The Georgetown Metropolitan

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Stephen Starr’s long awaited Italian restaurant, Osteria Mozza, is targeting a June opening.
• A peek into the new Greco restaurant. Anyone else try it out?

This week for Georgetown Time Machine, in honor of the new restaurant Greco moving in, I’m checking out the legendary: Au Pied de Cochon.

According to the Historical American Building Survey, this structure was constructed around 1890. Interestingly, the survey came to this conclusion based upon a 1960 interview with George Scheele from the Georgetowner. Scheele stated that he believed that the first business to occupy the new building was Robert Weaver who ran a meat market.

From then until 1928, the building hosted a series of grocers. After remaining vacant through 1929, Payne’s Millinery opened. It only lasted three years though. By 1934, the space was a restaurant, and has remained as such ever since.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• With the Caps and Wizards potentially leaving the Capital One Arena, questions about the future of the Hoyas are unanswered.
• Images of a major building conversion proposed for the waterfront.

The electric automaker Tesla is planning to open up a shop (dealership?) at 3307 M St., according to plans filed with the Old Georgetown Board. The news was first reported by DC Urban Turf.

Like the former District Donuts building I discussed yesterday, the building is owned by Eastbanc. (And will thus join the long list of Eastbanc tenants that I cannot afford to shop at.) It has been through a lot of different tenants over the past decade, including Duxiania, CB2, and even temporarily the Georgetown library.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Some business ins and outs.
• One of which is a new Tesla dealership (more on this later…)

District Donuts has closed its location at 3333 M St. The donut shop only just opened at this location last June. That came after years of occupying a spot on Cady’s Alley.

The message in the window is somewhat cryptic: “We are so sorry to share that we are closing this location down. We recently received an offer from another restaurant to buy this location so please stay tuned to what’s coming next!” I’ve asked around as to what is behind this, but I have not received the inside scoop. I was under the belief that Sweet Green–which opened its first location in this building–owned it. But maybe not. Records suggest its actually owned by Eastbanc (which owns the larger building it’s attached to). In either event, I don’t think it was owned by District Donut.

As soon as I hear more I’ll share!

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT – JANUARY 2024 

Since 1989, with strong support from the Georgetown community, Trees for  Georgetown^TM (TFG) has planted and cared for over 3,000 trees on the streets of  Georgetown. We have inoculated Elm trees on Q Street, prolonging their lives, and  have removed dead trees and stumps to make way for new trees. Our mission is  to maintain the street tree canopy on the residential streets of Georgetown. For 

many years, TFG worked with the Citizens Association of Georgetown (CAG) as  our fiscal agent, allowing tax-deductible donations to be made out to TFG through  their 501(c)(3) entity. CAG has recently informed the Trees for Georgetown  volunteer group that it is realigning its priorities and does not wish to sponsor our  group and its activities anymore. 

Accordingly, Trees for Georgetown is pleased to announce that Casey Trees, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that works to restore, enhance and protect the  tree canopy of Washington, DC through tree planting, education,  community action, and land preservation, has agreed to step in as our fiscal agent. 

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Nice flashback to when the canal had water in it when it froze and you could skate on it. Seems that they always drain it for winter these days sadly (probably for the better, repair-wise).
• Talk at the City Tavern Club next week on lingering impacts of the Iraq War.

After we finally got some substantial snow for the first time in years, I’ve decided to re-reun my post from 2016 on where the best sledding is around here, assuming/hoping we get more snow this winter:

A good blow of snow is in the forecast for this Friday. And if it is strong enough, you might be looking for a place to sled. But if you’re new to town, you might not know the best sledding hills. GM will help you out (at least for areas in and around Georgetown).

Probably the best location in Georgetown proper is the hill off the north side of Montrose Park (seen above). It’s fairly steep. The only tricky part is avoiding the giant tulip poplar that stands at the bottom of the hill. Steering ability is a must here.

The hill off of Reservoir Rd. just west of Georgetown Hospital also gets some use on snowy days. It’s not nearly as steep as the Montrose Park hill, but it’s much longer (if you can get your speed up).

For little tots, even the meager dips near the northwest corner of Volta Park can be enough. It may depend on the snow quality whether you’ll actually even get going at all there.

Beyond Georgetown, GM hears that Battery Kemble Park off Chain Bridge Rd. in Kent is a very popular spot. (ed. to add: I can say for a fact this is a great hill, albeit rather crowded)

Anyone have any other suggestions?

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Hopefully you didn’t miss it, but trash is getting picked up today despite the snow. Obviously it would normally be picked up Tuesday, but with MLK Day it got pushed back. The snow did not push it back any further. If you did miss it, the next trash day will be Saturday, again reflecting the MLK Day shift.
• Jack Evans is not running to challenge Brooke Pinto for the Ward 2 Councilmember seat.