Closed!
Did anyone along Pennsylvania Avenue hear a door slamming loudly Wednesday night? If you did and are perplexed about it, let us fill you in. Signatures, the “lobbyist hangout” next to the Navy Memorial, closed its doors. And closed them abruptly, at that. It turns out that when you’re being investigated by the Senate, the Department of Justice, and the Ft. Lauderdale Police for connections to a murder, people aren’t clamoring to frequent the restaurant you own. Jack Abramoff, who allegedly bilked several Native American tribes out of millions of dollars to line his own pockets and those of his Washington friends, was handed back ownership of Signatures after a deal to sell it fell through. Given the amount of time Jack has to spend on his legal woes, one of the few things you can’t blame him for is wanting restaurant ownership out of his hair.

There is, however, an upside to all of this (other than that of watching the downfall of an alleged criminal/slimeball), and it’s that the restaurant’s excellent chef, Morou, is on the free market. You’ve probably heard of Morou. He’s all over the place. He won this year’s Capital Food Fight, and beat out 1789’s Ris Lacoste and Tosca’s Cesare Lanfranconi for a chance to compete in Iron Chef USA in January. In short, he’s an all-star. We have confidence that he will land somewhere deserving of him or — better yet — will start up a place of his own sans baggage. We’ll keep you apprised of any developments. In the meantime, head over to C-Span to watch the hearings for background.

It Fills Us Up…
DCist has a sickness. The only cure is more cowbell — and Asian food. While on the hunt for cowbell, we’re going to swing by the Asian food festival going on today through Sunday at the DCist favorite Super H Mart in Fairfax. The festival will feature cooking demonstrations, food and wine tastings, as well as things for the ankle-biters to do (involving cuttlefish, we hope). The festival goes from 10. a.m. to 8 p.m. each day, and it’s free. Super H Mart is located at 10780 Lee Highway in Fairfax.

You Shouldn’t Just Give Thanks, You Should GIVE
Thanksgiving, folks, is just around the corner. Let’s all forget about the romanticized myths surrounding the first one and focus on the current one. Something that’s not a myth is that there are people out there less fortunate than we are, and it wouldn’t hurt to throw a little help their way. Several local organizations such as DC Central Kitchen, Food & Friends, and the DC Jewish Community Center, just to name a few, are in search of both volunteers and donations to make Thanksgiving a good day for the communities they serve. Head to the above Web sites or to the volunteer clearinghouse DC Cares for more information.