The Georgetown Metropolitan

Photo by Jason Vines.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Nice profile of the pasta chef the works in Filomena’s window.
• Cat cafe opening in June.

Key Bridge

The Georgetown liquor license moratorium is broken and we’ll continue to get mediocre bars and restaurants, or none at all, until we fix it.

Even a cursory review of the recent liquor license history in Georgetown supports this conclusion:

In 2012, after business and community leaders reached an agreement, the city reauthorized the liquor license moratorium but added an additional seven licenses to the cap. This was done in recognition that seven licenses had “left” Georgetown since the moratorium began and thus the cap was even lower than when the moratorium was enacted. It was also done with the express hope that “new blood” would be good for the restaurant scene, which most agreed had grown stale.

What happened to these new licenses? Pretty much nothing. Six went to restaurants that have either since closed or never opened in the first place. The only license that remains in use is the license to Paul Bakery, which was already open before it acquired the license.

In 2014, ABRA released four additional licenses that had been turned in. What happened to those? So far, again, pretty much nothing. None of the planned restaurants have opened. For instance, there was supposed to be a brick oven pizza restaurant at 1419 Wisconsin Ave. Amazon Andes left months ago, there’s a for rent sign and no sign of any restaurant construction.

And yesterday ABRA announced four more licenses were now going to be available. The BID cheered this news, writing:

In the past year several critically acclaimed concepts opened their doors in Georgetown, including Fiola Mare (led by James Beard award winner Fabio Trabocchi), Chez Billy Sud (from restauranteurs Eric and Ian Hilton), and a revamped Grill Room (led by James Beard award winner Frank Ruta). These debuts drew Washington Post editor Tom Siestma’s conclusion that restaurant happenings in the neighborhood are “looking skyward.”

Those three restaurants have definitely attracted a lot of attention and changed many people’s opinion of whether Georgetown is still a place for fine dining. Continue reading →

Photo by Paul Goddin.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Lots of the most expensive homes sold recently, have been in Georgetown.
• A memo to Christopher Waltz as he adapts the life of Albrecht Muth.

Potomac River

The Washington Post reported over the weekend that Councilmember David Grosso, the chair of the Education Committee, has modified the mayor’s proposed school construction timeline and Hyde-Addison looks to benefit from it.

The city has been planning an addition to Hyde for over five years. Once built, it will finally provide the school with a gym and a appropriately sized cafeteria and library. It will also provide needed additional classroom space.

The proposal finally received design approvals this spring, but time ran out to begin construction this June (construction needs to start when school is out). So the community was expecting a June 2016 start, with construction finishing by fall 2017. Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Silva.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Famed college campus-aficionado visits GU.
• Lots of crazy fermented eatables available at Pizzeria Paradiso tonight.

Potomac River

In March, the Friends of Rose Park formally requested that the city consider renaming the park’s tennis courts after the Peters sisters, who grew up in Georgetown playing on the courts before they went on to highly successful professional careers. Jack Evans took that recommendation and ran with it; legislation is moving forward to carry out the recommendation.

On June 3rd, the Council will hold a hearing on the bill. All are welcome to testify. GM is aware that the Friends of Rose Park will have a representative speaking in favor of the bill. There’s really not likely to be any objections to the bill, but it’s still worthwhile to voice support. Continue reading →

Photo by Ehpien.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• DDOT director reiterates his agency’s intention to bring the streetcar to Georgetown.
• The Popal family opened Lapis in Adams Morgan, which was what they had once planned to open here in Georgetown.