Yung Park

Park's place, located about two blocks away from the nearest outpost of the Seattle java giant, brews up cups of the fancy Italian illy brand of joe. "It's smooth," he says. But his joint doesn't do the popular pour-over method ("I know that's a trend," he says—albeit one his coffee supplier isn't particularly fond of) or demonstrate its baristas' artistry with ornate designs in foam like, say, Filter or Peregrine Espresso.

Still, he says its slightly "more upscale" than Starbucks. He's right: A 16-ounce latte there costs a whole nickel more than its neighboring grande rival ($3.60 versus $3.55). And it tastes a bit less bitter, too.

His danishes, croissants and pies come from Hawthorne Fine Bakery in Severna Park, Md. And, of course, there's free wifi, too.

Four years ago, Park says he bought the century-old building that used to occupy that corner with the hopes of restoring it. An engineer instead recommended that he tear it down and build anew. "It took me a long time—and money," he says. The name of the two-level, 40-seat coffee house derives from the real estate digits assigned to the combined tracts on which it sits, which previously spanned two lots, he explains.

Park says he's confident that the developing neighborhood can support two coffee shops. He's particularly excited about the upcoming baseball season at nearby Nationals Park. "We might sell a lot of iced drinks," he says. "They need to win some games, though."

Lot 38 Espresso Bar, 1001 2nd St. SE, (202) 758-0677

Photos by Chris Shott

Tip: This is not a 'Zebra Mocha', nor is it a 'Penguin Mocha'

The Daily Meal on Monday released its "ultimate guide to Starbucks’ secret menu," threatening to expose all the java giant's exotic coffee combinations that only its coolest customers seem to know about.

Armed with this arsenal of unique-sounding orders, Young & Hungry stopped by a few Starbucks on Tuesday to test D.C. baristas on their classified coffee knowledge. It turns out, the secret menu is so secret that many of Starbucks' own employees don't know about it. Based on my experience, the guide could be more accurately titled, "How to bewilder the barista and alienate the rest of the line just trying to get coffee." But that's a little long.

Pity the poor cashier along P Street NW who had no idea that "Cake Batter Frappuccino" was simply a vanilla Frappucino with vanilla and almond syrup. The "Zebra Mocha" was an equally unsettling order that prompted him to call over a coffee comrade in arms. "I've worked here five years and I've never heard of that!" he remarked.

Undaunted by the prospect of slowing another line, Y&H headed over to a  Dupont Circle location to try again, this time in alphabetical order. The queries for a "Cake Batter Frappaccino," "Chocolate Dalmation," "Captain Crunch Frappaccino," earned me the accusation that I was "making this up!"

So I abandoned the hope that I was about to be inducted into an exclusive club wherein my barista and I would exchange knowing smiles over my drink order and skipped ahead to the Z's: "Zebra mocha?"

"Oh, I know that one. Black and white mocha!"

And 20 minutes later, my heavily sweetened drink arrived. It sort of resembled a hot chocolate with some coffee as an afterthought. No secrets there.

Photo by Megan Arellano

Short ribs and baby octopus may dominate many menus in the city, but that doesn't mean local chefs can't find love in an acorn squash. In our ongoing series, Chefs Veg Out, we'll prove D.C.’s chefs can play with more than just meat.

• Name: Sue Murray
• Title: I'm the cook.
• Gig: Suzy's Q Barbecue and Catering
• Social: Facebook
• Cooking Since: Oh, good grief. I've been cooking for as long as I can remember. Twenty-five years ago is when I started to be good; I wasn't always good.
• Random Fact: I used to be a world-class ping pong player: the Air Force champion in '76 in Wichita Falls, Texas. I played with some of the best in the world. And I used to be a bike messenger, which is how I got the name Sue, for Suicide Rider. It was the way I rode; I challenged traffic. And I wore a Japanese headband with the kamikaze sign on it. I've carried Super Bowl tickets and contraband.
• Favorite Vegetable: Peas. They're sweet and they make a really good sauce.
• Least Favorite Vegetable: Artichokes. Too much work.
• Memorable Meatless Dish: It was something like tofu, at d.c. space, a bar that was pretty much the home of D.C. hardcore years ago.  It's now a Starbucks.
• Best Vegetable Dish at Suzy Q's: Right now, it is grilled eggplant with garlic, feta and basil. I slice the eggplant and brush it with garlic oil that I make, flip it over and put on a slice of feta. I also add tomato, when in season. I grow them myself, as well as the basil.
• Quick and Dirty Meatless Idea: Grilled vegetable kabobs. I really love patty pan squash, pearl onions, small cherry tomatoes, button mushrooms and skewer on rosemary stalks. Season with olive oil, salt and pepper and, of course, a little garlic. Everything gets garlic.

Photo by Kirsten Fitrell

(Editor's note: This post originally incorrectly credited the photo to Aaron Gilmon)

Yes, But Will There Be Customer-Behavior Videos? Silver Spring's Pacci's Neapolitan Pizzeria will be opening up a sibling restaurant in the old General Store space in Forest Glen where Gillian Clark, her fried chicken, and her video production work once found a home. [Eater D.C.]

Smoothing Things Over: Oh, Spike Mendelsohn. He is clarifying his D.C.-is-a-second-tier-city comments that have gotten him into trouble this week. "There is nothing secondary about DC in my mind," says the cable television reality chef. Eh, there's always the Taste of Arlington! [People's District, The Hill Is Home, Eater D.C., D.C. Füd]

Libations: These desserts will get you drunk if you consume enough of them. [The Feast]

Excitement Buds in Bloomingdale: For those eagerly waiting updates on the development of the future Engine Company 12 restaurant on North Capitol Street: "Be patient, everyone — we will soon (in the not too distant future) have our very own wine & cheese bar (plus retail shop), courtesy of one of our very own Bloomingdale residents." [PoP]

Tips From Tom: You can use bartender tipping strategies at Starbucks! From Tom Sietsema's weekly chat, responding to an inquiry about tipping for carry-out service: "I periodically tip $5 to my favorite baristas at Starbucks and guess who gets his double espresso quickly even when there's a long line of java junkies in front of him? Definitely worth the outlay." [WaPo]

Tips for Your Herbs: "[T]here's nothing convenient about coming home with arms full of groceries, ready to cook your magnificent, herb-laden feast, only to find that your parsley and dill from three days ago have melted into a yellow-brown puddle of slime." So true! Here's a good primer on how to make the most of what you buy in the herb department. [Serious Eats]

Photo by Flickr user uchiuska using an Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license

Standard Bearer: Cable television reality culinary personality and Capitol Hill restaurateur Spike Mendelsohn is representing the District in Eater's national best burger contest. [Eater D.C.]

Openings: A new bar/restaurant opened up in the Crystal City Marriott. Yay. [ARLNow]

On the Spot: The Washington Post's food editor, Joe Yonan, tries to name his favorite restaurant in the greater Borderstan region: "Okay, I’m going to narrow it down to just two, because that’s how I roll. Quick/easy weeknight: Bar Pilar. Splurge: Komi. Duh." [Borderstan]

Watch Your Belongings: Hanging out at Starbucks gives patrons "a false sense of security." [Eater Nat'l]

Next Step? Food Truck? Two bloggers are "joining creative and culinary forces" and will sell pies and tarts at the 14th & U Farmers' Market. [Metrocurean]

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

In the Baguette:  Paul, the Parisian bakery, cuts the ribbon on its first U.S. location flagship (pictured) right here in D.C. So what if it's a chain? [Greater Greater Washington]

Presidential Pickle: Which fancy burger would Obama like best? [Eater DC]

The Burger Bridge: Brooklyn is beginning to look a lot like Arlington, with D.C.-area chain Five Guys outpacing Shake Shack in outer-borough expansion. [Grub Street]

Venti, Venti Big: Starbucks is now more ubiquitous than Wendy's and Burger King. [USA Today]

Talk About Leftovers: Kimpton Hotels' 10 D.C.-area restaurants composted more than 408,000 pounds of food scrap last year. [MSNBC]

Photo courtesy of Paul bakery

For the first time in three weeks, the Rogue States trial didn't dominate blog traffic. Instead, y'all favored a mix of subjects, from Starbucks' plan to start selling alcohol to a four-star restaurant that lost its cache to the ongoing fascination with the sale of the Brickskeller.

Hmm, I'm thinking the ultimate traffic-generating blog item would look something like this: Starbucks buys the Brickskeller and transforms it into a four-star gastropub, complete with Chicago hot dogs and strippers. Lindsay Lohan is a regular — and drunk all the time.

I'll get to work on that. In the meantime...

1. Starbucks Goes for Bar Bucks by Selling Beer
2. Tap Lessons: Advice for the Brickskeller's New Owners
3. The Family Guise: Two New Italian Eateries Take Radically Different Approaches
4. Changing Tables: Chicago Dogs Headed to D.C.
5. How Did CityZen Go from Four Stars to No Show in WaPo's Dining Guide? Sietsema Explains.

Photo by Bill Roehl via Flickr/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

Each new store will be LEED certified, meaning the building meets standards by the U.S. Green Building Council. But the locavore-friendly theme doesn't stop with energy-efficient lighting. According to a corporate rep in the video, Starbucks will work with communities to find recycled materials and partner with local artists. The new Seattle store is furnished with chairs salvaged from the University of Washington campus and a table made from flooring from a local high school. Burlap sacks once used for Starbucks coffee decorate the walls.

Along with alcohol as a new menu item, Starbucks will add savory dishes like local cheese plates and cured meats served on china instead of plastic. They also have plans to host performances by local performers. If the lab store does well, Starbucks could be turning more of their locations nationwide into similarly redesigned neighborhood coffee-house/bars.

What do you think about Starbucks carrying regional craft beer as well as lattes and pastries? Can you see yourself winding down in one of their renovated locations?

UPDATE: What's on the new Starbucks store's beer list after the jump.

The pilot store currently has three bottled beers: Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale, Pyramid Hefeweizen, and Peroni. Peroni is an Italian beer owned by South Africa-based beer giant SABMiller and imported by MillerCoors. Pyramid is a Seattle brand but was recently purchased by Rochester-based North American Brewers, owners of Labatt. Deschutes Mirror Pond is an award-winning pale ale from a well-respected independent Oregon brewery. The small and questionable selection is lackluster to hopeful craft beer fans for sure, but many are likely to think it is better than Starbuck's last attempt at selling beer. What do you think?

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NBCWashington broke the news yesterday with prose that bordered on the orgasmic: Pinkberry is coming to D.C.! (I'm not sure how many exclamation points to include here, but the general tone of the item merits at least four, I think.) Now understand, the item names no location, not even a neighborhood. Just the promise of a Pinkberry, the chain that launched a thousand fro-yo imitators after just five short years in business.

You'll have to excuse me if I yawn as this dustbunny of a breaking news item drifts by.  Allow me to provide you with five reasons I couldn't care less about Pinkberry's arrival in the District:

1. The Chain That Yanked Our Chain. Two years ago, Pinkberry's real estate coordinator, Lucas Junkin, yanked our chain about the possibility of the fro-yo chain entering the D.C. market. "D.C.'s a priority, compared with our other upcoming locations," Junkin bullshitted Express Night Out. "It's not going to be long before it opens." Months later, the Washington Business Journal revealed what kind of wusses these Pinkberry executives are.

2. The Yogurt That Wasn't. For years, it wasn't even clear if Pinkberry's product could technically be called frozen yogurt. People sued over whether this "Swirly Goodness" was actually yogurt or even all natural and non-fat.  The state of California apparently deemed it something other than yogurt, which caused the Pinkberry folks to go all Swirly Crazy and perhaps even to scuttle plans to open a store in D.C. because they needed to learn how to, you know, make real yogurt.

3. The Name that Shall Not Be Spoken. Pinkberry calls its product "Swirly Goodness" and "Chilly Bliss." If I already refuse to call a "medium" coffee at Starbucks a "grande," I'm definitely not using these terms.

4. The Fro-yo Ov-yo-load. Mr. Yogato. TangySweet. Sweetgreen. FroZenYo. Yogen Fruz. Yogiberry. Caliyogurt. Serve-yourself yogurt shops. Environmental yogurt shops. Sustainable yogurt shops. Locally sourced yogurt shops. Yogurt shops on wheels. Like liquor licenses in Dupont Circle, I think it's time the city put a moratorium on yogurt shops.

5. We Don't Need Your Stinking West Coast Validation. There may have been a day when your laid-back, daze-on-the-beach El Lay vibe would have appealed to us overworked wonks with our never-ending search for power, but these days, you're more Lindsay Lohan than Lady Gaga. Your time is so over. Besides, look around us. We've got Eric Ripert here. BLT Steak. Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Alain Ducasse. And Danny Meyer is headed our way. We're obviously New York's bitch. Not yours.

You want another perspective on this? I asked online producer Emily Kaiser for one. She's actually tasted your product. Her take:

Pinkberry is often referenced as the store to launch the upscale frozen yogurt trend into the American mainstream, with people waiting in lines 20-30 deep just for a taste of what soon became known as "crackberry". Once celebs like Paris Hilton started flocking to the stores for their tart fro-yo topped with fruit, candy and nuts, the stores became a must-visit in LA and NYC. Just like the D.C. cupcake mania, it wins fans by taking a previously boring and simple dessert, turning it fancy, and charging a lot of money for it.

There is something crack-like about Pinkberry, but it's not worth standing in long lines for. The original flavor is still a must-try for fro-yo fans and the consistency is spot on. During a visit to one of their LA locations last year, their brand still stood up as one of the better fro-yo options around. Pinkberry may have started the craze, but it's not hard to replicate. Unfortunately Pinkberry is hitting D.C. three years too late. Give it a try, but we wouldn't plan to ditch the local brands just yet.

Photo by VirtualErn via Flickr Creative Commons, Attribution License

The Daily Beast has crunched some numbers and determined which U.S. cities have the most caffeine running through their veins. As you might have predicted, the Pacific Northwest is the jumpiest among us. Seattle comes in first with 35 coffee shops per 100,000 residents, followed by Portland with 28.

The District slips in at No. 11, with a seemingly minuscule 12 coffee shops per 100,000 residents.

Then again, we need to put this in context. Like in other areas, D.C. has historically been a segregated coffee town. Remember all the media hoopla when Big Chair Coffee N' Grill opened earlier this year in Anacostia? I mean, seriously, we as a city should have been embarrassed that the opening of a coffee shop would merit such attention; it says as much about our neglect as it does our progress.

But I digress.

I think if Daily Beast had taken a Politico view of the District, we would rank right up there with our jittery brethren in Seattle. I seriously doubt that, when it comes right down to it, anyone in the nation gulps down more coffee than the hard-working wonks of our own Northwest.