Studio 85 Valentine's Day Sale

53 Florida Avenue Unit A  NW DC
FEBRUARY'S NAIL GLOSS PICK!! "2 TAT 2"   Click here to get yours today at MyStudio85.com           Upcoming Events    Drop by DIY: Shoe Clips 2/19/12   hosted by  Khia Rhodes	Join us for our   Valentine's SALE Event!   Get Social.     Dear Tamika, We want to cordially invite you to our  V-Day SALE Event!!   Saturday, February 11th 2012.   *  BUY A TOP, GET A    FREE S85 INK NAIL GLOSS   * CANDLES 2 FOR $24   * EVERYDAY SALE        ITEMS UP TO 25% with  coupon   And to show our endless   appreciation....   * TREATS &  SPARKLING CIDER    PLEASE JOIN US FOR OUR ALL DAY SALE EVENT STARTING THIS SATURDAY12PM- 7PM!!!         S85 NEWS! Check out our latest mention in the February issue of the Washingtonian...Grab yours today!!
Save 25% Bring in this coupon and receive 25% OFF any one item in store. Artwork & Designer Items not included. Join us Saturday 2/11/12  for extra in store savings!! Pass it on! #ART&LOVE   Offer Expires: February 14, 2012

sorry -- no liquor license, dog feces or neighborhood retail posts today !

Sorry that the last post on the future of two neighborhood Howard University dormitory buildings does not mention anything about new or existing neighborhood retail establishments - or about liquor licenses - or about dog feces.

I promise to try to do better!

1322-1330 North Capitol Street NW will be Razed

the Bloomingdale (for now) blog wrote about the buildings here.


Look at this post about what will replace them
did you guess condos before you clicked? me too.

Thoron Development’s Dunbar Place, a five-story 29 unit condominium building will fill the space.

more talk about the firehouse..you know.. the martini sushi pizza tapas waterslide place.

a developers agent vlogs about the firehouse on north capitol

Olsson's on 7th Street got the boot?

i'm told that Olsson's on 7th street in the landsburg building is closing. Apparenty they are getting kicked out because some business offered to pay twice as much rent.

How about moving to north capitol Olsson's?

Timor Bodega

You've been to Timor Bodega, right?




MON-FRI 4PM-9PM
SAT: 9:30AM-8PM
SUN: 9:30AM-6PM

Target

am i the only one thats not that excited about Target in Columbia Heights?

i've hit the one in Potomac Yards, the one in College Park, the one in Hyattsville. i dont avoid target, but i'm also happy to go the few blocks to national wholesale liquidators. i'm just a bit non plussed by Target. i've got plenty of plastic stuff as it is.


thats not to say i'm not happy that DC is on the radar of stores, i just figure theres lots of stuff nearby, and i'd much prefer different things than more of the same, but slighty closer. hopefully it'll keep buckets of tax money in the district and that money will fix the schools, and add to transit infrastructure. and get more police coverage.

and maybe a city funded arts center.



anyway, i'm not meaning to be down on target, i'm sure i'll go there eventually, but i'm just a bit tired of reading about how people dont have to go to the "suburbs" to buy affordable t-shirts. there are places, they just don't have Michael Graves toasters.

timor bodega

See this message from Kim Wee, proprietor of the Timor Bodega, 2nd & Rhode Island Avenue NW.


What's New:

Eco-Friendly Foods--run by a protege of Joel Salatin for those of us who are familiar with The Omnivore's Dilemma--has restocked the store with quite a variety of cuts. Included are pork ham steaks, loin roast, pork belly, beef ribeye steak, london broil and even a big 100-day aged Red Devon Ribeye roast.

There is also ground chicken, lamb and beef and various sausages. The beef and pork are from breeds of heritage, are not available in grocery stores due to limited supply. But you can get them in your own neighborhood alright.

Beer: Samuel Smith's Organic Ale is a must-try for a fruity, almost cidery ale. Plenty of choices for the "hop-heads" though: Double-Daddy IPA, Lagunitas Maximus and Stone IPA among others.

Wine: Organic Pinot Grigio and Cote du Rhone are back, along with a Chardonnay from Bodega Lurton, whose Malbec and Pinot Gris were well-received.

Coffee: We're getting through the last of the syrupy, earthy Balinese coffee this weekend. Up next: a Brazil estate batch.

Weekend Schedule:

Saturday:
Whatsa Bagel Bagels, store open 8:30am-8pm

Sunday:
Atwaters bread, store opens at 9:30am-7pm

Produce from Truck Patch Farms: spring mix, baby spinach etc.

Other organic produce all weekend:
Green beans, celery root, parsnips, rutabagas and mushrooms.

zaatar w zeit, is DC ready for a 24 hour man'oushe place?

man'oushe is one of my favorite foods in the universe. sadly there is no place i know of to get them hot and fresh in dc. i keep encouraging my brother in law to open up a franchise of Zaatar w Zeit, my favorite place to eat in Beirut. Its a really terrific 24 hour restaurant when you can get great man'oushe.
here is a good description of Man'oushe
or the wikipedia page






I really cant imagine a better lunch place for all those NPR, XM, ATF and DOJ workers, or an afterhours grub place after Ibiza or Fur. Its far better than Jumbo Slice.
Surely someone wants to open up a place on North Capitol.

its a gold mine waiting to happen.


*sigh*
i know someone, somewhere in dc clicked on this page, all excited they could get their fix locally. maybe hundreds of thousands. its just that good. Not yet, man, but someday.








i'd take a Barbar too, but its not as cozy.

Windows Cafe Wine Tasting

Mr. Abeje advises that there will be a wine-tasting event tomorrow afternoon, Saturday, March 22, 2008, at Windows Cafe -- from 4 pm to 7 pm.

There will be both red and white wines.

Plus cheeses and other snacks.

So stop by and participate!

Artomatic in NoMa!

For immediate release

NoMa BID media contact: Artomatic media contact:

Leslie Braunstein Marina Reiter

703-234-7762 202-271-4748

info@lhbcommunications.com reiter.marina@gmail.com

Artomatic Comes to NoMa May 9–June 15, 2008

Up to 800 artists and 50,000 visitors expected in
D.C.’s most exciting new neighborhood

The NoMa (north of Massachusetts Avenue) Business Improvement District (BID) will host this year’s Artomatic, the Washington, D.C. area’s homegrown art extravaganza. From May 9 through June 15, 2008, up to 800 local and regional artists will exhibit their works on eight floors of the Capitol Plaza 1 building, located at 1st and M Streets, N.E., just one block from the New York Avenue Metro station.

Held regularly since 1999, Artomatic transforms an unfinished indoor space into an exciting and incredibly diverse arts event that is free and open to the public. In addition to displays and sales by hundreds of artists, the event features free musical, dance, and theater performances; holiday celebrations; films; educational presentations; and much more.

This year’s Artomatic, occupying 200,000 square feet at Capitol Plaza 1, will be the largest to date. Designed by renowned architect Shalom Baranes and owned by an affiliate of The Polinger Company, Capitol Plaza 1 offers 293,000 rentable square feet of Class A office space, with dramatic Capitol and city views from the upper floors.

“We are thrilled to partner with Artomatic in an event that will bring tens of thousands of people to NoMa,” said Elizabeth Price, president of the NoMa BID. “It is a great opportunity to showcase the transformation that is underway in NoMa and infuse it with the energy and creativity of the artistic community.”

"Artomatic has come back to its roots in D.C. with our largest event ever,” said George Koch, Chair of Artomatic. “We are excited about our partnership with the NoMa BID and their help in bringing this new space to our attention. Artomatic 2008 will have an abundance of exhibit and performance space that will be open to all — from recognized artists to undiscovered talents.”

Registration for artists and performers who wish to participate in Artomatic will be open soon. To stay up to date on the event details and schedule, visit www.artomatic.org and sign up to receive the Artomatic newsletter.

###

About the NoMa BID:

NoMa is an emerging mixed-use neighborhood north of the U.S. Capitol and Union Station in Washington, D.C. Private developers have invested almost
$2 billion in 2007–2008 alone, with plans to develop more than 20 million square feet of office, residential, hotel, and retail space in the 35-block area covered by the NoMa BID over the next 10 years. For more information about the BID, including an interactive development map, see the BID Web site at www.nomabid.org.

About Artomatic:

Artomatic is a creative community that collaborates to produce and present a free arts spectacular. Participation is open to all, from recognized artists to undiscovered talents, who work in a variety of arts forms. In partnership with the development community, Artomatic transforms unused building space into a playground for expression, serves as a catalyst for community growth in up-and-coming neighborhoods, and helps to grow our creative economy. The nonprofit Artomatic organization is headed by a volunteer Board of Directors and is funded in part by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, an agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information, visit www.artomatic.org.

harris teeter in NoMa

you know, every time i go to the Giant at Brentwood Shopping Center i vow to never go there again.

i like cooking a lot and i like shopping for food. i go to lots of different places and am not really a big fan "one stop shopping". i try to go to area farmers markets, the florida avenue markets, trader joes, grand mart, shoppers, safeway, whole foods, even costco, glut, a couple of the indian markets in langley park, timor bodega, etc.. i hit them all. but really i only go to the giant when i'm already picking up stuff from home depot, or if i need something quickly, because its the most convenient grocery store to my house.

But at the end of 2010 i wont have to make my convenient runs to giant anymore. i'll have a new grocery store thats closer that i can complain about:

Harris Teeter. will be opening a store at First and M NE.






hopefully it wont be as expensive as the ones i've been to in virginia. ; )

any way check out the great renderings of Constitution Square here
and the official announcement on the NoMa BID site

this is the lot in this picture

EC-12: Is there a restaurateur in the house?

Here is a sad and frustrating message from Konrad Schlater, Special Assistant in the
Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development

All:

We had hoped to close on the sale of the fire station to NextGen Development by the end of the 2007. Unfortunately, due to lack of performance by the developer under our sale contract we did not proceed to closing on the sale as planned.

The developer has been spending a lot of time, money, and effort to push this project forward. However, the developer has failed to execute an agreement and lease with a restaurant operator - a necessary pre-condition for our sale of the building. As you may know, the original proposed operator, Mike Benson, moved back to North Carolina and abandoned the project a little over a year ago leaving the developer without a restaurant operator. Over the past two months, NextGen has been in serious negotiations with Twyla Garrett of IME Services, an LSDBE firm headquartered on North Capitol Street, to act as the restaurant operator. Ms. Garrett is just now preparing to open a restaurant with a very similar restaurant concept in Cleveland, Ohio. I have spoken with IME Services and they are very serious about this project.

Due to NextGen's failure to meet their commitments to the District under the sales contract, we have notified them that they are in default of our contract. The developer has 30 days to cure its default under the agreement. If the developer is not prepared to close on the sale, the District will have the option to terminate the agreement, restructure the terms, or find an alternative solution. It is our sincere hope that we can proceed to closing on the sale with the developer shortly. Brian Brown of NextGen Development has already completed designs for the project, obtained permits for the exterior work on the building, and lined up the necessary financing - and we are tantalizingly close to starting construction work on the firehouse. A deal between NextGen Development and IME Services represents the best hope for a prompt and successful development of the firehouse.

I can assure you that the Deputy Mayor's office along with Councilmember Thomas and his staff have been giving this project close attention and we will not take our eye off the ultimate goal, which is removing the blight of the abandoned building and replacing it with high quality neighborhood-serving retail.

I'd be happy to provide ANC5C with an update any time. Please give me a call if you have any questions about this email or the project generally.

Thanks,

Konrad Schlater
Special Assistant
Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development
(w) 202-727-6934

Today in Bloomingdale- Holiday Art Market-

Local Artists, designers, and craftspeople will be selling their unique creations at the Big Bear Cafe on December 1, from 3- 9 PM.

Vendors Include:
Jesse Walker


Patricia Lee
Moira McCauley
Sean Hennessey
Rania Hassan
Debbie Lee


Kristina Bilonick





A. Drauglis

north cap and florida

Urban metro diary has got a story about the proposed development of the vacant lot at the intersection of North capitol and florida avenue nw.

look here.

Bloomingdale Holiday Art Market at the Big Bear Cafe!

Bloomingdale Holiday Art Market at the Big Bear Cafe!
Saturday, December 1, 3-9pm
Arts, crafts, hot cider, fun!



DC artists, designers, and craftspeople will be selling their creations at the Big Bear Cafe on December 1st.
Please come and check it out.



Please Help Us Spread the Word!

mark your calendars! Saturday December 1. 3-9 PM at the Big Bear

for bloomingdales first holiday art's market.
DC artists and crafts people and designers.

keep an eye out for more info!

noma, the video. want a vision of the future?

here is a video from the NoMa Bid.

anyone like it?

North Capitol Street Business District

Charting the Future of the North Capitol Street Business District

Thursday, June 21, 2007, 7pm to 9 pm, at McKinley Tech High School, 151 T Street NE

You spoke out loudly and clearly - Over 200 residents spoke out in the North Capitol Main Street (NCMS) survey

Results are in - Hear what neighbors say are the "key" obstacles to a vibrant business community and learn why:
Neighbors rarely patronize neighborhood businesses
What type of retail and restaurant options are most desired in the community
Talk back to local businesses - Learn what neighborhood businesses say are major challenges to doing business in the community

Learn from small business experts - Michael Shuman is a nationally recognized small business expert ... teaching small businesses how to compete ... helping to create vibrant communities

an interesting thread about customer service

taken from the comment section at frozen tropics:
Customer service is a HUGE problem in DC, not just on the Hill (but I think it's especially bad on the Hill). I've got several friends that have travelled extensively throughout the US and the world. Each one of them tells me that by and large DC has the worst customer service of nearly any city they've spent much time in.




There is a thread over at frozen tropics about the improperly named "Clothing Cafe", which isnt a cafe at all. Whats interesting is the talk of customer service in DC.

I certainly have also noticed the poor service in DC. As a business owner myself, i take great pains to ensure the happiness and satisfaction of my clients. As a former waiter, barista,cook and bus boy i have worked in places that demanded excellent customer service. I never thought it was hard to deliver. Jump over to Baltimore and you get treated excellently, even at crappy places. DC? not so much.

I certainly don't go back to places where i was treated poorly. Except for the Argonaut, cuz only one waitress was bad and i'll just sit at the bar if she's working. everyone else there rocks.


Happily, i've had outstanding service at bloomingdales own Big Bear Cafe.