DCist is a big fan of Five Guys burgers. We’re sure there are healthier things out there for you, but damn they’re good. (Feel free to chime with your favorite burgers in town.)
But the historian in us makes us feel sort of sad with the arrival of Five Guys in Georgetown for a piece of Cold War history has been lost: The Vitaly Yurchenko Memorial Bathroom. It was at the old Au Pied du Cochon, the charming French bistro with crummy food and rude wait staff, where in 1985, a KGB spy who defected to the United States, escaped his CIA handler and redefected to the Soviet Union.
Vitaly Yurchenko left to use the restroom, climbed out the window to Dumbarton Street and proceeded up Wisconsin Avenue to the Soviet Embassy. Another account has him escaping though the kitchen and ending up at the State Department, which confuses DCist.
Regardless, there has always been Cold War charm associated with the old Au Pied du Cochon, and that is now gone. When DCist recently visited the restrooms, they seemed to be brand new and windowless. But we’re happy that the old bar and lighting fixtures have remained.
As for Yurchenko today, he works as a security guard at a Moscow bank.
