This afternoon, word trickled out about the sudden closure of The General Store. The following message was posted to The General Store's Facebook page:

It's with heavy hearts we're announcing that The General Store is closed. For the entire 4+ years we've been involved with this building we have been bullied by the landlords. The landlord has not paid his back taxes and the county is taking back the building. We want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for being more than just customers. We consider all of you friends.

Young & Hungry reached out to Clark for more details, and she sent us the following statement:

In 2006 we fell in love with this little blue building in Forest Glen. We knew we were working with landlords that were themselves in the business, so we were confident that they understood what could happen in this little place with us as the management team. Still, they offered to have their chef at Mrs. K’s teach me how to make fried chicken.

Looking at the mess it was inside did not deter us and we were determined to make a restaurant out of it. We were about two years into the renovation—the whole floor needed to be ripped up, although he dug out the basement (without permits) the landlord poured it two inches too short, PEPCO determined the power to be insufficient, and we later learned there was not enough parking to make it a restaurant anyway. Through all of this the landlord sued us. We spent tens of thousands in legal fees, and hundreds of thousands to avoid bankruptcy and finish this project. We knew that it would be great once it opened.

And it was—three times on the Food Network and over a million in sales in 26 short months with less than 40 seats. The landlord with two restaurants of his own nearby, could barely pay his bills and could not keep up with the payments to the lenders or his property taxes. The notice from the county about the back taxes was stapled to our door one morning. And shortly after that, the process server came to insist that we come in to landlord/tenant court to face charges that we were behind in our rent.

Considering our difficulty opening, and debt load associated with it; we made arrangements to pay a weekly rent that has been in effect for over a year. We were paying as agreed (the landlord even giving us a thumbs up to a creditor just weeks ago). He suddenly declared us in default and he wanted us to pay him an unfounded and ridiculous amount of money and he wanted it now. We fear he’s just not able to pay the debt and tax bills associated with the place and suing us and gaining possession of the property will make a much neater end for him. Nonetheless, he presented false documents in court and perjured himself to get the judge to see his side.

I am attaching before and after pictures so you can see what it is we did to this place and if he is able to run this restaurant after he takes possession of it (if you can’t make a restaurant of your own successful why not steal one) it will be because of our hard work and vision.

We are grateful and proud of having the opportunity to be The General Store and to serve this community as best as we were able. We took this eyesore of a building and made it something great.

So many others drove by it and crossed it off of their list (other chefs, architects, business people). We were undaunted and stubborn. At times we came close to giving up and sometimes I think maybe we should have turned away. But I’m proud of what we did here. We were plumb out of money but there was a knife to our backs to finish and open—attorneys, landlord, judges were folding their arms and tapping their feet. We tiled the floors, we painted, we got that walk-in together—8 feet tall walk in cooler in a 7 foot 11 inch high space. But it has been too much bullying from the landlord and we are just too old to keep fighting. I’m sure you noticed that Robin and I are IT. We are here 16 hours a day. We’ll get some rest now and concentrate on our other projects.

I hope the New General Store or whatever takes its place when the landlord gets someone else to lease the space, I hope it thrives for the sake of this community that has always been so generous and supportive.

Young & Hungry tried to contact the landlord in question, Spiro Gioldasis, without success. Montgomery County records show a lien on Gioldasis' property at 6 Post Office Road.

Photo of Gillian Clark at her former restaurant, Colorado Kitchen, by Darrow Montgomery

It's been nearly two years since Y&H first reported about Gillian Clark's Petworth project, the Georgia Avenue Meeting House, and since that time the chef's other planned eatery, Avenue Oven in Takoma Park, has gone the way of the Adventists.

Given the lack of news about the Georgia Avenue Meeting House, I'd begun to fear that it, too, may have suffered a premature death. Not so, Clark told me today.

"The ball is rolling," Clark says, "but very slowly."

She and her business partner, Robin Smith, lost almost a year to arranging the financing. Apparently the partners' funding source kept dragging out the process until one day, via e-mail, Clark and Smith learned that the source had dried up.

Clark says they now have the money, which will start rolling in once D.C. issues a building permit. Assuming she gets her permits in a timely manner, Clark thinks construction will not take long and fully expects a March 2011 opening date.

The restaurant will serve genuine soul food, Clark tells me with no small amount of irony. Everyone thinks the General Store, her American-oriented eatery in Silver Spring, already serves soul food, but now she finally will. Look for turtle soup, catfish, and frog legs, among other specialties, on Clark's menu.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

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

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

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

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.