza Bar in the Potomac complex early next spring. (Bethesda magazine)
• Capital City Brewing Co. has lost its lease on Capitol Hill and will be moving operations to its Shirlington site, making it one of the top 10 largest brewpubs in the country. (All We Can Eat)
• More brewpub news: Rock Bottom and Gordon Biersch are merging. (Washington Business Journal)
• BGR owner Mark Bucher has just signed a lease for a Burger Joint in Springfield, at 8420 Old Keene Mill Road. It'll mark the fifth BGR. The sixth is already scheduled for Clarendon.
• Grapeseed's chef Jeff Heineman is planning to open a New England-style seafood shack called Freddie's Lobster and Clams right next door to his current joint at 4867 Cordell Ave. in Bethesda. (Bethesda magazine)
• Self-proclaimed "non-traditional sandwich shop" SUNdeVICH is on its way to 1314 9th St. NW. (Prince of Petworth)
• Cafe Eagle, an Italian/Eritrean restaurant will soon be occupying the old Vegetate space at 1414 9th St. NW. (Prince of Petworth)
• Celebrity chef Bobby Flay plans to throwdown a Bobby's Burger Palace on K Street NW. (Washington Business Journal)
• Jackie Greenbaum, the restaurateur behind Jackie's and Quarry House in Silver Spring, plans to open a Mexican restaurant in Columbia Heights.
• Heebeen Restaurant in Alexandria is scheduled to open a location in Arlington where it will continue to mix Korean and Japanese cuisines. (ARLnow)
• Former IndeBleu chef Michael Hartzer is pairing up with the owner of Bourbon to open the Jack Rose Dining Saloon in Adams Morgan. The selling point? One thousand kinds of whiskey. (Going Out Gurus)
• The founder of Tangysweet is opening a gourmet salad and sandwich shop in Clarendon called Rabbit.
• Looks like Cava is moving forward with plans to open a 4,000-square-foot space in Arlington. (ARLnow)
• Todd Gray and Ellen Kassoff Gray will open their multi-faceted Watershed operation in NoMa this spring.
• Businessman David Von Storch, who owns the Capital City Brewing Company, signed a lease for his newest operation, 901 Restaurant at 901 9th St. NW. (TBD)
• Silver Spring will finally have a spot to watch sports and wolf down fried foods. Babe's Sports Bar & Grill is moving into the old Gallery Restaurant space. (Silver Spring Singular)
• Hey, Biergarten Haus, look out! A new Bavarian beer garden is on its way to 720 L St. SE. (Prince of Petworth)
• Michael Landrum's project at CityVista, it turns out, will apparently not sell steaks or burgers — but coffee, sandwiches, salads, and yogurt. Michael Landrum and yogurt?! (Washingtonian)
• The owner of Hudson in the West End is taking over the former Il Mulino space and turning it into a comfort-food tribute to the 16th president, Lincoln. (WaPo)
• Capitol Hill Sporting Goods at 727 8th St. SE will soon be replaced by a funky new tavern serving up American fare and offering live jazz and blues. (The Hill Is Home)
• Roti Mediterranean Grill has claimed a spot in Constitution Square in NoMa. (Prince of Petworth)
• A new Tryst-type spot called Bistro 18 will be opening up where Oya’s Mini Bazaar and African Art used to be at 2420 18th St. NW. (Prince of Petworth)
• News from Twitter is that food truck, DC Empanadas, will start rolling out soon in the District — with plans to extend into Maryland. (TBD)
• The owners behind the popular Foggy Bottom eatery, Founding Farmers, and its sister operation, Farmers & Fishers, are planning to open a new restaurant in Potomac. (Bethesda magazine)
• Beer and wings specialist, Buffalo Wild Wings, will open up a location in Crystal City sometime this month at the corner of 23rd Street and Crystal Drive. (ARLnow)
• Our bread and pastry options may soon improve. Paul, a bakery that can trace its roots back more than 100 years to France, is opening a location on Pennsylvania Avenue NW. (Metrocurean)
• Zpizza plans to open a location in Rosslyn. Try to contain your excitement. (Washington Business Journal)
• News from the Twitter world is that Red Hook Lobster Pound is looking to add a second truck to its fleet. (Metrocurean)
• The spot at 1113 V St. NW, which used to house the Gori Cafe, is set to become the V Street Cafe, slated to open in several weeks. (Prince of Petworth).
• Christine Sarapu and chef/husband Jorge Pimentel are launching a new Latin-inspired food truck, Sabor’a Street, which is coming to town soon. (WeLoveDC)
• Former Vidalia chef R.J. Cooper is working on a place of his own, Rogue 24, an all tasting-menu restaurant in Mount Vernon Square.
• Could Bayou Bakery's David Guas have some competition? A place named Mudbug is headed to Crystal City. (ARLnow)
• Restaurant Eve‘s chef Cathal Armstrong is planning to get into the pub business with Virtue Feed & Grain. (WaPo)
• Former Maestro chef Fabio Trabocchi is coming back to town to open his own place, Fiola. (WaPo)
• Chef Jeff Black will be opening up the Pearl Dive Oyster Palace and a bar upstairs called Black Jack at 1612 14th St. NW. (Prince of Petworth)
• Middle Eastern restaurant Javan is on its way out to make room for Kabob Bazaar at 7710 Wisconsin Ave. in Bethesda. (Bethesda magazine)
• Prince of Petworth speculates that a Z Burger may be soon opening at the Tivoli Theatre in Columbia Heights. (Prince of Petworth)
• Neighborhood pet shop Chateau Animaux at 524 8th St. SE will close its doors and two District chains, Moby Dick House of Kabob and Nooshi, will occupy its space. (ANC Norm)
• Penn Quarter is set to introduce two new restaurants. St. Louis-based pizzeria, District of Pi, will take over one of the final retail spots at 914 F St. NW and former Top Chefer Mike Isabella will launch his new place, Graffiato.
• A hip new deli called Annie and Teddy’s is coming to the corner of Potomac and Pennsylvania SE. (Prince of Petworth)

Openings:

• Arlington Rooftop Bar and Grill in Courthouse
• Sweetgreen in Ballston
• Bayou Bakery in Arlington
• Ba Bay on Capitol Hill
• Tsunami Sushi & Lounge in Logan Circle
• Brasserie Brightwell in Easton, Md.
• DC-3 on Capitol Hill
• Merzi in Penn Quarter.
• Panera Bread in Dupont Circle
• Vento in Dupont Circle
• Wok and Roll in Adams Morgan
• Zoës Kitchen in Fairfax

Closings:

• Sette Bello in Arlington
• Chuck's Wagon BBQ is closing on H Street NE
• Quarterdeck Restaurant is closing in Arlington

Photo by Arlington Rooftop Bar and Grill

The latest in restaurant openings, closings, and highly unstable target dates.

Coming Soon:

• New York-based Shake Shack, which is set to hit the corner of 18th Street NW and Connecticut Avenue, is now looking for managers. (The Feast)
• Woodley Park will be the new home to Las Vegas–based and Man Vs. Food-featured, Hot N Juicy Crawfish, which will be occupying the old Trattoria Italiana space at 2651 Connecticut Ave. NW. (Prince of Petworth)
• Besides the two new in-District spots already planned, FroZenYo has announced they will also be adding three new joints in Arlington as they continue their campaign of frozen yogurt world domination. (TBD)
• Speaking of Arlington, Sweetgreen opens today after much buildup in its new Ballston location. (Sweetgreen)
• Perry's owner Saied Ayoubi plans to open Mintwood Place in Adams Morgan sometime in the spring. (The Feast)
• Volt chef and owner Bryan Voltaggio is apparently scouting around for another restaurant, which may or may not be the second coming of Volt. (Washington Business Journal)
• The Capital Video Sales store on 8th Street SE will be closing to make way for a Latin tapas joint called Pacifico. (Prince of Petworth)
• Foxhall sandwich shop Jetties will be opening a second location in Bethesda early next spring. (Bethesda magazine)
• New York City tapas joint Boqueria is currently on the prowl for a spot in the District to open a new location. (Eater)
• The self-proclaimed "first FIT restaurant and bar in America" Funxion at 1309 F St. NW is looking to switch to a 24-hour schedule. (Prince of Petworth)
• While the downtown D.C. branch of NYC-based Crumbs Bake Shop has already launched, the folks in Clarendon continue to await an opening date. (ARLnow)
• A new bar and barbecue joint called American Ice Company is set to open at 917 V St. NW. (Prince of Petworth)
• A new dual-concept sports bar and restaurant, Redline, will be opening soon in the former Indebleu space at 707 G St. NW. (Prince of Petworth)
• Sette Bello has closed its doors at 3101 Wilson Blvd. in Arlington to make way for yet another American Tap Room. (ARLnow)
• Ping Pong Dim Sum is already on the hunt for a third location despite still working on its second spot in Dupont. (Washington Business Journal)

• New "urban village" Park Potomac is attracting a wide range of new restaurants, including the second outpost of The Wine Harvest. (Bethesda magazine)
• Capital City Brewing Co. has lost its lease on Capitol Hill and will be moving operations to its Shirlington site, making it one of the top 10 largest brewpubs in the country. (All We Can Eat)
• More brewpub news: Rock Bottom and Gordon Biersch are merging. (Washington Business Journal)
• BGR owner Mark Bucher has just signed a lease for a Burger Joint in Springfield, at 8420 Old Keene Mill Road. It'll mark the fifth BGR. The sixth is already scheduled for Clarendon.
• Grapeseed's chef Jeff Heineman is planning to open a New England-style seafood shack called Freddie's Lobster and Clams right next door to his current joint at 4867 Cordell Ave. in Bethesda. (Bethesda magazine)
• Self-proclaimed "non-traditional sandwich shop" SUNdeVICH is on its way to 1314 9th St. NW. (Prince of Petworth)
• Cafe Eagle, an Italian/Eritrean restaurant will soon be occupying the old Vegetate space at 1414 9th St. NW. (Prince of Petworth)
• Just what we need: another burger joint. Celebrity chef Bobby Flay plans to throwdown a Bobby's Burger Palace on K Street NW. (Washington Business Journal)
• Jackie Greenbaum, the restaurateur behind Jackie's and Quarry House in Silver Spring, plans to open a Mexican restaurant in Columbia Heights.
• Heebeen Restaurant in Alexandria is scheduled to open a location in Arlington where it will continue to mix Korean and Japanese cuisines. (ARLn0w)
• Former IndeBleu chef Michael Hartzer is pairing up with the owner of Bourbon to open the Jack Rose Dining Saloon in Adams Morgan. The selling point? One thousand kinds of whiskey. (Going Out Gurus)
• The founder of Tangysweet is opening a gourmet salad and sandwich shop in Clarendon called Rabbit.
• Looks like Cava is moving forward with plans to open a 4,000-square-foot space in Arlington. (ARLnow)
• Todd Gray and Ellen Kassoff Gray will open their multi-faceted Watershed operation in NoMa this spring.
• Businessman David Von Storch, who owns the Capital City Brewing Company, signed a lease for his newest operation, 901 Restaurant at 901 9th St. NW. (TBD)
• Silver Spring will finally have a spot to watch sports and wolf down fried foods. Babe's Sports Bar & Grill is moving into the old Gallery Restaurant space. (Silver Spring Singular)
• Hey, Biergarten Haus, look out! A new Bavarian beer garden is on its way to 720 L St. SE. (Prince of Petworth)
• Michael Landrum's project at CityVista, it turns out, will apparently not sell steaks or burgers — but coffee, sandwiches, salads, and yogurt. Michael Landrum and yogurt?! (Washingtonian)
• The owner of Hudson in the West End is taking over the former Il Mulino space and turning it into a comfort-food tribute to the 16th president, Lincoln. (WaPo)
• Capitol Hill Sporting Goods at 727 8th St. SE will soon be replaced by a funky new tavern serving up American fare and offering live jazz and blues. (The Hill Is Home)
• Roti Mediterranean Grill has claimed a spot in Constitution Square in NoMa. (Prince of Petworth)
• A new Tryst-type spot called Bistro 18 will be opening up where Oya’s Mini Bazaar and African Art used to be at 2420 18th St. NW. (Prince of Petworth)
• Merzi, a new-style Indian joint promising tandoori chicken done on a rotisserie, is coming to Penn Quarter.
• News from Twitter is that food truck, DC Empanadas, will start rolling out soon in the District — with plans to extend into Maryland. (TBD)
• The owners behind the popular Foggy Bottom eatery, Founding Farmers, and its sister operation, Farmers & Fishers, are planning to open a new restaurant in Potomac. (Bethesda magazine)
• Beer and wings specialist, Buffalo Wild Wings, will open up a location in Crystal City sometime this month at the corner of 23rd Street and Crystal Drive. (ARLnow)
• Our bread and pastry options may soon improve. Paul, a bakery that can trace its roots back more than 100 years to France, is opening a location on Pennsylvania Avenue NW. (Metrocurean)
• Zpizza plans to open a location in Rosslyn. Try to contain your excitement. (Washington Business Journal)
• News from the Twitter world is that Red Hook Lobster Pound is looking to add a second truck to its fleet. (Metrocurean)
• The spot at 1113 V St. NW, which used to house the Gori Cafe, is set to become the V Street Cafe, slated to open in several weeks. (Prince of Petworth).
• Christine Sarapu and chef/husband Jorge Pimentel are launching a new Latin-inspired food truck, Sabor’a Street, which is coming to town soon. (WeLoveDC)
• Former Vidalia chef R.J. Cooper is working on a place of his own, Rogue 24, an all tasting-menu restaurant in Mount Vernon Square.
• Could Bayou Bakery's David Guas have some competition? A place named Mudbug is headed to Crystal City. (ARLnow)
• Restaurant Eve‘s chef Cathal Armstrong is planning to get into the pub business with Virtue Feed & Grain. (WaPo)
• Former Maestro chef Fabio Trabocchi is coming back to town to open his own place, Fiola. (WaPo)
• Chef Jeff Black will be opening up the Pearl Dive Oyster Palace and a bar upstairs called Black Jack at 1612 14th St. NW. (Prince of Petworth)
• Middle Eastern restaurant Javan is on its way out to make room for Kabob Bazaar at 7710 Wisconsin Ave. in Bethesda. (Bethesda magazine)
• Prince of Petworth speculates that a Z Burger may be soon opening at the Tivoli Theatre in Columbia Heights. (Prince of Petworth)
• Neighborhood pet shop Chateau Animaux at 524 8th St. SE will close its doors and two District chains, Moby Dick House of Kabob and Nooshi, will occupy its space. (ANC Norm)
• Penn Quarter is set to introduce two new restaurants. St. Louis-based pizzeria, District of Pi, will take over one of the final retail spots at 914 F St. NW and former Top Chefer Mike Isabella will launch his new place, Graffiato.
• A hip new deli called Annie and Teddy’s is coming to the corner of Potomac and Pennsylvania SE. (Prince of Petworth)

Openings:

• Sweetgreen in Ballston
• Bayou Bakery in Arlington
• ChiDogO's at 14th & U
• Ba Bay on Capitol Hill
• Crumbs Bake Shop in Downtown
• District Taco in Arlington
• Tsunami Sushi & Lounge in Logan Circle
• Tynan Coffee & Tea in NoMa
• Brasserie Brightwell in Easton, Md.
• DC-3 on Capitol Hill
• IHOP in Columbia Heights
• Panera Bread in Dupont Circle
• Vento in Dupont Circle
• Wok and Roll in Adams Morgan
• Zoës Kitchen in Fairfax
• Ma Ma's Southern Cuisine on Georgia Avenue NW

Closings:

• Sette Bello in Arlington
• Chuck's Wagon BBQ is closing on H Street NE
• Quarterdeck Restaurant is closing in Arlington
• Social Restaurant in Columbia Heights

Photo by Tom (andertho) via Flickr/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

The latest in restaurant openings, closings, and highly unstable target dates.

Coming Soon:

• A new bar and barbecue joint called American Ice Company is set to open at 917 V St. NW. (Prince of Petworth)
• A new dual-concept sports bar and restaurant, Redline, will be opening soon in the former Indebleu space at 707 G St. NW. (Prince of Petworth)
• Sette Bello closed its doors over the weekend at 3101 Wilson Blvd. in Arlington to make way for yet another American Tap Room. (ARLnow)
• We can't make this stuff up, folks: Chipotle is coming to Glover Park. (Prince of Petworth)
• Ping Pong Dim Sum is already on the hunt for a third location despite still working on its second spot in Dupont. (Washington Business Journal)

• New "urban village" Park Potomac is attracting a wide range of new restaurants, including the second outpost of The Wine Harvest. (Bethesda magazine)
• Capital City Brewing Co. has lost its lease on Capitol Hill and will be moving operations to its Shirlington site, making it one of the top 10 largest brewpubs in the country. (All We Can Eat)
• More brewpub news: Rock Bottom and Gordon Biersch are merging. (Washington Business Journal)
• BGR owner Mark Bucher has just signed a lease for a Burger Joint in Springfield, at 8420 Old Keene Mill Road. It'll mark the fifth BGR. The sixth is already scheduled for Clarendon.
• Grapeseed's chef Jeff Heineman is planning to open a New England-style seafood shack called Freddie's Lobster and Clams right next door to his current joint at 4867 Cordell Ave. in Bethesda. (Bethesda magazine)
• Self-proclaimed "non-traditional sandwich shop" SUNdeVICH is on its way to 1314 9th St. NW. (Prince of Petworth)
• Cafe Eagle, an Italian/Eritrean restaurant will soon be occupying the old Vegetate space at 1414 9th St. NW. (Prince of Petworth)
• Just what we need: another burger joint. Celebrity chef Bobby Flay plans to throwdown a Bobby's Burger Palace on K Street NW. (Washington Business Journal)
• Jackie Greenbaum, the restaurateur behind Jackie's and Quarry House in Silver Spring, plans to open a Mexican restaurant in Columbia Heights.
• Heebeen Restaurant in Alexandria is scheduled to open a location in Arlington where it will continue to mix Korean and Japanese cuisines. (ARLn0w)
• Former IndeBleu chef Michael Hartzer is pairing up with the owner of Bourbon to open the Jack Rose Dining Saloon in Adams Morgan. The selling point? One thousand kinds of whiskey. (Going Out Gurus)
• FroZenYo apparently wants to control the entire D.C. frozen yogurt scene. It has two new locations planned: 3000 Connecticut Ave. NW and 1636 Eye St. NW. (Prince of Petworth)
• The founder of Tangysweet is opening a gourmet salad and sandwich shop in Clarendon called Rabbit.
• Looks like Cava is moving forward with plans to open a 4,000-square-foot space in Arlington. (ARLnow)
• Todd Gray and Ellen Kassoff Gray will open their multi-faceted Watershed operation in NoMa this spring.
• Businessman David Von Storch, who owns the Capital City Brewing Company, signed a lease for his newest operation, 901 Restaurant at 901 9th St. NW. (TBD)
• Silver Spring will finally have a spot to watch sports and wolf down fried foods. Babe's Sports Bar & Grill is moving into the old Gallery Restaurant space. (Silver Spring Singular)
• Hey, Biergarten Haus, look out! A new Bavarian beer garden is on its way to 720 L St. SE. (Prince of Petworth)
• Michael Landrum's project at CityVista, it turns out, will apparently not sell steaks or burgers — but coffee, sandwiches, salads, and yogurt. Michael Landrum and yogurt?! (Washingtonian)
• The owner of Hudson in the West End is taking over the former Il Mulino space and turning it into a comfort-food tribute to the 16th president, Lincoln. (WaPo)
• Capitol Hill Sporting Goods at 727 8th St. SE will soon be replaced by a funky new tavern serving up American fare and offering live jazz and blues. (The Hill Is Home)
• Arlington will soon be getting its first Sweetgreen, which will open this month next door to the new Rustico in Ballston. (TBD)
• Roti Mediterranean Grill has claimed a spot in Constitution Square in NoMa. (Prince of Petworth)
• A new Tryst-type spot called Bistro 18 will be opening up where Oya’s Mini Bazaar and African Art used to be at 2420 18th St. NW. (Prince of Petworth)
• Merzi, a new-style Indian joint promising tandoori chicken done on a rotisserie (!), is coming to Penn Quarter.
• News from Twitter is that food truck, DC Empanadas, will start rolling out soon in the District — with plans to extend into Maryland. (TBD)
• The owners behind the popular Foggy Bottom eatery, Founding Farmers, and its sister operation, Farmers & Fishers, are planning to open a new restaurant in Potomac. (Bethesda magazine)
• Beer and wings specialist, Buffalo Wild Wings, will open up a location in Crystal City as early as December at the corner of 23rd Street and Crystal Drive. (ARLnow)
• Our bread and pastry options may soon improve. Paul, a bakery that can trace its roots back more than 100 years to France, is opening a location on Pennsylvania Avenue NW. (Metrocurean)
• Zpizza plans to open a location in Rosslyn. Try to contain your excitement. (Washington Business Journal)
• News from the Twitter world is that Red Hook Lobster Pound is looking to add a second truck to its fleet. (Metrocurean)
• The spot at 1113 V St. NW, which used to house the Gori Cafe, is set to become the V Street Cafe, slated to open in several weeks. (Prince of Petworth).
• Christine Sarapu and chef/husband Jorge Pimentel are launching a new Latin-inspired food truck, Sabor’a Street, which is coming to town soon. (WeLoveDC)
• Former Vidalia chef R.J. Cooper is working on a place of his own, Rogue 24, an all tasting-menu restaurant in Mount Vernon Square.
• Could Bayou Bakery's David Guas have some competition? A place named Mudbug is headed to Crystal City. (ARLnow)
• Restaurant Eve‘s chef Cathal Armstrong is planning to get into the pub business with Virtue Feed & Grain. (WaPo)
• Former Maestro chef Fabio Trabocchi is coming back to town to open his own place, Fiola. (WaPo)
• Chef Jeff Black will be opening up the Pearl Dive Oyster Palace and a bar upstairs called Black Jack at 1612 14th St. NW. (Prince of Petworth)
• Middle Eastern restaurant Javan is on its way out to make room for Kabob Bazaar at 7710 Wisconsin Ave. in Bethesda. (Bethesda magazine)
• Prince of Petworth speculates that a Z Burger may be soon opening at the Tivoli Theatre in Columbia Heights. (Prince of Petworth)
• Neighborhood pet shop Chateau Animaux at 524 8th St. SE will close its doors and two District chains, Moby Dick House of Kabob and Nooshi, will occupy its space. (ANC Norm)
• Penn Quarter is set to introduce two new restaurants. St. Louis-based pizzeria, District of Pi, will take over one of the final retail spots at 914 F St. NW and former Top Chefer Mike Isabella will launch his new place, Graffiato.
• A hip new deli called Annie and Teddy’s is coming to the corner of Potomac and Pennsylvania SE. (Prince of Petworth)

Openings:

• Bayou Bakery in Arlington
• ChiDogO's at 14th & U
• Ba Bay on Capitol Hill
• Crumbs Bake Shop in Downtown
• District Taco in Arlington
• Tsunami Sushi & Lounge in Logan Circle
• Tynan Coffee & Tea in NoMa
• Brasserie Brightwell in Easton, Md.
• DC-3 on Capitol Hill
• IHOP in Columbia Heights
• Panera Bread in Dupont Circle
• Vento in Dupont Circle
• Wok and Roll in Adams Morgan
• Zoës Kitchen in Fairfax
• The Atlas Room on H Street NE
• Ma Ma's Southern Cuisine on Georgia Avenue NW
• Rustico in Ballston
• CapMac truck
• Dangerously Delicious Pie truck
• The Fojol Bros. of Benethiopia truck

Closings:

• Sette Bello in Arlington
• Chuck's Wagon BBQ is closing on H Street NE
• Quarterdeck Restaurant is closing in Arlington
• Social Restaurant in Columbia Heights
• Morty's Deli in Tenleytown

Photo courtesy of American Tap Room