How did the bidding turn out, you ask? Well, it seems that "one of the most innovative and effective charitable organizations anywhere" is suddenly flush with an extra $25. The auction, which ended Dec. 9, attracted just two bidders, with the winner bidding $2,037.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

What Rosenwald's reporting clearly shows, however, is that Gifford's brand was in decline even before the transaction apparently dealt a death blow. Here are the pertinent grafs in the story:

The problem is that ice cream isn't just dessert, but an economic entree, a $10 billion business that in Gifford's case has grown notably messy. High-end ice cream has not weathered the recession well. Sales in the high-end segment grew only 1 percent in 2008, according to Mintel Research, and sales actually declined by more than 10 percent at some notable high-end chains such as Cold Stone Creamery.

Lieberman, in interviews, acknowledged that some Gifford's stores were behind on rent even before he sold the shops. The company closed two unsuccessful stores before the sale. Asked whether the retail side of the business had been profitable, Andrew Quartner, one of Lieberman's partners, said, "Depends what you mean by profitable."

At the same time, Gifford's faced increasing pressure from a trademark battle with an unrelated Maine ice cream chain also named Gifford's, which has asserted in a federal lawsuit that it won rights to the Gifford's name after the Washington-area Gifford's went into bankruptcy. Ice cream can be a rocky road.

It only gets worst for the retail stores once Baltimore investor Luke Cooper gets involved. But don't let me spoil it. Read the narrative yourself as it spills one sad detail after another.

Now, here's what I don't understand: People are only too happy to shell out $3 for a gourmet cupcake, $10 or more for an upscale burger, and $12 and up for a custom-made pizza. So why is the fussy ice cream market taking such a hit? I thought people were seeking (relatively) cheap comforts during this ongoing recession, as if a temporary return to childhood could ease the pain of our country's unemployment woes and our non-existent savings.

Is ice cream just too seasonal? Is it too fattening? Is it too expensive? Or is it, as I suspect, that cold foods too closely reflect America's environment right now? The economy is stalled. Congress can't reach a compromise (and it's only going to get worse next year). Everyone's shouting at each other on TV, and the comedians have taken over the political discourse. Who wants to put something cold in our mouths to remind us of America's chilly mood?

Photo by dcJohn via Flickr Creative Commons, Attribution License

Everyone, it seems, is obsessed with the amount of money local jurisdictions are spending on snow removal, but consider how much money local restaurateurs are losing due to the storm(s). And then consider that they can't exactly apply for federal disaster relief.

Cathal Armstrong, the chef/owner of Restaurant Eve, Eamonn's and The Majestic, figures he's lost about $100,000 in revenue from the past three snowstorms, which have forced Eve to close for several days, including those cash-cow weekend dates.

There are other losses, too, like tossing food that's gone bad because it has sat unused in the walk-in.

"It was a very expensive hit, for sure," he tells Y&H this afternoon after Eve's lunch shift. "Already in a struggling economy, a blow like this can be tough."

Thank God for this weekend then. It's Valentine's Day weekend, which Armstrong calls, with considerable Irish understatement, a "freebie." Apparently the latest blizzard hasn't hurt Eve's V-Day reservations. Armstrong reports no cancellations yet. He thinks Cabin Fever may benefit restaurants.

"Everybody we've spoken to is talking about how bored they are," Armstrong says. "I know they are anxious to get back out."

Maybe I should have seen this coming earlier. The signs were right in front of me. Mauricio Fraga-Rosenfeld, the founder and owner of Latin Concepts, and his wife, Nesrin, who actually runs the company, had already pulled the plug on Ceviche in Glover Park and sold their experiment in Peruvian-chifa cuisine in Arlington.

But yesterday, during a lengthy interview, Fraga-Rosenfeld explained that Latin Concepts is refocusing on markets not oversaturated with restaurants or, to be more precise, not oversaturated with the kind of sleek restaurant-lounges that LC specializes in. The company's new projects are wide-ranging, he says, from a cluster of three restaurants and a nightclub in Pittsburgh to four bars and a lounge in Quito, Ecuador.

"I've put in about 12 more places in different parts of the world. That's really what I'm focusing on," Fraga-Rosenfeld explains to Y&H. "That's why every time you call me I'm somewhere else."

"What I realized is that D.C. has been a great city for me, an incredible city, but it has actually become a saturated city," he continues. "It seems like every day somebody is opening three or four or five restaurants. What I'm trying to do now, I'm moving to secondary cities...where those concepts haven't come in yet."

To facilitate these new projects, Latin Concepts has created some subsidiary groups — Latin Concepts Pittsburgh and Latin Concepts Ecuador. But the company will remain headquartered in D.C., he says, where it will maintain about seven properties.

All together now: It's pronounced "A-beets."

This is a random category, yes, and I'm not sure what it says other than that some putz kept this page open on his browser for hours, presumably while doing other things, like typing out TPS reports or surfing for porn.

But, hey, it's amusing to speculate who kept each page open for so long. Please join the fun.

1. The Woodmont Grill's $17 "Famous" French Dip Sandwich: Time spent on one page: 7 hours, 40 minutes, 47 seconds. Potential reason: Subway executives wondering if they could raise the price on their $5 foot long.

2. One Method to Save Money in a Recession? Encourage the Staff Not to Break the Stemware. Time spent on one page: 7 hours, 30 minutes, 50 seconds. Potential reason: Representatives from Riedel hatch a plan to offer larger rewards to employees who continue breaking stemware.

3. Young & Hungry Dining Guide by the Day: Pete's Apizza. Time spent on one page: 5 hours, 14 minutes, 29 seconds. Potential reason: Administration staffers trying to figure out how to pronounce "apizza."

4. Spike Mendelsohn Evicted from His Capitol Hill Rental House. Time spent on one page: 4 hours, 55 minutes, 16 seconds. Potential reason: Mendelsohn can't get over how many spatulas he lost to looters.

5. What Did Your $10 Ticket Get You at the Safeway Barbecue Battle? Time spent on one page: 4 hours, 33 minutes, 40 seconds. Potential reason: Taste of Georgetown organizers wonder if they can charge $10 for nothing.

6. The Latest on Roberto Donna and the Resurrection of Galileo. Time spent on one page: 4 hours, 10 minutes, 50 seconds.  Potential reason: Donna's new landlord wondering if it's too late to back out.

7. Don't Ever Piss Off a Sushi Chef in Traffic. Time spent on one page: 3 hours, 43 minutes, 55 seconds. Potential reason: Local cooking school tries to track down chef to teach knife skills class.

8. Hopped Up on Beer: Notes From the IPA Tasting.  Time spent on one page: 3 hours, 21 minutes, 50 seconds. Potential reason: The Beerspotter savoring his own stuff again.

9. A Lighter Look at Mad Cow Disease. Time spent on one page: 3 hours, 21 minutes, 29 seconds.  Potential reason: The USDA doing research.

10. Porkslap: A Pale Ale for the Common Pig in All of Us. Time spent on one page: 3 hours, 16 minutes, 40 seconds. Potential reason: Drunk fell asleep at his computer.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

Take a good look at this glass of juice. Does it look orange to you? It should, because the last time I checked, orange juice was supposed to be, you know, orange.

But when I stopped by Columbia Firehouse recently for brunch, this is what they served when I asked for orange juice. It looks more like pineapple juice — mostly because the glass is loaded down with enough ice cubes to raise the Titanic. Lots of space-filling, OJ-extending ice cubes.

For this I paid $2.75?

Listen, I know there's a recession out there, and restaurants are hurting. I also know orange juice isn't cheap. My local Whole Foods sells a half-gallon of freshly squeezed organic orange juice for $5.49. That's real money.

But when I pay $2.75 for — what? — an eight-ounce pour of OJ, I want eight ounces of pure, unadulterated orange juice. I want a direct hit of Florida sun and soil as filtered through those orange balls of sweet-tart pulp. I don't want ice cubes.

When I see ice cubes in orange juice, I have two immediate thoughts: The orange juice will suck because it's watered down, and the restaurant is cheap, trying to extend its product at the expense of the product.

Now, I don't mean to pick on Columbia Firehouse. The rest of my brunch, particularly my steak and eggs with these succulent (if slightly overcooked) slices of Roseda Farms strip steak, was terrific. But really what's the excuse for watering down OJ?

I realize this is probably my little beef, and it doesn't bother the rest of you. But I was annoyed enough to express my disapproval via 140 fiery characters on Twitter: "Ice cubes do not belong in OJ. Makes me think restaurants are cheap, trying to stretch more glasses out of their oranges (or OJ cartons)."

One person responded to my outburst:

oh yes it does. i like everything cold

Well, here's an idea: Keep the OJ in the refrigerator.

Yaku will be history by January.

The poor economy keeps putting the squeeze on local restaurants.

The latest to shut their doors (or scheduled to shut their doors) include Vegetate in Shaw, the  CPK on Connecticut Avenue, Yaku in Arlington, D'Acqua on Pennsylvania Avenue, Savory Cafe in Takoma Park, and Enjera Eritrean Restaurant and Bar in Crystal City.

These victims, some of which promise to be back online in the future, follow in a long line of restaurant funerals this year. Check out this sad list:

• Nathans in Georgetown
• Mark and Orlando's near Dupont Circle
• Farrah Olivia in Old Town
• Le Paradou in Penn Quarter
• Hungry Tiger in Tenleytown
• Napa 1015 on H Street NE
• Jackson's Roasting and Carving Company in Arlington
• La Rue 123 in Fairfax
• Locanda on Capitol Hill
• Olives in downtown

And many many more that I don't have the time or inclination to track down. But on the eve of Thanksgiving, I'd like to say thanks to all of these fallen dining spots. Thanks for filling our stomachs over the years, no matter how well (or poorly) you did the task.

Baum + Whiteman has been a restaurant consulting group since the '70s. The dudes know a few things about the hospitality biz, so when the company releases its annual food and dining trends for the coming year, restaurateurs tend to listen. (Or razz B+W for predicting "tongue" meat would become huge.)

Restaurateurs may want to hide under the covers after reading the No. 1 predicted trend for 2010: New priorities for beaten-up consumers.  Check out this strong language:

Too many restaurant and hotel execs are grappling with pre-recession consumer issues, while people today are expressing entirely new – and more complex — sets of concerns. These concerns might tamp down consumer spending for another five years – and are difficult for hotel and restaurant professionals to deal with. Why? Because what worries people today no longer reflects abstract and idealistic pre-recession issues. Now people are focusing inward. Their concerns are personal, emotional and ethical. For example:

NEXT YEAR’S HOT BUTTONS

Economic survival

Reassurance

Intimacy & friendship

Feeding my knowledge

Feeding my emotions

Artisan, hand-made

Neighborhood, local

Authentic, real

Comfort & safety

Hotel and restaurant people who make a big deal about powering  their trucks with used frying fat, or switching to green detergent, or printing menus on recycled paper may be addressing the wrong issues. Millions of people are in danger of losing their homes and unemployment is still rising; people are plain scared … and they’re looking for a “safe harbor.” So hotels and restaurants should be luring these hunkered down consumers from their psychological storm cellars by (and we’re being metaphoric here) replicating the “campfire experience” – building emotional ties and connecting to communities. They need to audit their businesses based on the hot-buttons listed above … because, we believe, these issues will remain on the table for years to come.

Many of Baum + Whiteman's other predicted trends follow on that opening theme of consumer fear and survival, including how restaurants can cater to the emotions that surround those fears. In other words, the prognosticators say, look for more sharable small plates, more upscale comfort foods, more offal meat, and more fried chicken. Y&H can live with that.

You can read the full list here in PDF form.

Jeffrey Buben is a glass act.

Jeffrey Buben's an old pro at examining every inch of Vidalia and Bistro Bis to find cost savings. He'll review phone bills, ordering imbalances (too much product for too few customers), and overtime costs, anything to save cash and keep his staff employed in a bad economy. But one trick he's currently using really caught my attention: It's a contest to encourage the staff to be more careful with glassware.

As in please, please, please don't break those long-stemmed wine glasses that can cost $4 each to replace.

The game goes like this: If the morning team makes it though a shift without breaking a wine glass, beer mug, Champagne flute, or any other glassware, Buben will throw a piece of paper with each employee's name from that shift into a jar. Same goes for the afternoon team. At the end of the month, the five employees with the most entries in the jar receive some sort of prize. It could be a bottle of wine or a gift certificate for dinner at some other restaurant with which Buben has established a trade out.

"If we cut glass breakage in half...that's huge," Buben says. "We can save a couple of hundred a month."

The only drawback is that Buben can't do the contest every month. Why not? It seems the game loses its import and meaning if done constantly. Buben can only put the contest to use about twice a year, he says.

Times are tough all around, right? Almost. Sure, you've watched your salary stagnate and your 401K disappear. The banks are bust, war is everywhere, and, heck, add a global pandemic to the mix, and you've got a recipe for real, lasting despair. If that makes you want to crack a beer, you're in luck. The beer industry is doing alright and, true to the populist spirit of the age, it's craft beer that's growing the most.

From the Downers Grove Reporter:

The Boulder, Colo.-based Brewers Association defines craft brewers as those with annual production of less than two million barrels, that have less than 25 percent ownership by a non-craft alcohol beverage company, and that avoid the use of adjunct ingredients to lighten flavor.

The industry has enjoyed steady growth over the last five years, as craft beer’s share of the $100 billion U.S. beer market rose from 2.7 percent in 2003 to 4 percent in 2008. The Brewers Association estimated craft beer sales last year at $6.3 billion in 2008, up from $5.7 billion the previous year...

Craft beer sales appear to be holding up during the recession, boosted by customers’ strong demographics...

For the 52 weeks that ended on March 9, craft beer sales rose 12.6 percent from the previous 52-week period, compared with 3 percent for all beer, according to data from market researchers the Nielsen Company.

So fear not. As bad as things might still get, it doesn't appear you'll be caught without some hoppy relief... so long as you can pay for it, that is.

Photo used under a Creative Commons license from dullhunk.