The Georgetown Metropolitan

The Washington City Paper announced yesterday that Bandolero has closed. This would appear to bring to close a long troubled history of restaurants at that location.

Jessica Sidman details the tumult that accompanied Bandolero’s last year. It had it’s liquor license protested by its own landlord in 2013. That same landlord started trying to evict them that same year. Mike Isabella, who was supposedly came up with the restaurant’s concept, quickly wanted nothing to do with it.

But the troubles preceded Bandolero. The owners of Bandolero, Jonathan and Bethany Umbel, owned the previous restaurant to occupy these properties: Hook.

Hook was the last restaurant to open in Georgetown and generate buzz until the most recent crop of buzzy restaurants finally came along (i.e. Chez Billy Sud, Grill Room, Fiola Mare). That was way back in 2008. And helming the ship was Barton Seaver, then a young hotshot chef preaching sustainability and conservation. Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Blues Alley is 50 years old!
• Some more detail on the $4.6 million condo flip.

3200 block of P St.

This week on Old Georgetown in Color, GM brings some color to a summer scene. It’s a photo of some boys swimming in the canal upstream from Georgetown. The Library of Congress dates the photo from somewhere between 1909 and 1919.

If it ever was safe to dive from Canal Rd. all the way to the canal, it sure isn’t anymore. You’d drive your head about three feet into muddy silt. While the canal was already on the decline when these boys gathered here, it was still running. So it was still being somewhat dredged.

Either way, this photo truly captures the incredible sense of freedom that only kids in summer ever really get to feel.

Photo by David Shen.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Another shout-out for Dog Tag Bakery.
• What to buy in Georgetown this weekend.

3200 block of Volta Place

Photo by Ehpien.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Almost half of all homes sold in Georgetown are paid with cash.
• Bistro Lepic reviewed anew stands up well against the young wippersnappers.

C & O Canal

This Saturday, the team excavating the site of Yarrow Mamout’s homestead will be offering talks throughout the day informing the public as to what they’re doing and what they’re finding. It’ll be a fantastic way to learn a bit about archeological digs and Yarrow himself.

Here’s an update GM received on the group’s initial findings:

Working by hand, the archaeologists and their tireless assistants have found a number of interesting artifacts at the dig site, some of which may be from Yarrow‘s era, including:

– a few clay pipe stems (note that Yarrow holds a pipe in the Simpson portrait),

– pottery/ceramic sherds,

– a small, metal object that could be a cufflink,

– some stacked stones that may be a foundation. The surprise was that they were found just below ground level, not much deeper as expected.

While these results are very promising, the archaeologists are limited by lack of equipment.  To date, donations have been slow, but we are optimistic that soon there will be enough to perform a basic ground-penetrating radar scan.  The next big hurdle will be finding funds for earth-moving equipment, which will be needed to get at any features showing up on the scan.  DC Archaeologist Ruth Trocolli estimates that we need an additional $5,000 to make this happen.

Continue reading →

Photo by Ehpien.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Julia Child’s home snapped up.
• An update on that homeless DC student who earned a full ride to GU.