When I first heard, via this NBC Washington report, that former Top Chef contestant Richard Blais was going to open a burger joint in D.C., I immediately thought: God, it’s come to this. Chefs are following Spike Mendelsohn’s lead.

But then I looked further into Blais’ concept at Flip Burger Boutique in Atlanta, the hamburger joint with the pretentious name and the cool concept. The operation combines Blais’ affection for molecular gastronomy with the foodstuff that Washingtonians seem to love more than even Wimpy does.

The molecular gastronomy side of Flip seems, for the most part, limited to the milkshake section of the menu (PDF), where the creamy drinks are flash frozen with liquid nitrogen and come in oddball flavors such as Krispy Kreme and (I kid you not) foie gras. Here’s what the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Meridith Ford wrote in her (I kid you not) four-star review of Flip:

Read More “Former Top Chef Contestant Blais to Open Flip Burger in D.C.” »

The First Lady has been the topic of foodie chatter on two fronts this week — first for her stop at Gramercy Tavern on Thursday, followed shortly thereafter with the launch of the “Michelle Melt” at Good Stuff Eatery.

Let’s see what the media had to say on these and other urgent foodie matters:

• Eater has the pics and Obama Foodorama has the insider deets on Michelle Obama’s lunch at Gramercy.
• The AP has the story on Spike Mendelsohn’s healthy new “Michelle Melt,” which categorically did not include any assist from assistant White House chef Sam Kass.
• Michael Birchenall breaks the news that Yannick Cam will soon be back on the dining scene.
• Thrillist has the details on the opening date of Mark Furstenberg’s G Street Food.
• The Washingtonian has learned who will take over the Olives space.
• Yours truly had the news on Taylor Gourmet II’s pending opening.
• Y&H also covered the opening of Eric Ziebold’s latest, Sou’Wester.

There’s no mistaking that Young & Hungry readers love their beer. They love it in a glass. They love it in a growler. And they love it in print. The single most-read item of the week — by a wide, wide margin — was Beerspotter Orr Shtuhl’s post on the inaugural D.C. Beer Week.

I predict it will remain a popular post for awhile, too. Because Shtuhl’s constantly updating it as new information arises. Keep it bookmarked.

Here’s what Y&H readers liked this week:

1. Another D.C. Beer Week? Yes, Please.
2. Strip Club Food: Not as Nasty as You’d Think
3. Spike Mendelsohn Evicted from His Capitol Hill Rental House (A surprise returnee to the list, likely due to the First Lady’s recent visit to Good Stuff Eatery.)
4. Birch & Barley Should Tap Its First Keg in September
5. Is the ‘Times’ Saying Anonymity Doesn’t Matter Anymore in a Dining Critic?
   

If Spike Mendelsohn had ever wondered whether his recent run-in with the law had put him in dutch with Michelle Obama, a documented fan of his burgers, then the First Lady answered it today when she revisited Good Stuff Eatery on Capitol Hill.

Obama Foodorama, Eddie Gehman Kohan’s indefatigable blog, reported that the First Lady made a return appearance to Good Stuff today, along with daughters Sasha and Malia and some White House staffers. It was Michelle Obama’s first public tasting of Good Stuff burgers since news broke in late May that Mendelsohn, along with business partner/roommate Mike Colletti, had been evicted from a Capitol Hill property for failure to pay more than $8,000 in rent and penalties.

The First Lady had previously hit up Good Stuff in early May, shortly before the eviction.

But perhaps Mendelsohn’s moves to make restitution were enough for the First Lady? Or maybe Michelle Obama feels some loyalty to Good Stuff because, as Obama Foodorama reported, Mendelsohn has been keeping the President stuffed with a steady supply of burgers?

Noted Ob Fo:

Read More “Spike Mendelsohn Is Still on the First Lady’s A-List Despite His Recent Legal Woes” »

Bill O’Reilly is all worked up about former President Clinton’s hypocrisy on healthy eating. I’d argue that food hypocrisy is just a natural part of the human experience: We know we should eat better, but we can’t keep our needy little paws off those burgers and fries. Far less forgivable is Clinton’s choice of patty providers: Z Burger.

Please allow Y&H to provide a plan of attack the next time you, Mr. Clinton, have a jones for a burger, fries, and shake: Stop at Central Michel Richard for the celebrity chef’s excellent burger and fries, then hop into the motorcade and go to Good Stuff Eatery for one of Spike Mendelsohn’s amazing, custard-based shakes, which you can treat as dessert.

As you can imagine, the news of Spike Mendelsohn’s eviction took center stage this week on the Y&H blog. No other item drew even a quarter of the readers. But now, there’s good news on the Spike front: The chef and his erstwhile roomie have started to pay back their landlord, with the promise of a full accounting soon. While we wait for that, check out the most-read posts of the week:

1. Spike Mendelsohn Evicted from His Capitol Hill Rental House
2. H Street Country Club Swings Open Tomorrow
3. D.C.’s Unofficial Beer Week (Thank You, Savor)
4. Atlantic Food Declares D.C. a Great Food City
5. Spike’s New Pizzeria Is Coming to Cap Hill. But First: Souvlaki!
   

This afternoon, Spike Mendelsohn and his erstwhile roommate, Mike Colletti, paid a visit to the property manager of the Capitol Hill rental home from which they were evicted last week and handed over half of the back rent and promised to cover the rest of their debt, the Good Stuff Eatery chef told Young & Hungry.

Around 4:30 p.m. today, Mendelsohn and Colletti handed property manager Joel Truitt a check for about half of the $8,700 in delinquent rent they owe to owners Brian and Elizabeth Wetzler, the chef said. The pair also laid out a written proposal to repay the remaining debt in $400 monthly installments. The proposal, Mendelsohn said, was really just a document to show everyone their intention to cover the debt.

In reality, the remainder will be “taken care of in two weeks,” Mendelsohn said. “We’re signed, sealed, and done.”

The chef said that Colletti had immediately called Truitt’s office on Tuesday, the first business day after Memorial Day, to make arrangements to clear up the mess. Mendelsohn said he was out of town on that day, but that he made sure Colletti “got his ass to the office” when it opened on Tuesday. The story of the eviction broke on Friday night, right at the beginning of the Memorial Day weekend.

Reached by phone, Truitt said that Mendelsohn and Colletti did give him a check today for half the back rent but that no formal agreement had yet been reached on how to pay the remaining debt. The burger men’s repayment proposal, according to Spike’s sister and Good Stuff spokeswoman Micheline Mendelsohn, calls for Brian Lacayo, another chef at the burger joint, to cover the outstanding debt in monthly installments. Lacayo was the man who, unbeknownst to the property manager and owners, moved into the Capitol Hill rental home after Spike Mendelsohn signed a second lease to live with his girlfriend.

Read More “Spike Mendelsohn and Mike Colletti Repay Half of Back Rent, Say They’re Good for the Rest” »

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
   

U.S. Marshals evicted Good Stuff Eatery chef and owner Spike Mendelsohn and his friend and business partner, Mike Colletti, from their Capitol Hill rental house this morning after the pair owed more than $8,000 to the landlords, said Joel Truitt, property manager for owners Brian and Elizabeth Wetzler.

When Marshals arrived at 9:30 a.m., they found neither Mendelsohn nor Colletti on the property. Instead, Truitt said, they found another man and woman apparently living there. “We don’t know who they were,” Truitt said. Marshals hauled the home’s possessions to the curb, including futons, a big-screen TV, and a table with eight chairs, the property manager said. The man found living there salvaged his own possessions, Truitt added, but allowed the rest of the stuff to be looted by people in the neighborhood.

News of the eviction comes not long after Mendelsohn started talking publicly about his takeover of Zack’s Taverna, next door to Good Stuff, and his plans to convert the joint to a pizzeria. He’s also been talking about expanding the Good Stuff brand.

Read More “Spike Mendelsohn Evicted from His Capitol Hill Rental House” »

From practically the day he opened Good Stuff Eatery on Capitol Hill, Spike Mendelsohn has been promising more outlets, which of course has only intensified the interest and speculation among his faithful. But as Y&H noted last week, Mendelsohn has his hands full with a number of other projects these days, including his planned pizzeria.

So is there still room in the Mendelsohn family portfolio for more Good Stuffs?

“I’m positive we’re going to be opening up many more in the near future,” Mendelsohn told Y&H last week. “I think I’ve learned that the concept belongs in urban areas, high-traffic areas.”

Mendelsohn proceeds to mention South Beach and Tokyo as possible locations. But what about the District and surrounding areas? Aren’t you planning to open more to keep up with the demand that Michelle Obama’s visit caused?

Read More “Where Will Spike Mendelsohn Open His Next Good Stuff Eatery?” »