Pool Boy
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Recent Restaurant Closings - More Than Usual?
Pool Boy replied to Andelman's topic in Events and Gatherings
From my less knowledgeable point of view, I think restaurants often make bets on real estate and locations where they THINK they can afford and make a buck IF their hunch is right (people moving in with disposable incomes they are willing to spend). I remember my wife and I wanting to go to Masseria (delicious. but expensive and see no reason to go back) , I had no idea it was in the food warehouse district that Union Market had dived in to. It seemed at least party crazy, but given the building activity there now, it seems smart. By the time all of the building finishes up in a location, those leases come up for renewal at far, far higher rents, and these restaurants either close or have to move - no easy choice. The only thing that can keep a restaurant in a location for a long time is if they own the property, right? -
Having been on vacation overseas for the last 2 weeks, it was hard to keep tabs on the Caps (Scotland on the NC500 has pretty spotty wireless coverage, and even when we got good coverage or wifi, it would be at times where we wee asleep). Still, if either my wife or I woke up and saw something worthy, we'd wake the other one up to celebrate or wince at a loss or a bad call. This is a pretty exciting time to be a Caps fan for sure. Nothing is certain, as any Caps fan will surely tell you.
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I can recommend these two as we just dined there in the pat week-- The Quality Chop House Elystan Street Elystan Street is more high end but I went in jeans at was fine. Really excellent meal. #1 of the trip. Quality Chop House is more casual but the food was great, the service super, and more interesting wine list and cocktails program. We loved it. Probably #3 meal of the trip. Sadly, our experience at St. John this go around was a disappointment. It was not bad at all, it was still a tasty meal. But I thought a couple of the dishes was a bit out of balance (think ratios/proportions of things to each other more than anything). Nothing really wowed me except the desserts. <sigh> Separately, we had breakfast twice at one of the Dishoom branches - really fun and delicious. Next time we will absolutely make time to get here for lunch or dinner. Very much recommended. I will post pictures hopefully tomorrow.
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I honestly would not rebuild I were in that situation. Enough is enough. Besides, to truly resolve the situation, it would likely involve tens of millions of dollars and years of effort to address correctly. And honestly, even then whatever they would do, if they did, may not be enough to handle ever more intense storms.
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Back from a trip that was mostly to Scotland (Inverness->Wick->Durness->Ullapool->Torridon-->Portree (Isle of kye)->Inverness->London) - basically the North Coast 500 with a few days of London bolted on to the end. We had some great experiences overall and I'll report back soon. The seafood is quite great. While experiences vary at all levels (high end low end and everywhere in btween), there are good purveyors out there at each price point. The folks are warm and friendly and the food, beer, wine, and whiskey are good. Some generalizations - The Scottish folks need to learn to season with salt a bit more aggressively Seafood is excellent pretty much all around in Scotland Beers and Whisky are better overall than wine selections (but some gems are to be found there as well) - but, curiously, cocktails seemed to be generally an afterthought (this even is relevant to our small sample size of 3 dinners in London). One notable thing - our meal at St. John in London (original location) was honestly a disappointment but I will save that for the London thread.
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Thanks for the updates - it sounds like I need to get back here again soon as well.
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I keep meaning to get back to Hazel. I've discovered that I have to plan a few weeks ahead to get a table reservation at close enough to the time I want though - something I keep failing to do. Argh! One of these days I will remember to plan ahead.
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The only places I have been a true regular and felt like everybody knew me and so on was Palena. Mirabelle is similar, but I have not yet had enough time to develop the relationship with the FOH staff. Separately, the folks at the carry-out counter at Pasta Plus in Laurel also know me well.
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I actually prefer making Jeni's ice creams at home from her ice cream cookbook from several years ago. I like getting it 'fresh' from a Jeni's location of course, and I certainly buy it at the grocery store when I need a fix and am unable to make it myself or get in to DC to get it fresh, but I really do prefer to make it at home when I have the time to indulge in said making.
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It's in Virginia (I'm in MD). While I work in Ballston, I rarely make the extra effort to meander for food over that way during the week and it would require a LOT of good reason to make the MD to VA trek on a weekend. But that is just me. Good to know. If I'm in the rea for some other reason, good to know there is good pizza there.
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This is a bummer. I really liked my meals at Casa Luca. I also liked my one meal at the Sfoglina I have had. And, while I am theoretically glad there will be more than one Sfoglina to take the pressure off of the one they have now, making it easier to get a table on shorter notice (I hope), I am sad to lose Casa Luca. :(
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Dude I agree on both counts. I've had the absolute good fortune to dine at Le Bernardin twice, and both experiences were exceptional. That said, Frank Ruta is still at my culinary core.
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- Midtown West
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We tried to secure a booking at the Inn as well - we're certainly going to do our best to at least dine there.
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This is sort of a modern variation of a tune, but despite that it is lovely.
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Mike Isabella and Partners Sued for "Extraordinary'" Sexual Harrassment
Pool Boy replied to Deac's topic in News and Media
So what the insurer is admitting to in forcing their insured party is that there is enough meat on the bone to make it go long and cost a lot. So there's something there. Maybe not absolute guilt but enough uncertainty that the insurance company doesn't want the exposure. The business transaction is on the part of the insurance company, not the insured that is being sued, at least in part. Given the number of people that have come forward and the details the Washington Post was able to dig up, you have to admit there is a mess here and at the core is Isabella. -
All of these series are long. 7 games happens a lot. Look at the Caps dropping 2 to Columbus to start, at home, and then went on to win it anyway. Tampa Bay could do the same to the Caps. It is playoff hockey and really anything can happen. But man, I like how the Caps have played these first two games in this series.
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Never used one of these services, probably never will.
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Point 1/21 - I am sure they are doing their homework. But, at least for apartment buildings (not condos), even with homework, you are, in essence, building it and hoping they will come? Sorry but had to be a little cheeky here. Point 3 - Entirely possible - that said, the jury is out until the kids hit school age. That is usually when the parents decide that they can either afford private schools in order to stay in the city, or instead go to where the best public schools are if they cannot afford i (or do not want to, say, for instead saving for college for the kid). Point 4/5 - I think you misread my point. I was suggesting that millennials may, as they start to have families, buy housing, etc, their tolerance for paying for $20 cocktails might wane. And probably not disappear, it would depend at what stage a millennial the person is and so on. I followed that suggestion that, anticipating someone might say 'Hey Boomers will fill that gap easy!'for buying $20 cocktails. I am sure many could afford it given their social security, 401k, and government pensions. But.....would they? I sure would, but I am not sure what percent of Boomers would. Some may move to the city, for convenience and access, but inertia often means you stay where you know unless you've long had a plan for something different. I honestly do not know what the average retired person in the DC area's yearly income is. If both members of a couple worked, I think they'd make $4-5K/month off of social security. Minimum required 401k distributions would likely by in the $1-2K/year range at least but possibly (much?) higher. Pensions are unlikely except for ex-Feds most likely. Point 6/7 - I agree.
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Just some favorites. I think they put out 9 albums over the dozen years or so that they were officially active. Johnny Cunningham was a bit opinionated and, as with many great bands, this (probably among other things) caused rifts and the group just splintered off. The good news is that they all remained active (or still do) and have made lots of fine music. I had the good fortune to see them in concert once, it was a masterpiece - there is nothing like seeing these gents live.
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And another goodie.
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It's still continuing, IMHO. But I think it is possible that it is slowing down....a little. I mean, how many millennials and baby boomers are still moving in to the city (and staying?), and more importantly, how long will that trend last? Particularly, it'll be interesting to see the Millennial generation and what they do as they all start having kids - stay in urban areas, or shift to suburban? Millennials are now age 23 to 38 - in prime home-buying and start-a-family modes, even by delayed standards (and aversion to debt and permanency). And, as the Millennials age, their desire to pay for $20 cocktails regularly may wane as they decide to start families. And not sure Baby Boomers (age range = 54 to 72) will fill in that gap, spending their retirement dollars to order those same $20 cocktails. While DC became red-hot in the apartments and condos zone, the current DC population has risen from 601,00 in the 2010 census to an estimated population of 693,000 - the highest point since the 1970s. But I think it is a matter of time before we hit an upper limit for need of more condos and apartments. I could be wrong, because the building continues in other close in urban areas (I see it all over Ballston, for example). And the roll-out of houses, townhouses, condos and apartments in the suburbs that continues, does so, IMO, at a more slow, deliberate pace. A good example is the Konterra development on both sides of 95 in the Laurel, MD area betweent DM-200 (the ICC) and Route 198. Some apartments have gone in recently. Most of the houses and townhouses from the last of the 2000s wave finished in the late 2000s. Much of the new houses have gone in first in the Montgomery County section of what is the total footprint of the Konterra development. But there are vast tracts of land that go untouched, and will probably stay untouched until the developers are sure they have strong interest and can sell through newly created inventory. It is fascinating to watch.
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I liked my one meal at Fork & Wrench well enough. Parking was a bitch though.
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It was a good game. Some lucky breaks too. Interesting read, here, too. By the way, the thread title needs to be updated since it is no longer Verizon Center, natch.
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Yeah I understand about the timing issue being a drag - especially given the emptiness of the restaurant and the fact that they only released some portion of the availability online (something I do not like, even though I understand why restaurants do it). I agree a menu, any menu, should have balance, and it sounds like Hazel's brunch menu is not balanced, and they could clearly improve on that front.
