1500 block of 28th St.
Stachowski Charcuterie Opens
Last week, Jamie Stachowski’s new charcuterie store opened in the old Griffin Market space, and its a fantastic new addition to the neighborhood.
Stachowski should be familiar to many east Georgetowners since he’s been bringing his sausages to the Rose Park Farmers market for years. Or maybe you saw him on the History Channel:
Right now, the market is just starting to fill out, but it’s already got a great selection:
On the right side are Stachowski’s sausages and cured meats, including drool-inducing whole logs of pancetta and prosciutto.
The left side has more traditional fresh meat. GM bought a nice skirt-steak cutlet, it was quite tasty.
GM asked Jamie what he planned to do with the big empty space in the center of the shop. He responded that he would add some seating for customers (the shop sells sandwiches and drinks). He also mentioned that they would likely sell cheese and other charcuterie-complimenting products. Continue reading
Filed under Around Town
The Morning Metropolitan
Photo by Terratrecking.
Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:
- OK, asking for ransom in the form of a dog, even when obviously kidding, seems like it might just start to get people to stop thinking the prank is cute anymore.
- GM hopes this doesn’t mean that East Banc will be less interested in doing deals in Georgetown.
Filed under The Morning Metropolitan
Now and a Long Time Ago: Potomac and M St.
This week on Now and a Long Time Ago, GM stops by M St. and Potomac. On this site sits the historic Georgetown Market. GM wrote about the history of this building a couple years ago:
As early as 1795 there was a market at what we now call 3276 M St. Throughout the 19th century the market waxed and waned. At times it was a produce market at other times it was a slave auction house. Eventually it was torn down and replaced in 1865 with the building that stands today. In the 20th century it saw almost steady decline. From 1945 until the 1970′s it housed Southern Distributors, an autoparts wholesaler (seen above in 1966). By the mid 1970′s it sat empty.
Interestingly, almost since the beginning the local government has owned the property. It was first conveyed to the Georgetown Corporation in 1803 and then became the property of the District when Georgetown was absorbed in 1871. It remains a District-owned property to this day.
As the quote states, the old photo above was taken the summer of 1966. In 1979, Western Development signed a lease with the city to run a farmers market in the building. After about 5 years of struggling, the market closed. It sat empty until 1992 when Dean and Deluca moved in.
While the lease for the building has bounced around various holders and subletters, the city still owns the property (it was originally built and owned by the municipality of Georgetown and ownership transferred to the city when Georgetown’s charter was revoked in 1871). Anyone fearful that the building could get redeveloped into some other use should be relieved to hear that the city is under a federal mandate to operate a market on the property. Continue reading
Filed under Now and a Long Time Ago
The Morning Metropolitan
Photo by Thisisbossi.
Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:
- Medstar denies that they are planning on moving the hospital. (For what it’s worth, GM is still confident a move is being considered and believes Medstar’s denial is born from not wanting to deal with the blowback until final plans are completed.)
- GM noticed that the top two floors of the old Garrett’s building is being converted into apartments. GM hasn’t heard so much as a whisper about the actual restaurant space though.
Filed under The Morning Metropolitan
Some Georgetown Perspectives on Liquor Moratoriums
Recently, a group has been formed of U St. residents and business to fight a possible liquor license moratorium along the newly bustling corridor. The move to impose a moratorium was so nascent that for a little while the media had no idea who was pushing for a moratorium in the first place. Despite the small size of the effort, the reaction has been swift and strong.
LeDroit Park blogger Eric Fidler weighed in yesterday with a list of reasons why a moratorium would be bad for the greater U St. neighborhood, including:
- It makes no distinction between “good” establishments and “bad” establishments
- A moratorium on liquor license is in effect a moratorium on new restaurants period
- It will reduce the need to provide good customer experiences
- It unfairly rewards current businesses over future businesses
- It sets the cap at an arbitrary level
- It doesn’t address the supposed problems put forward by those advocating for a moratorium (loud crowds, vandalism, etc.)
- It’s difficult to administer
It’s probably useful to consider the Georgetown experience with the moratorium when considering if one would make sense for U St.
Georgetown has had a moratorium since 1989. Right now, only about 70 liquor licenses can be issued to Georgetown bars and restaurants (liquor stores and hotels are not subject to the moratorium). Here are some of the results attributed to the long standing moratorium:
- Opening a new restaurant in Georgetown is more expensive than opening one elsewhere. On top of the higher rent, you need to purchase a liquor license on the secondary market from a license holder who no longer wants it. This has reportedly driven the cost of such licenses close to $100,000.
- Georgetown restaurants are pretty boring. No new exciting restaurant has opened since Hook did, and it’s closed already.
- Drunken revelry is only a problem in certain spots around the neighborhood.
So some of Fidler’s predictions have already come true in Georgetown. The moratorium cannot be waived for particularly “good” restaurants, the quality of the restaurants has not kept up with the dining renaissance seen in other neighborhoods, and the cap seems arbitrarily set.
Some of Fidler’s predictions for U St. have not come true for Georgetown. Restaurants have opened in Georgetown without obtaining a liquor license. They are more likely to cater to a lunch crowd, but a restaurant is a restaurant. And it isn’t really difficult to administer. The zone basically is everything south of Q St. Continue reading
Filed under ABRA
The Morning Metropolitan
Photo by NCinDC.
Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:
- Holy stramboli, GM did not see that giant inflatable Caps player on the same house that had the giant inflatable Santa.
- Don’t bother entering, the best mom in Georgetown is married to GM.
- Don’t forget, tomorrow morning there is a meet-and-greet with MPD officers and CAG block captains at Montrose Park at 9:30. You might be saying, “I’d love to go but that’s when I go out and buy my coffee and bagels”, but coffee and bagels will be provided!
Filed under The Morning Metropolitan
The Georgetown Metropolitan 
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